Just Another Disney High Fic

by All My Friends Are Heathens

It starts off slow, but I assure you, the title is misleading. (Teenage parties & adult themes. Dark events later on. Non/Disney characters, but like 95% Disney.)

37. You'll Be In My Heart

Aurora, Phillip, Cindy, Charles, Edward, Naveen, Tiana, Jasmine, Aladdin, Belle, Adam, Hercules and Meg were sitting together before school, enjoying the pale sunlight that was warming them on this mid-March morning, when Giselle suddenly came running up to them.

"Vanessa and Gaston broke up!" She cried as she skidded to a halt by the table.

"What?!" Most of them demanded while Meg muttered, "Good", and Aurora asked, "So?"

"Yeah, I heard Charlotte and the Bimbettes talking about it just now." Giselle explained quickly. "Apparently they had a huge argument last night and he punched her in the face because he was so mad that she dumped him."

"She broke it off?" Jasmine frowned in confusion.

"He punched her?" Meg snarled, standing up. "Where is that bastard?"

Hercules pulled her back down to her seat, seeming worried. "Calm down, babe. What's done is done. There's nothing we can do; Vanessa already handled it. And now she won't have to deal with him anymore, so...it's fine."

"He shouldn't just get away with it!" Meg snapped, crossing her arms.

"I know..." Hercules sighed.

"Any way, apparently they're both seeing other people now." Giselle said.

"That fast?" Tiana asked.

Jasmine smirked. "Have you met them?"

Tiana shrugged.

"Who are they going out with?" Aurora asked Giselle.

"No one knows." Giselle said.

"Oh, great." Meg grumbled, not wanting to imagine what creep Vanessa moved on to. She could only hope that the new guy wasn't as bad as Gaston.

"Uh..." Belle pointed over Giselle's shoulder. "Guys?"

They all turned to see Vanessa and Eric strolling hand-in-hand through the courtyard. Vanessa had a black eye and a split lip, but she smiled easily up at Eric as they walked, their intertwined hands swinging gently in the space between them. Eric was smiling back, not a full smile like he used to throw around all the time, but still a genuine one. He said something to her and she laughed, gently shaking her head.

It was the most bizarre thing any of them could have possibly seen at that moment. They sat in a stunned silence for a long time, openly gaping at the couple. Then Charles began to stutter.

"I... I mean... Seriously?!" He hissed.

"I really don't know what to say..." Cindy said blankly.

"Well, it's not really any of our business, guys..." Belle murmured.

Everyone ignored her and continued to stare at Eric and Vanessa. Belle sighed and Adam sympathetically rubbed her shoulders.

Eric finally noticed everyone watching them and a nervous look crossed his face. He waved timidly at the group. A few of them waved back, still in shock. Some of them tried to force a smile for him. Eric turned to Vanessa and said something to her. Her gaze flickered toward the group, then she looked back up at him doubtfully. He said something else, seeming to try to persuade her. She shrugged and allowed him to lead her to the table.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me." Meg growled as she watched them approach. Hercules gave her a wary look.

"Is this about to get bad?" Aladdin asked quietly. Jasmine didn't seem to know how to answer him, but Aurora turned and gave them all a sharp look as she replied, "No. He's our friend and we're going to support him." Her serious gaze lingered on Meg's burning eyes, silently telling her, And she's our cousin, and she deserves to be happy. Meg rolled her eyes, seeming to understand what Aurora was trying to silently communicate to her. Aurora turned back around to smile warmly at Eric and Vanessa as they drew closer.

"Well, I actually have to go to my locker, and I don't want them to feel like they have to explain themselves to me, so I'm gonna go. But I'll be back." Belle said, starting to walk away.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Adam quickly asked, starting to follow her.

Belle laughed lightly and said, "You don't have to, sweetie. It'll only take me two minutes." With that, she walked away. Adam slumped back down into his seat, seeming utterly miserable now that she was gone. Meg narrowed her eyes him. Adam never really seemed like the clingy type, but now it was like Belle was the only source of his happiness; Almost like he wasn't comfortable breathing if she wasn't in his space. Meg found it kind of strange.

And kinda creepy... Meg thought as she slowly turned away from his depleted form.

"Hey, guys..." Eric quietly greeted with a nervous smile. Vanessa stood fearlessly beside him, but wore a neutral expression instead of her customary smirk.

"Hey, dude." Phillip nodded in response.

"Uh... What's up?" Naveen asked with a forced chuckle.

Eric laughed timidly in response, looking quickly down at his feet, then peering up at them through his messy bangs. "Not much..."

There were a few seconds of silence.

"So..." Aurora started, gesturing awkwardly toward their joined hands. "How long...? Like... When did this...happen?" She asked with a nervous giggle.

"Uh..." He looked carefully at Vanessa, who gave him an encouraging nod. He turned back to them. "Last night, actually."

Aurora couldn't keep her eyebrows from shooting up. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah..." Eric looked down again.

"Well... That explains a lot." Aurora forced a laugh, but inwardly, she was cringing. Great job, Rorie... she could practically hear Ariel's voice teasing her in her mind. Ariel had always been better at handling awkward situations than her... Hopefully Belle would come back soon to defuse some of the tension.

"I bet." Vanessa said flatly, staring Aurora down with a very unpleasant look.

Aurora sighed. "I'm not judging you, Vanessa. No one is." She gestured toward everyone else. "We're... We're glad this is happening. You both needed to move on..." Aurora didn't really believe this; She actually felt kind of uncomfortable saying it. Sure, Vanessa needed to get away from Gaston and find some stability, but that didn't necessarily mean she had to run off into the arms of another guy and end up being abused for it, causing herself more pain. And Eric? This actually didn't seem like a very healthy decision for him to make. But she decided that she'd have Phillip talk to him about it later.

Since when do they even like each other? Aurora thought. This doesn't make any sense. She repressed the need to sigh aloud, feeling a headache coming on. They'd figure it out later.

She smiled at Eric and Vanessa. "We support you guys. Really. We do."

Eric seemed genuinely surprised by this. "Really?"

She quickly nodded. "Yeah!" She turned to the others. "Right, guys?"

They all wore the expression of deer caught in the headlights of a car. After a few painful seconds, they all nodded so fast Aurora could feel the soreness in her own neck. A few of them muttered, "Sure", or "Okay", but most of them kept their mouths shut. Aurora smiled sympathetically at them, then turned back to Eric and Vanessa with a pleasant expression. "See? It's all good. And Vanessa, you're welcome anytime. We're all friends here."

Vanessa nodded with a blank expression on her face while Eric quickly jumped in to say, "Well, that's actually really great, because..." He looked at Vanessa again. She rolled her eyes, then nodded, seeming unhappy about what he was about to say. She avoided everyone's gaze as he continued. "Since she and Gaston broke up, she's kinda been...kicked out of her group."

Cindy frowned. "But... How could they kick you out? Aren't you kinda the leader?"

"Not any more." Vanessa said bitterly, rolling her purple eyes toward where her former group sat in their usual place. There was Charlotte, the Tremaines, and the Bimbettes all huddled together, giggling incessantly about something. John sat next to Charlotte, her arms wound tightly around him while he spoke with Gaston about something he seemed completely disinterested in.

Poor John... Aurora thought regretfully. He had no idea what he was getting himself into...

Vanessa looked utterly annoyed, seeming unwilling to accept defeat as she turned back to Eric's friends. "Charlotte's in charge now... She's the one who turned them against me." Vanessa hesitantly muttered.

"Wow..." Jasmine whispered.

"Yeah... That bitch works fast." Meg stated flatly.

"So... Can Vanessa hang out with us?" Eric asked, seeming so adorably hopeful.

Aurora felt her heart melt when she looked into his eyes. Could anyone ever say no to that face? No wonder Ariel always did everything she could to make him happy.

Aurora slowly nodded. "Well... If that's what Vanessa wants..." She said, looking carefully at Vanessa.

Vanessa felt her cheeks burn as everyone stared at her. She wasn't about to beg for acceptance. She glared at Eric, hoping that he would continue to speak for her. But he just stared back at her cluelessly, giving her a small smile that she supposed was meant to be reassuring. She sighed, rolling her eyes up to the sky. She wanted to cross her arms, but Eric was still holding her hand. After a stubborn moment of trying to force herself to say the words, she sighed again and finally looked back at Aurora.

"I... I would really...appreciate it." The words finally ground their way through Vanessa's teeth.

Aurora smiled warmly and nodded. "Okay, then. Welcome to our group."

"Thanks." Vanessa muttered as Eric withdrew his hand from hers and wound that arm around her shoulders. He kissed her cheek and she felt her stomach flutter, her cheeks burning red again. She smirked slightly in spite of herself, leaning into his warm body as he held her closer.

Maybe this won't be so bad... She thought as she contentedly breathed him in. If it'll make him happy... She would have preferred to have it just be him and her from now on, but she should have known that that was unrealistic. Eric had too many friends, and he liked them all too much. Of course he'd want to integrate her into his group.

Ugh. Now I have to get along with all of them. She thought in disgust, returning Meg's glare.

"Well, come sit down." Aurora insisted, gesturing toward the empty seats at the end of the table, across from Cindy and Charles. Eric nodded gratefully at Aurora and sat down, pulling Vanessa down next him and keeping his arm firmly but gently around her. She clung to him as if he were a safety blanket. Meg felt her blood boil at the sight of this, but forced herself to stay quiet. She focused her glare on a scuff mark on her combat boots. Hercules seemed to sense how tense she'd become and wrapped his arms comfortingly around her. She held in a grateful sigh as she practically collapsed into his side, hiding her face against his shoulder. He chuckled quietly and rubbed her back soothingly. She felt a tiny smile tug at her lips.

How does he always know what to do? She thought to herself. She'd have to ask him sometime, though she kind of figured that it wasn't really something that could be explained.

Aurora watched as everyone fell into some easy small talk, feeling relieved at everyone's acceptance of Vanessa. The last thing any of them needed needed right now was more drama or grief. As she was about to sit down between Eric and Phillip, she cast a glance toward Charlotte's group to see Gaston watching them. She glared at him and watched as he got up and stalked out of the courtyard. Then she rolled her eyes and turned back to join her friends.

Meanwhile, Belle sighed as she shut her locker, wondering what kind of argument she might be close to walking up to. As she turned to head back to the courtyard, she was startled to see Gaston leaning against the locker next to hers, looking down at her smugly. She gave him a quick smile and tried to walk past him, but he stepped in front of her, blocking her path. She frowned up at him and tried to go around him, but he stepped in front of her again. She sighed and stared evenly up at him, seeming more irritated than disturbed.

"What do you want, Gaston?" She asked, hugging her textbook closely against her chest. She wasn't wearing anything revealing, but her figure was obviously still enjoyable to see even when it was fully clothed. Becoming friends with the prettiest girls in school and constantly being told by them how pretty she was had made her become comfortable with herself, but she was also more wary of people's reactions to her looks now.

He smirked. "Just wanted to say hi..." He chuckled.

"Uh... Well, hi." Belle smiled.

"And I was wondering if you're still going out with that loser who took my place on the football team."

Belle had to admit that she was taken aback by this. And it must have been obvious, because Gaston seemed amused by her expression. He laughed loudly and Belle resisted the urge to cringe as it echoed through the hallway.

"Only kidding, Belle. You don't have to take everything so seriously." He said good-naturedly. He clapped his heavy hand on her shoulder.

She nervously laughed and took a few steps back from him. "Right..."

"But really, are you?" He asked after his laughter abruptly ended.

This time she managed to hide how stunned she was. What the hell was wrong with this guy?

"Yes, I am still dating Adam. And I intend to stay with him for a long time." Belle answered stoically.

Gaston made a face that suggested disgust. "Really?"

Belle scoffed. "Yes!" She shook her head and pushed past him, wanting nothing more than to just get away from him and run back to Adam. "Excuse me..."

She was startled when he whipped around and gripped her arm, pulling her back. She turned to glare up at him. He looked at his hand for a moment before slowly withdrawing it, his thick fingers lingering on her arm. Belle nearly shuddered.

"I'm sorry..." He grumbled, crossing his arms. "I didn't mean to be so..."

"Forward?"

"Yeah, that. It's just... I've been noticing you for awhile now, you're just so beautiful. I really like you a lot."

"Oh..." Belle was actually pretty alarmed by this, but she did her best to hide it. She faked a quick smile. "Well. That's very nice of you to say... But I'm not sure how comfortable I am knowing that you were checking me out while you were going out with someone else. Also, you literally just broke up with Vanessa. Maybe what you need is some time to breathe. Besides, I'm very happy with Adam."

Gaston scoffed. "Oh, please, you know he's not good enough for you."

"How do you figure? " Belle asked, placing a hand on her hip.

"Well, you're way too hot for him. Girls as pretty as you should be with a real man...Like me." He gave her his most dashing smile.

She rolled her eyes. "You know, looks are not the most important thing about a person. And it's definitely nothing to base a relationship on." She turned to stormed away.

"Are you seriously turning me down?" He demanded, calling after her as she walked down the hall. "You're really gonna pick him over me?"

She turned briefly to say, "Yeah, I am. Sorry." And she disappeared, heading back to the courtyard. She was surprised that he didn't follow her, but she knew that this probably wasn't the last time she'd have to deal with Gaston. Realizing that she'd have to be in class with him in about 15 minutes made her roll her eyes in irritation. At least he sat on the opposite side of the room, and she'd have Adam, Aladdin, Aurora and Jasmine around her. And probably Meg and her friends, too.

The nerve of some people... Belle thought, frowning to herself and shaking her head slightly. What a jerk. That boorish, brainless...

"Hey, Belle!" Aurora's voice called Belle back to reality.

Belle waved as she approached, keeping her expression pleasant. She saw Adam's face light up as he spotted her and she quietly laughed. He was so adorable. Belle hid her surprise easily as she spotted Vanessa sitting at the table. She smiled warmly at Vanessa before sitting by Adam at the opposite end if the table. His arm was immediately around her and she giggled and kissed his cheek. He smiled down at her.

Gaston's words came racing back to her as she peered up into Adam's eyes, which always held a hint of sadness that she knew he'd never escape.

He's not good enough for you... Gaston's voice echoed in her brain.

Did everyone think that?

It's not true. Belle thought stubbornly. No matter what, Adam and I are meant to be together. And I'm staying with him.

She hoped that Adam didn't think the same thing that Gaston did. Adam was always hating himself; The last thing she wanted was to be another source of his self-loathing. More than anything she wanted to make him know that he was good enough, that in her eyes he was perfect and he was the only person she wanted to be with.

She reached up and stroked a bit of hair that hung down over the scar on his face. He looked confused, but made no move to stop her. She slowly pushed the hair back behind his ear and stroked the scar gently. She only ever looked at his stormy eyes.

"What is it?" He whispered, since everyone was in a discussion and seemed not to notice him and Belle being wrapped up in their own little world.

She smiled softly and murmured, "You're so handsome."

He chuckled and quietly stroked her cheek. She could tell he didn't believe her, but at least he wasn't going to argue.

"Thanks, babe."

She gave him a quick peck on the lips and hugged him. He smiled to himself as he held her close.

Snow White was laying in her bed, completely rigid as she gaped at her shut bedroom door. She'd hardly slept since she came home. She was too afraid that her stepmother might sneak in in the middle of the night and... Well, Snow wasn't quite sure what Grimhilde would do, but she did know that she was in danger as long as she was trapped here with her stepmother. They hadn't spoken a word to each other since meeting again at the police station; Grimhilde had kept her expression completely blank and Snow had no idea what she could possibly be thinking. As soon as they got home, Snow immediately ran up to her room and shut the door. Grimhilde never came in to speak with her or anything. The only people Snow had interacted with were the servants who brought her her meals, which she barely ate. It was a servant who'd been the one to tell her that Grimhilde would be keeping her out of school for a while so she could have time to move on from her ordeal, out of the public's view. Hearing this had made Snow's heart sink, but she showed no reaction. She hadn't said a word since leaving the police station. The servants figured that it was another symptom of her "shock" and left her alone. Snow hadn't even seen Grimhilde since locking herself in her room.

Snow was absolutely sure that she was going to die in this house. Sometime soon.

As she sat curled up on her bed, keeping her wide eyes on the door, her ears listened for even the slightest sound, but the house was completely still, almost serene. Then she heard a tapping at her window and nearly jumped out of her deathly pale skin. She turned to see a large, misshapen shadow perched outside of her window. She gulped and jumped up off her bed, standing completely still for a moment to watch the shadow. After a tense moment, the shadow reached up a fist and tapped again, more timid now.

"Snow?" A familiar German accent hissed from outside the window. "Snow, it's me."

Snow gasped in relieved disbelief and ran to the window, quickly thrusting it upward to open it. Ferdinand sat on the windowsill, perched precariously over the the white rose bush that grew under her second - story window. She stepped back and he carefully hopped into the room. He quietly shut the window and pushed the curtains shut, then didn't hesitate to wrap her in his arms with a relieved sigh. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed silent tears of joy into his shirt, clinging to him like he was her last lifeline.

"I was so worried..." Ferdinand whispered into her hair.

"I know... I was, too." Snow whimpered. "I thought I might never see you again."

"Don't you ever think like that, Snow." He said, pulling back to look down into her eyes. "I'm with you til the end, no matter what." He pulled her close again.

She shook her head. "Ferdinand, I'm never getting out of here."

"Don't think like that, of course you are. I'll make sure of it."

"But she won't let me..." Snow felt the panic clench her heart, and it was getting harder to breathe. "She's going to keep me here until she has the opportunity to kill me..."

Ferdinand pulled away, keeping his hands resting on her shoulders. She was shaking violently and couldn't bring herself to look at him. With one hand, he gently tipped her chin up so that she was looking up at him, fear plain in her eyes.

"Hey..." He whispered. "You can't let yourself think like that, Snow White. You need to be strong and keep your focus. You've made it this long, right?"

"She's just waiting... Waiting for the right...time..." Her voice cracked and she broke down into more sobs, hiding her face behind her hands. He softly shushed her and pulled her to him again, gently stroking her tangled hair.

"Snow, I'm here for you. I always will be. To protect you." He murmured.

"You can't be here all the time..." She sniffled.

"Well, I'll be here as much as I can."

"How? How are you even here now?" She pulled back to look up at him.

He smiled down at here. "My uncle and I had a really long talk over the weekend. I told him everything, and he checked with Aurora's parents to be sure. He's on our side, and he's a very powerful political figure here. You think he can't get me out of school until further notice due to an extreme illness?" His smile turned into a full-on grin.

She couldn't help but smile back. It was the first time she'd smiled since Aurora left her at Hunter's cabin on Friday. He stroked her cheek and gazed down at her lovingly. "We're all doing the best we can, babe. But now that Hunter's taking the blame for everything, we have no evidence. That makes things much more difficult..."

"She'll have to try to kill me in order to make them believe us..." Snow said solemnly, staring blankly at the space behind him.

"We're not going to let it get that far." Ferdinand insisted, making her look up at him again. "That won't happen, Snow, I promise you."

Her lip shook as she tried not to cry again. She nodded slightly. "Okay..."

"Okay." He pulled her to him again, never getting tired of holding her close. She seemed even smaller than she used to be... That couldn't be good. Was she eating enough? Probably not. And there was no way she was getting enough sleep. They stood like this for awhile, just holding each other, trying to clear their racing minds by focusing on one another's heart beat. After a few moments of this silence, Ferdinand whispered, "Is she home?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen or heard from her at all since we came home. But it doesn't matter. She never comes in here. The only people who do are the servants, and they always knock before entering. You can hide on the closet when they bring me my meals."

He nodded thoughtfully. "Sounds like a plan."

"Flynn?"

Flynn squinted in confusion toward the unlocked door to his shed. "Huh?"

"Flynn, it's Aurora. Can I come in?"

He frowned, squeezing his eyes shut. He was stretched out on his bed with a hangover and a pounding headache. He groaned and lay one of his arms over his sore eyes. "Sure..."

The door creaked open and he heard soft footsteps as she quickly slipped into the shed. The door was quickly shut and she audibly gasped.

"Jesus, it's freezing in here!" She exclaimed.

"Huh." He muttered in complete disinterest. He hadn't turned on his heater in awhile. He'd kind of been hoping to freeze to death in his shed.

Aurora sighed and quickly switched on the space heater, which whined and shivered as it was brought to life. She stood in the middle of the shed for a moment, looking around.

"Nice place." She commented lightly.

"Why are you here?" He mumbled.

"I noticed that you weren't at school and I wanted to check on you."

He scrunched his face up. "What time is it?"

"It's lunch hour."

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You ditched school to come see me?"

"I told the nurse I was sick and my aunts couldn't come get me, so she gave me a pass and let me leave on my own."

"Impressive..." He droned, seeming completely disinterested.

She rolled her eyes. "Thanks."

"Wait a minute..." He forced himself to sit up so he could look at her head-on. "How did you even know to find me here?"

"I got Vanessa to tell me where you live."

He groaned in disgust. "How does she even know these things?"

Aurora shrugged.

"And since when do you two talk?" He demanded.

"Well, we are cousins..."

"Uh-uh, there's more to it than that."

Aurora sighed. "Well, Charlotte kicked Vanessa out of the bitch-clique, so now she hangs out with my group."

"What?!" Flynn shouted, making her jump. "After what she did to Repunzel, you're letting her hang out with you guys?!"

"She's going out with Eric!" Aurora shouted back.

Flynn stared blankly at her for a moment, then scoffed and shook his head. "Holy shit..." He slumped over and ran a hand through his shaggy hair. "Everything's just going to Hell..."

"Yeah, kinda..." Aurora muttered. Then she gestured toward the free space next to him on the mattress. "Can I sit?"

He nodded and she sat down on the end of the bed, keeping a foot or so of space between them. He looked over at her and squinted in the dim lighting of the shed, seeming to study her for a moment. Then he asked, "Are you sure you're boyfriend's okay with you sitting in bed with your ex?"

She rolled her eyes. "You're barely my ex, Flynn. What we had was just a fling. You made that very clear."

He shrugged carelessly.

"Besides," she continued, "Phillip doesn't have to know."

Flynn smirked. "Trouble in paradise?"

She shook her head. "No... I'd just like to have some parts of my life to be private, you know? Not everyone needs to know everything I'm doing or everywhere I'm going all the time."

"So, what, now you're trying to lay low?"

She nodded.

"Alright, then..." He groaned as he reached under his bed and dragged a six-pack out from under it. "Want a beer?"

Esmeralda sighed as the final bell of the day finally rang. She didn't hesitate to gather her things and rush to the theater. She hadn't seen Quasi since Saturday and she wanted to check on him. Now that Frollo was gone, she figured it was a good idea to be with Quasi as much as possible from now on, to let him know that he wasn't alone. Plus, she wanted to invite him to the elaborate "memorial service" being held for Ariel on Saturday night. Saturday was Ariel's birthday, and the whole school would be packing itself into Anna's house to celebrate. (Anna had volunteered the use of her house because she knew she had more than enough room. Her older sister hadn't been too thrilled about it, but couldn't bring herself to refuse.)

A party is just what everyone needs right now... Esme thought as she was approaching the doors to the auditorium. And it'll be good for Quasi.

She smiled to herself as she reached up to knock on the door. But when her knuckles came in contact with the wood, the door creaked open. She frowned. Why was the theater unlocked? Quasi never left it unlocked... Maybe he had left it open for her? She slowly stepped into the darkened auditorium, carefully shutting the door behind her. As she was enveloped by the pitch-black room, she stood there for a moment to let her eyes adjust. No, it didn't seem like Quasi was expecting her to be here; Even in the darkness, she could tell he was nowhere in sight. He wouldn't have been anticipating her visit, any way. Esme sighed and started to carefully mount the stage, then headed back to the dressing rooms that would lead her to the secret passage to the bell tower. She shivered as she pulled back the decorative carpet and reached up to liberate the hidden panel in the wall. It was freezing in here... Wasn't Quasi supposed to be in charge of the heating? She quickly bounded up the stone staircase until she finally reached Quasi's secluded loft. One candle was burning softly in the corner to her left, but other than that there was no light in the room. A blanket had been pinned over the window that overlooked the courtyard, blocking out the sunlight. Esmeralda looked around the room until she spotted Quasimodo squatting by his unmade bed, his head hanging low. She slowly approached him, assuming that he hadn't noticed her entrance. She heard him sniffle.

"Quasi?" She whispered.

He flinched slightly at the sound of her voice, then went very still. He didn't turn to face her.

"Quasi, are you okay?" She stood by patiently.

He slowly turned around and looked up at her so she could see the tears streaming down his cheeks. She watched him sympathetically as he climbed unsteadily to his feet, standing before her and worriedly wringing his hands.

"I wasn't expecting anyone to come here..." He muttered, staring down at his feet.

"You didn't think I was going to leave you all alone, did you?" She asked with a soft smile.

He looked up at her doubtfully. She silently cursed herself. Of course he thought that, idiot. He's used to being left alone... I mean, the only person he had around for his whole life was Frollo, for God's sake. And you already betrayed Quasi once, as far as he's concerned. She watched sadly as he trudged over to his misshapen mattress that sat by on the floor and collapsed to sit down on it, continuing to stare miserably down at his feet. She took a step forward, meaning to sit with him, but then she realized that that would probably make him uncomfortable, so she just crouched down beside the mattress. She watched a few more silent tears roll down his cheeks.

He's probably been like this all weekend... She realized. She cleared her throat and leaned forward, reaching out one hand toward him. She was the only person he had now.

ESMERALDA

Come, stop your crying.

It'll be alright.

Just take my hand,

hold it tight.

I will protect you from

all around you.

I will be here, don't you cry...

He looked up at her with a blank expression, then slowly took her hand in his own clumsy one, like a doubtful child. She smiled warmly at him.

Meanwhile, Ferdinand and Snow were cuddling on her bed, trying their best not to fall asleep in each other's arms. He'd just finished forcing her to eat the lunch that her servants had brought up about an hour ago. She seemed scared that it might be poisoned, and nearly had a heart attack when Ferdinand tested it for her. After assuring her that it was safe, she begrudgingly at the food, but whined that it had gotten cold. He couldn't help laughing at her. Now he held her tiny body securely to his own, marveling at how lucky he was to still have her, in spite of how the last few weeks had weakened her. He didn't want to admit it, but deep down he knew that the pair of them might have been facing Snow's final days.

FERDINAND

For one so small,

you seem so strong.

My arms will hold you,

keep you safe and warm.

This bond between us

can't be broken.

I will be here,

don't you cry.

Snow nestled further into him, seeming slightly comforted by his words.

Aurora was watching Flynn's softly snoring form. He'd gotten drunk and passed out on the cot, having gone through the first six-pack and then halfway through another that was stashed under the bed. Aurora herself hadn't even gotten halfway through the first can he'd handed her; she realized very quickly that she didn't like the taste of beer. So her drink sat by on the ground, still mostly full and totally forgotten. And she watched as Flynn drank himself into mental deterioration over a couple of hours. In his delusional state, he'd demanded to know a few things that she found she couldn't answer.

"Why can't I just be happy? Why do people always have to take away the things that make me happy?" He'd been close to tears. Then, his face twisted in a strange mix of anger and confusion. He pointed a accusatory finger at her and harshly asked, "And why are you even here? Huh? Don't you hate my guts? Like everyone else? Huh? Wasn't I just another mistake to you? Don't you hate me, Blondie?" And then he'd downed another can, spent a while mumbling some things she couldn't hope to understand, and then blacked out. All the while, Aurora sat back and silently watched, keeping her expression blank.

She couldn't answer the first two questions; She had no idea why the universe had decided that Flynn Rider wasn't allowed to be happy. But she spent a long time trying to answer the other questions as she watched him sleep.

Why am I here?

Because, despite popular belief, she didn't despise Flynn. No... Whether she liked it or not, Flynn was a very important part of her life, of her soul. Because her relationship with Flynn had been the thing to awaken feelings of romance, adventure and passion within her young, naive self. And although it was a part of her that she had always felt slightly ashamed of, that was only because she'd always been afraid of how her friends would react to it, so she'd always felt that she would have to keep it hidden. But she did honestly know that Flynn hadn't been a mistake. He'd been a life lesson; A kind of guardian, in a really weird way. So she would always appreciate him, and worry about him, and try to be there to help him through times like these. Even though he'd broken her heart, she never wanted to see the same thing done to him. After taking the time to realize this, she quietly answered his question as to why she was here.

AURORA

Because you'll be in my heart.

Yes, you'll be in my heart.

From this day on, now and

forever more.

Always...

A few hours later, Eric was sitting in his room, staring down at a picture of Ariel that he'd always kept in his wallet. He'd been in this same position since coming home from school, all alone, watching her face, wondering if this new relationship with Vanessa was really right or if he was pursuing more heartbreak. But he had to know. He had to figure out if this attraction to Vanessa was real, if it actually meant something, or if Ariel's death had been for nothing. Even so, he knew that no matter what happened with Vanessa, Ariel would always hold a place in his heart. She was, after all, his first true love; Possibly the love of his life. He kept this thought in his head as he whispered to the picture the same promise he'd always made to Ariel when she was alive and with him.

"Always."

Lilo collapsed onto her bed on Tuesday night, having just gotten home from a late dance practice. Since the team had gone about a month without meeting up, they were having long practices all this week to make up for it. And the practices had been really disorganized because, for some reason, Esmeralda wasn't showing up, so Jasmine was in charge. Giselle tried to help, but it didn't do much. Now Lilo wasn't getting home til 7:00 at night.

Not wanting to get to her homework just yet, she lay on her bed and shut her eyes, taking a moment to just breathe. She heard Stitch scurry into the room and shut the door after himself, then felt him climb up onto the bed and snuggle into her side. She laughed softly and pulled him closer with both arms. He made a quiet noise of contentment. Lilo decided that they would just stay like this until Nani came home from work and nagged her about her homework. David was home, but he was napping on the couch downstairs. Lilo figured that she would have a good amount of time to relax til Nani got home.

That hope was mercilessly dashed upon the rocks when she heard a tapping on her window. She groaned and sat up, looking toward the window to see Peter waving at her. She glared at him as she was forced to stand up and approach the window, leaving a disgruntled Stitch on the bed. She opened the window, hoping that her displeasure was obvious enough.

"Peter, what-" She gasped when she noticed that he was floating in mid-air. "Peter!"

"Can I come in?" He asked casually, but he wore a proud grin on his face. "It's cold."

She laughed and nodded, stepping back so he could enter. He glided into the room and hovered before her for a moment, then dropped himself to the floor, deftly landing on his feet. She laughed again and threw her arms around him.

"You can control it!" She cried.

"I know!" He exclaimed as he hugged her.

"Shh!" Stitch hissed.

"Oh... David's sleeping downstairs." Lilo explained to Peter in a hushed tone. He nodded, figuring that that meant to keep quiet, but neither of them could mute their excitement. Lilo shook her head in amazement. "How did you learn to control it so fast?"

"Well, I figured out that what made me fly was negative feelings. Like fear, sadness, stress, boredom. So I took a lot of time to train myself to not feel those things."

Lilo raised an eyebrow. "Really? You can do that?"

"Sure! Now that I only think happy thoughts, I can control my flight." He shot up into the air and did a few somersaults over her head. She laughed as she watched him from the ground. He turned over so that his back was to the ceiling and he was hovering horizontally above her. "I'm totally laid back and stess-free. Now my body doesn't do anything I don't want it to."

"Well, that's great, Peter." Lilo grinned. Then her smile slowly faded. "But... Did you ever figure out what made you come down before?"

Peter's jubilant expression toned down to a meaningful smile and he slowly lowered himself down so that he stood in front of her. He carefully wrapped his arms around her waist. "You did."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Me?"

He nodded. "Yeah. No matter how scared I got, thinking of you brought me back down. I realized that no matter how high up I go, knowing that you're waiting for me on the ground will bring me back home."

She grinned. "That's so cheesy."

He smiled widely as he leaned down and kissed her. She felt her heart skip a beat. This was their first kiss. This was the closest they'd ever been. She never wanted this moment to end.

But it had to when Stitch groaned in disgust. Lilo rolled her eyes as she turned to look at the alien, but Peter was laughing. She turned to smile up at him. Or rather, the new him; the happy, playful, fearless Peter Pan.

"Lilo! You're sister's home!" David called from the foot of the stairs.

"Okay!" Lilo called back quickly. When she turned back to Peter, he was already perched on the windowsill. She walked over and gave him another quick kiss. "Be careful, Peter."

He grinned down at her. "I don't know the meaning of the word." When she seemed less than amused, he stroked her cheek. "Everything's gonna be fine, now, Lilo."

"I believe you." She said. He smiled in reassurance, then turned around to face the night sky. Lilo held her breath as she watched him slowly stand, casting himself into the open air, and pushed off of the windowsill with his feet. He glided out a few paces, turned to wave good bye, and shot up into the air. She leaned out of her window and looked up to see his shadow hovering in front of the pale moon. She laughed when she heard him let out one of his crazy rooster calls. Then, he was free-falling, disappearing behind the treeline. She shook her head in amusement as she shut her window, then headed down the stairs to greet her sister.

"So. He likes to visit his little girlfriend a lot, huh?" Hades said to himself, watching as Peter flew through a night sky, a grin plastered on the smug little brat's face. Then, Hades turned to two of his demons. "Well, next time he heads out, I want you two to be waiting for him when he gets home. You got that?"

"Y - yes, sir." Panic stuttered, wringing his claws together anxiously.

"We'll get him for you, sir!" Pain cried in terror.

"Do not screw this up." Hades growled.

"You've been home a lot lately, huh?"

The question made Vanessa roll her eyes toward Facilier in annoyance. She was just trying to do her homework in the living room, but apparently her existence was disturbing to him.

"I do live here, you know." She droned as she glared at her foster dad.

"Yeah, but... You're hardly ever around." He shrugged callously. "What changed?"

She turned her attention back to her homework. "Gaston and I broke up."

"Ah, I see..." He sighed. "So... Is you being home gonna be a regular thing, or...?"

She groaned and glared at him again. "I'll try to stay out of sight as much as possible, asshole. But right now I'm trying to pass my math class. So leave me alone."

"Gaston, please just leave me alone..." Belle muttered, trying to weave through the lunch crowd to get away from him. But he wasn't giving up. He just pushed through the crowd and continued to follow her.

"Go out with me Friday night." He commanded, giving poor Mowgli such a harsh shove that the freshman fell over onto the high-maintenance Wendy, who shrieked.

"For the millionth time, no! I have plans with Adam." She rolled her eyes as she continued to rush away from him.

"Oh, please!" Gaston scoffed, gripping her hand and roughly pulling her toward him. As she looked up at him in disgust, he smirked down at her and said suggestively, "You know I could show you a better time." His hand, which was lingering on her lower back, now started to travel further down. Her eyes widened in alarm and she slapped him before he got the chance to reach his destination. She watched as his face twisted in fury and felt her heart rate pick up speed, remembering seeing him hit Vanessa at the homecoming dance, seeing her black eye and her split lip on Monday morning...

Belle knew that Gaston was about to hit her, and she braced herself for it. She couldn't fight him off and she couldn't escape. This frustrated her to no end, but she knew it was true. She tried not to flinch as she watched him lift one hand up high.

"You little bitch! " He growled, ready to bring his hand down across her face.

"Hey! " A strong, angry voice called as it was approaching through the crowd. Gaston looked up, seeming confused for a moment. Who would dare to stand up to him like that? (Aside from Kida, but that definitely wasn't her voice.) Belle turned to see Adam coming toward them, his stormy eyes alight with rage. Belle was actually kind of frightened to see him like this; That had been the loudest she'd ever heard him speak. She turned back to see Gaston smirking at the approaching Adam. He pushed Belle of to the side and stood proudly with his mighty arms outstretched.

"Ah, now there's the person I really wanna hit!" Gaston announced haughtily. Off to the side opposite of Belle, Charlotte and the Bimbettes had arrived and were cheering Gaston on and laughing like a pack of hyenas. Belle tried to make eye contact with Charlotte, but the blonde was ignoring her, her fierce blue eyes leveled on Adam with fierce excitement.

They want to see a fight. Belle realized dreadfully, turning to Adam with pleading eyes. Adam was the tallest kid in school, and while he was lean, he was also incredibly strong. And obviously, he could handle a lot of pain. Belle wasn't worried about Gaston hurting him; If there was one person who could take Gaston down, it was Adam. But she didn't want Adam to get in trouble because of her. He saw her expression and seemed to recognize her dilemma. He gave her a quick nod before turning back to Gaston with a stern stare and stopping to stand a few feet ahead of him. Gaston was sneering at him. Adam crossed his arms reservedly and kept his intense gaze leveled on Gaston, ignoring the crowd that was slowly forming around them.

Belle felt a hand gently rest on her shoulder and turned to see Aurora standing beside her, solemnly watching the two boys. Belle worriedly followed her gaze, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. But she couldn't ignore the sick feeling that sank into the pit of her stomach.

"Well? Aren't you going to try to take the first swing?" Gaston arrogantly demanded of Adam. "Or are you too kind and gentle to fight?" He continued to tease, earning wicked laughs from his fangirls. The Tremaines, who had just shown up with John, were also cackling, though they had no idea what was going on. John just watched with a stony expression. Belle looked at him for help, silently begging him to step in and stop this, to warn Gaston off. But John just shrugged, making her heart sink. Meanwhile, Gaston was still taunting Adam. "I mean, we all know you're just Mr. Sensitive, right? It's definitely not your looks that Belle's interested in."

Adam rolled his eyes, ignoring the laughter from Gaston and his troop. When he spoke, his voice was low and calm, not the harsh bark that he had unleashed before. "I'm not going to fight you, Gaston."

"Oh, of course not. You wouldn't want to upset your little girlfriend, would you? Face it, she's got you whipped, man. I'd never let a girl control me like that." Gaston stated.

"And now that you've found a girl who won't let you control her, you don't know how to handle it." A new voice spoke up from the crowd. Everyone turned to reveal Vanessa staring him down. Meg, Eric and Aurora were all watching her carefully, but everyone else's eyes were glued on Gaston to watch his reaction. He was obviously pissed, but after glowering at Vanessa for a moment he turned back to Adam with a new ferocity in his icy blue eyes.

"So. If you don't want to fight, what do you wanna do? Huh?" Gaston asked in a dangerous tone.

"I want to tell you to leave my girlfriend alone." Adam said with no emotion in his voice.

"Oh, are you gonna make me, Mr. Sensitive?" Gaston sneered.

Adam rolled his eyes. "No, I suppose I can't make you. But I can tell you this: If this is the way you go about trying to get a girl to date you, you're going to be a very lonely man. I can tell that even if Belle wasn't with me, she'd never give you the light of day. So why don't you quit harassing her?"

"You've got a lot of nerve, you know that?" Gaston growled, taking a step toward Adam.

"And you're full of shit. It's no wonder that Vanessa dumped you for a nicer guy." Adam smirked.

Gaston let out a sudden roar and lunged toward Adam. It was only then that John jumped in, leaping in between Gaston and Adam to block Gaston's attack. As he held Gaston back, he gave Belle a short nod. Belle nodded back gratefully and rushed to Adam's side, gripping his arm.

"Let's go, sweetie..." She whispered. He just stared down at her. Her frightened expression softened into a pleading look. "Please?" He slowly nodded and started to lead her away. They were shortly followed by their group of friends.

"You're an idiot if you think she's gonna stay with you, you ugly asshole!" Gaston shouted at Adam's retreating form.

"Gaston, shut up!" John scolded.

Adam really wanted to turn around, to go back there and put Gaston in his place; punch him, kick him, throw him around, rip him apart... He felt his blood boiling and the familiar tingle in the back of his eyes. He clenched his jaw and forced himself to remain calm, making himself continue to walk forward with Belle safe at his side.

Not here. Not now. He told himself. The wave of hatred passed, and a soft smirk played on his lips. But if he touches her again, I'll kill him.

"So, we'll meet up at my house, hang out there for a few hours, and then head down to the beach for the bonfire, and everyone can go their separate ways from there." Anna said excitedly to Aurora, Jasmine and Giselle after their cheer/dance practice after school on Wednesday. "But some of the girls can sleep over at my place if they want."

"Are you sure your sister's okay with that?" Giselle asked.

Anna nodded. "Elsa won't even be coming home til really late at night. She's been spending more and more time at the office lately. And, with recent events, she's still not very inclined to hang out with a lot of people."

"Still not much of a party person, I see." Aurora smirked.

Anna shrugged. "She does send her condolences, though. She's happy to let us use the house for Ariel's service. We know about losing people..."

They were all quiet, not really sure how to respond to this. Anna didn't take sympathy very well, she was too childish. And none of them had the experience to know what to say to her about her dead parents. Aurora practically had five separate parents, and a very large extended family. Giselle had both of her parents, though they were hardly ever around. And while Jasmine only had her dad around, she'd only lost her mother through a divorce, not death.

Anna didn't give them an opportunity to say anything. She sighed and said, "I just wish I lived closer to the beach, so we all wouldn't have to drive so far... Oh, well. See you guys!" She smiled as she skipped away. "I've got a date with Hans!"

"Bye, Anna!" Aurora called, waving back.

"See you!" Jasmine smiled.

"Good luck!" Giselle gave her a double thumbs-up.

Anna giggled before disappearing from view. The other three continued on their way to Aurora's car.

"So! Off to the mall for a nice, fattening dinner and some shopping." Jasmine said.

"Is Cindy gonna meet us there?" Giselle asked.

"She can't. She and Charlie have their dancing class." Aurora said with a smirk.

Giselle giggled. "Oh, those two are so cute..."

"Is guess it's just us, then." Jasmine said.

"Yeah. Weird, huh?" Aurora asked as she unlocked her car.

"Yeah." The other two muttered in agreement as the three of them climbed in. Aurora sighed as she started the car, turning the heater on immediately. Although it was starting to warm up during the day, the evenings were still chilly. As she was pulling out of the school parking lot, she asked, "Do you guys mind if I turn on the radio? I wanna check the news."

Jasmine shook her head, absent-mindedly looking out the window. Giselle said from the back seat, "Go ahead, Rorie."

Aurora nodded to herself and quickly turned it on, carefully tuning to the news station. As a reporter's voice started to reach her expectant ears, she listened intently, thankful that both of her friends were remaining silent.

"And so, today the man who kidnapped the young Snow White was convicted for his crime, as well as many crimes of his past, and imprisoned for life. The deciding factor was his testimony, which we can hear now: "

Aurora's heart sank as Hunter's voice came over the radio, flat and robotic, completely void of emotion. Sometimes he halted between words, as if he was having difficulty controlling his mouth, as if he were fighting himself.

"I don't know why I couldn't kill her. I've killed a lot of people before, and she seemed no different than any of the others. I suppose I just couldn't take it anymore. All the voices... I just wanted to make it stop. Please... Please, just make it stop. Lock me up. If you don't, I'll kill again. And I'll keep killing. Forever."

Aurora frowned at the road ahead of her, feeling ill. The way Hunter said the words, which she guessed were supposed to be him begging, sounded more like someone struggling to read lines off a teleprompter quite badly.

Hunter, what happened to you? She thought, biting her lip.

"Jayson Hunter, the serial killer, has finally been put behind bars. He'll no longer terrorize the world. We hope that young Smow, the one surviving victim, will rest easy knowing that now she is safe from the evil of this mastermind. Now, on to sports..." The reporter was saying.

Aurora sighed and shut off the radio, glaring at the road ahead. When were things going to start making sense?

"I'm glad they arrested that creep." Jasmine said after a moment of silence.

"Yeah... After what he did to Snow..." Giselle muttered. "I mean, imagine if he hadn't come to his senses. If he hadn't let her go, or turned himself in... Where would either of them be now?"

Aurora forced herself to remain silent.

"I really wanna see Snow." Jasmine mused. She was smiling sadly out the window. "It's been so long."

Giselle sighed. "I know. I tried again and again to visit, but either Grimhilde or one of the servants was always there to turn me away. They're not letting anyone in to see her. They say she's on shock."

Aurora blinked back the tears that burned her violet eyes. "Poor Snow..."

Snow heard a knock on her bedroom door. She and Ferdinand shared a quick look before he slipped into her closet, silently shutting himself in. Figuring that it was one of the servants bringing her dinner early, Snow called, "Come in!"

She was sure her heart stopped when her stepmother came in.

"Hello, Snow White." Grimhilde greeted plainly, her hands folded neatly in front of her.

That was it. The first words she'd said to Snow in about a month. After everything that she'd put the poor girl through, that was her greeting. Just Hello, Snow White. Snow felt the need to faint, realizing the eminence of her demise. Grimhilde had it all planned out for sure. She'd come to peace with how she was going to end Snow's life, and now she was acting casual.

Snow said nothing in response, just stared at Grimhilde.

Grimhilde smirked. "Right." Her face quickly lost any trace of amusement. "I just wanted to let you know that Mr. Hunter has been imprisoned for his crimes."

"What?" Snow couldn't hide her alarm.

Grimhilde raised an eyebrow. "Are you actually surprised?"

"But... But they can't do that! He didn't do anything wrong! He saved me."

"That action doesn't speak for his past crimes, Snow White." Grimhilde carelessly droned.

"Those were other people's crimes, too. He wasn't some serial killer, he was a contract killer. But you know that all too well, don't you Grimhilde?" Snow was surprised at how forcefully she spoke. She'd never spoken out of anger before; Now, seeing Grimhilde's expression, she regretted it and her body shook.

After a long moment of Grimhilde simply staring at her, the older woman started to laugh. It was a rare sound, and it was a sickening cackle. Snow flinched at the sound of it, taking a step back from her stepmother. Grimhilde gave her a sickly - sweet smile.

"Oh, my dear Snow White... This paranoia will do nothing to help you. You just have to forget this whole thing. That murderer has been put behind bars. He can't reach you now. He'll never hurt you again."

"He's not the one who should be in prison." Snow spat back.

"Yes, well..." Grimhilde's smile faded to a look of utter disdain as she took a few steps forward and leaned in close to Snow, so close that their noses nearly touched, and hissed, "...no one will believe you, Snow White."

Snow stared at her in horror, her doe-like eyes unnaturally round. Grimhilde slowly retreated from the room, never taking her eyes off Snow.

"The servants will be bringing your dinner in an hour." Grimhilde stated angrily before slamming the door shut.

Snow listened as Grimhilde's footsteps faded away down the hall and then down the stairs. Then, a rush of air escaped from her. She hadn't realized that she'd been holding her breath. Ferdinand rushed out of the closet and almost ran to her, wrapping her up in his arms as she began to sob.

"Shh, shh... It's okay. She's gone..." Ferdinand whispered, eyeing the door.

"Why doesn't she just do it already?" Snow whimpered. "Why is she drawing this out?"

"Snow, do you realize what just happened?"

"What?"

"That was a confession."

"But we have no proof!" Snow sniffled miserably.

"Well, then we have to get some. Next time she says something like that, I'll be recording her from the closet with my phone."

"But how do we know that she'll say something like that again?"

"Well... You'll have to steer the conversation in that direction, Snow."

Hunter awoke with a horrid headache and an aching chest. He obviously hadn't slept enough, because he felt exhausted. His sore eyes were assaulted by blinding white light coming from overhead. He slowly realized that he wasn't lying down, but sitting straight up on a bed. Wait, there wasn't a bed in the cabin... His blurry vision kept him from being able to tell where he was. He could barely make out a man's distorted voice through the whistling in his ears. He slowly turned his head in the direction that he thought the voice might be coming from. His vision was slowly being restored, and he recognized the vague, dark shape a burly man standing to his side. They were separated by what appeared to be bars...

Why is that man in a cage? He thought groggily, squinting as he tried to focus on the man. He was still talking to Hunter, but Hunter still couldn't understand a word of what he was saying. It felt as though he were trapped underwater, and the man was standing just above the surface. But a few things came into focus that made Hunter's heart stop. The man's clothes were all the same dark color...a uniform. A badge glistened in the ethereal light.

He isn't in a cage. I am.

Hunter looked around as panic rose in his chest. This was a cell. He looked down at himself and saw a painful blur of orange. A jumpsuit. His headache was getting worse, shooting sharp pain throughout his swollen skull. He gritted his teeth and slowly shook his head.

"How did this happen?" He tried to ask, but he could hardly hear or understand himself.

"Well... This is what happens when you kidnap young girls, Mr. Hunter." A man's voice spoke clearly.

At once, he was no longer submerged from reality. He could see, hear, sense everything as crisply as he always had before. The only thing that remained from the ordeal was the pain in his head and his chest. His throat burned every time he breathed.

Smoke... Black smoke everywhere... He remembered being enveloped by the dark, back at the cabin... The poisoned apple... That was all he could remember. He looked around him again. How much time had passed since then?

"Now, I'm here to ask you some things..." The voice spoke again. Hunter turned to see the officer that stood outside of his cell, staring sternly at him. Without thinking, Hunter propelled himself from his bed and threw himself against the bars, clutching at the wide-eyed officer like an animal. He hissed through his teeth as pain shot through his ribcage upon hitting the metal bars, but he forced himself to stare steadily up at the startled officer.

"There's been a mistake." Hunter groaned.

The policeman slowly shook his head. "No, there definitely hasn't been."

"I shouldn't be here... Why am I here?" Hunter was having trouble breathing.

The cop looked utterly confused and slightly irritated, staring at Hunter for a moment. Then he just gave Hunter a pitiful look and pried his pale hands from his uniform. Then he took a few steps back from the bars before answering, "Mr. Hunter... You turned yourself in for the kidnapping of Snow White, as well as the captures and murders of numerous other victims. Now, I'm here today to learn how many victims and their identities, as that has not been clarified just yet, and-"

"What? No!" Hunter cried in frustration. "You've got the wrong person in here!"

"No, you made it quite clear in your claims that you were indeed the perpetrator. You can't go back on your word now, Hunter. It's far too late."

"I was drugged!" Hunter shouted. "This is all a mistake! Please, you have to let me out, she's in danger!"

The cop sighed. "Who's in danger, Jayson?"

"Snow White! She's in danger! Her stepmother- Grimhilde- she paid me to kill Snow White. She wants her dead!" When the cop seemed unresponsive, Hunter could feel the terror of being trapped in this little cell and unable to help Snow gripping him, and he screamed, "Are you deaf? Don't you understand?! Grimhilde's the one you should be after! You have to stop her!" The cop was muttering something into a walkie-talkie. Hunter stared at him in shock. "What are you doing?"

The officer glared at Hunter as two men in white coats started to approach the cell. Hunter's eyes widened as he spotted one of them holding a syringe.

"You aren't going to torment that family any more, Mr. Hunter." The officer said. Hunter backed away from the bars as one of the doctors started to unlock the cell. As they approached him, Hunter roared and punched the one with the needle in the neck. The man fell to the floor, gripping his throat and choking. Hunter was just about to make a run for it when the other doctor stuck a back-up syringe into his neck. He groaned as the doctor plunged the sedative into his bloodstream. As Hunter slowly sank to his knees, the injured doctor was being led out of the room by the one who had sedated Hunter. Some security officers were walking in and lifting Hunter's limp body off the ground. He wanted to fight them, but the drugs were overtaking him and his body was unresponsive to his instincts. He was being laid on the tiny bed and strapped down as the policeman leaned over him. Hunter barely heard what the officer was saying as he drifted off to sleep.

"I'll be here to speak to you once you wake up. Hopefully you'll have calmed down by then."

A few hours later, the same officer was watching Hunter's sleeping form over the security cameras, shaking his head. "This man's obviously crazy. And dangerous." He turned to the prison warden, who he was speaking to. "He doesn't belong here. He belongs...somewhere else."

The warden raised an eyebrow. "Like an asylum?"

"The man's delirious. You can't give him the help he needs here."

The warden rolled his eyes and started to leave the room. "I'll start on the paperwork."

"So, are you just gonna fly everywhere now?" Lilo asked Peter with a smirk. He'd hovered in for a quick visit and was now heading toward the window again, getting ready to leave.

He grinned back at her. "Maybe."

"Well, I gotta admit, it's pretty bad-ass." Lilo joked. And kinda hot...

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

She giggled. "Yeah..."

Stitch groaned. "Peter leave now please!"

The two kids laughed. Peter caught Lilo off-guard with a sweet, lingering kiss goodbye. Then he started to climb out the window. "See you tomorrow, Lilo."

"Ugh. I don't even want to go to school tomorrow. I just want it to be the weekend already..." She pouted.

He laughed. "Trust me, I know."

As he was about to fly away, she stopped him by gently grabbing his hand. He looked down at her in confusion.

"Peter... Do you ever wonder why you're...like this?" She asked hesitantly.

It took him a moment to understand what she meant. "Oh... Uh, no. Not really. I'm just kinda going with it." He forced a laugh.

"Well... Maybe you should ask your parents about it. I mean... Maybe it came from one of them." She giggled. "Imagine, having a family full of people who can fly. You'd never have to pay to travel again." When he didn't laugh at her joke, she frowned. "Sorry..."

He sighed after a moment, seeming to be trying to figure something out. She looked up at him in concern. "What is it?"

He looked down at her with strangely sad eyes. He wanted to tell her something, but he wasn't sure how, or if he really wanted to. He was afraid of how she might react.

She reached up and stroked his cheek. "Peter, what is it?"

"Lilo..." He shook his head. "I'm adopted."

"Oh... Really?"

He chuckled. "Yes, really..."

"Well... That explains a lot."

He frowned. "About what?"

"About how we get along so well." Lilo smirked.

Peter immediately felt stupid. He'd forgotten about Lilo's parents. He'd been lucky not to know his own; to have no idea where he came from, to feel right at home in an orphanage full of a lot of other kids just like him, to adjust to living with his his adoptive parents because they were his only chance at family. Lilo knew her parents and loved them, and had to go through the pain of losing them. And yeah, she had her sister and David, but they both worked a lot. If that was how Lilo's life had always been...

She'd grown up more or less alone.

Granted, Peter didn't know Lilo's life story, even though she was pretty much an open book. He looked over at Stitch, who was watching them with his ears perked up and his head cocked to the side. Had the little blue alien always been with Lilo? That would explain a lot...

Peter smirked and gave Lilo a quick kiss on the forehead before floating out the window. "Good night, Lilo."

"Good night, Peter." She whispered back, slowly shutting the window. He turned and zipped away, disappearing into the trees. He steadily climbed higher and higher through the sky, knowing that once he reached the city the only way he could escape visibility was by being at a ridiculous altitude. He shivered as he drove himself further and further up through the atmosphere, taking deep breaths. It had taken a while for him to get used to the pressure and climate changes, but he'd had plenty of alone time (and time ignoring his homework) to practice and condition himself for it. He closed his eyes in contentment as he dove and tilted among the stars.

He wasn't expecting to crash into another person up here, so of course he wasn't paying attention for anyone until he heard another boy's voice cry out in surprise. Peter jumped to attention just before his body collided with the other boy's. Everything was a blur as they spun around, at first clinging to each other for safety as the wind buffeted against them. Then, they quickly got tired of being wrapped up together and started to struggle against each other, eventually pushing one another away. They hovered above the clouds and faced each other, both seeming stunned.

Peter frowned at the other boy. He looked vaguely familiar... He was tall and skinny, with long, lanky limbs. His skin and hair were paper-white; If it weren't for his icy blue eyes and his clothes, he'd be lost in a snow storm. He wore a dark blue hoodie and brown skinny jeans. Peter was surprised to see that he was barefoot. Before Peter had a chance to say something, the boy turned away and started to escape.

"Hey!" Peter called after him, making him freeze. He slowly turned back to Peter with a frown. Peter scoffed. "Well, aren't you gonna apologize?" The boy didn't respond, just looked utterly confused. "You know, for running into me? We could have crashed!"

The boy continued to frown as he hovered a few paces toward Peter. "You... You can see me?" He asked in a low, husky voice, his tone careful and hesitant.

"Of course I can see you! Why wouldn't I be able to..." Peter paused as a realization hit him. This boy... Deathly pale, dressed to blend into the night sky, and carrying a strange hooked staff by his side... Was he some kind of ghost? A spirit of some sort? Peter gulped. "...see you?"

"No one should be able to see me like this..." The boy was mumbling, looking down at himself in frustration. He seemed to be arguing with himself in his head, struggling with how to handle the situation. Peter himself didn't know how to react to this. He knew he'd seen this kid before... Why shouldn't he be able to see him now? Why was he so familiar?

Peter gasped as the answer came to him. "But I've seen you before! At a football game!"

The boy raised one eyebrow at him, as if he suspected that Peter had gone crazy.

"No... No, that's right! You go to S.K.G., right? I knew I remembered you from somewhere..." Peter continued.

"Yes, but what I meant was you shouldn't be able to see me in this form." The boy growled, then shook his head and looked down at his wooden staff. Peter saw the look of determination that set in the boy's icy eyes and started to regret yelling at him to come back. Peter now had the feeling that he was getting into something that was too big for him.

"Well... Hey, no hard feelings, man. Let's just forget about this. I need to get home, any way..." Peter muttered as he turned to fly away. But the boy zipped past him and hovered in front of him, stopping him from proceeding home. Peter frowned at the boy's stern expression. Peter's eyes widened as thin, curly tendrils of frost scrawled their way over the dark wood of the hooked staff, creating a pale blue glow. The boy brandished the icy staff with both hands, holding it in front of him.

"I can't let you do that." The boy said solemnly. "No one's supposed to know what I really am."

Peter felt his stomach drop as he figured out what the kid meant.

He thinks he has to kill me.

"Dude, I don't know what that is! " Peter exclaimed. "I don't even know your name! For all I know, you're just another flying boy, but I'm not trying to kill you for that, am I?"

The wind that whipped around them turned icy and picked up speed, throwing Peter temporarily off balance. He glanced down to see the clouds below their feet swelling up and darkening. A thick fog began to creep toward them from every direction. Peter stared back up at the boy in alarm.

No, he's not just another flying kid...

The boy lifted up the staff and pointed the hooked end toward Peter, who gasped as it froze over and a frosty mist rose from its surface.

"Sorry, kid." The boy muttered.

Peter yelped and dove underneath the guy's feet, disappearing into the mist. The boy grunted in frustration before free-falling after Peter. When Peter course - corrected so that he was gliding horizontally above the storm clouds, he suddenly felt the wind push against him, trying to drag him backward, and grunted as he fought the current. He glanced over his shoulder to see why the wind was working against him; the white-haired boy was controlling it, manipulating the wind so that it was carrying him quickly toward Peter. It was creating a vacuum.

Peter rolled his eyes and muttered, "Great." Then he saw the boy point the hooked end of the frozen staff at him again. The hook glowed as it shot a blast of frost toward Peter. Peter panicked as trying to fight the wind proved to be a struggle, and cried out painfully as he managed to drop down into the surprisingly thick clouds below him, narrowly missing the shot that burst into a million microscopic shards of ice.

"Come on, come on! Kill the little bastard!" Hades was cheering the former snow spirit on exuberantly, his sickly yellow eyes flickering with flames of excitement. Pain and Panic were quivering well behind their master, hoping that the Guardian would be taking care of Peter for them.

Peter held his breath as he forced himself through the storm cloud. He popped out underneath it, soaked by the water vapor that quickly thinned out and rose off his hot skin in a light mist. Peter chuckled as the freezing wind buffeted about him, an exhilarating chill creating a soft frost over his wet clothes and hair. He growled in irritation as he tried to rub the frost off his eyelashes. Then a blast of ice exploded right next to him, having narrowly missed him. Peter's eyes, wide with terror, turned to see the spirit boy drawing closer to him. Peter groaned and started to dive down toward the city's lights. The public was his only chance at surviving this.

But then a burst of icy energy struck him in the back and he screamed as he was temporarily paralyzed, his limp body falling toward the buildings below at a rapid pace. As his body turned over and over, he caught glimpses of the boy hovering above him, watching him fall. And every time he turned again, Peter saw the earth racing toward him faster and faster. Peter's breathing became ragged as he begged his limbs to work again, preyed for some miracle to catch him before he finished the plummet to his death. Then, to his surprise, a sudden warmth spread through him and the ice that was crawling over his motionless form was melted away, leaving him drenched with cool water. Peter cried out in relief as he caught himself and started to drift toward the nearest rooftop, landing there and stumbling to his knees. He collapsed in on himself and tried to breathe deeply, wrapping his tired arms around his aching ribs, his lungs burning with each gasp of icy air. He was shaking due to a mixture of the cold, the shock, and his exhaustion. His entire back and ribcage hurt from the blast.

"Wow."

Peter grunted and whirled around, standing up to face the ghost boy who hovered over him, the menacing staff now hanging at his side and seeming inactive. Peter narrowed his eyes at the boy.

"You just tried to kill me!" Peter shouted.

The boy shrugged and slowly drifted down toward Peter, who stumbled backward to avoid him. The boy just scrunched his face up in confusion, looking Peter up and down, seeming intrigued. He stopped to hover about a foot off the roof.

"Yeah, I did..." The boy said casually. "In fact, that blast should have killed you. You should have been frozen and shattered upon impact with the ground..."

Peter stared up at the kid in horror. "Well, thanks for letting me know!"

The boy frowned and reared up his staff, aiming it at Peter again in suspicion. A thin layer of frost formed where the boy's hand came in contact with the wood and spread out from there. "Who are you, huh? What are you? Really." The kid demanded.

Peter held up his hands defensively. "I'm nobody, man. Honestly. I'm just a kid..."

The boy raised an eyebrow. "A kid who can fly?"

"I swear that's the only weird thing about me." Peter said with a nervous laugh.

The boy continued to watch Peter with skeptical eyes. "I doubt that..."

Peter frowned, but before he could ask what that was supposed to mean, the boy asked, "What's your name, any way?"

"Peter Pan."

The boy dropped down to the roof in front of Peter and extended one pale hand. "Jack Frost."

Peter looked bewildered as he hesitantly shook Jack's hand. It was even colder than Peter was expecting. The handshake was quick, to Peter's relief. Jack chuckled as he watched Peter shove his clammy hands into the pockets of his sweatshirt.

"Yes, the Jack Frost." Jack smirked and tilted his head slightly.

"So... You're not a ghost?" Peter asked carefully.

Jack's expression softened. "No. For a really long time I was, but...not now. As of the last couple years."

"Oh..." Peter murmured, looking away uncomfortably. After a pause, he looked back at Jack. "So what are you now?"

"A Guardian. The Guardian of Fun, to be specific. It's my job to help protect all the kids in the world, keep them happy and playful." Jack explained plainly.

Peter glared at Jack. "So, what was that all about? Chasing me, trying to freeze me. I'm a kid too, you know."

Jack laughed humorlessly. "Yeah, you are. A harmless kid. Sorry about that..."

"Well, I... I guess it's okay." Peter sighed. "You freaked me out more than anything..."

"Yes..." Jack narrowed his eyes at Peter. "About that... How were you not frozen by the blast? No mortal could have survived that hit."

Peter's eyebrows shot up. "R... Really? I mean... I dunno. I'm pretty sure I'm...mortal." Peter gulped. Though he supposed that he didn't really know much about himself... Who his real parents were, where he came from, why he could fly, how he could have survived Jack's attack...

What the hell was he?

"Yes, I'm sure you're just a normal flying boy." Jack droned sarcastically, a hint of amusement on his face. "I bet I paid you a few visits when you were younger, though you wouldn't have seen me... But I can't say that peculiar name of yours rings a bell."

Peter couldn't help but continue to look confused, not knowing what to say to Jack. How was he supposed to react to all this? He watched as Jack floated above him and smirked down at him.

"I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again, Peter. Probably soon. In the meantime, if you're ever in doubt, or struggling with yourself, look to Him..." Jack pointed up to where the once threatening clouds were now melting away to reveal the full moon.

Peter raised an eyebrow at Jack. "The moon?"

"The Man in the Moon is never wrong, Peter. Remember."

"Uh...sure. Okay then."

Jack chuckled. "Goodbye, Peter."

With that, Jack Frost was carried away on the wind and disappeared into the dark night sky. Peter stood on the rooftop for a long time, just staring up at the sky, or at the moon, or at the spot where Jack had been floating in front of him. More often than not, he was looking at the moon, for now he felt the weight of a great presence, some ethereal being gazing down at him.

Pain and Panic whimpered as they waited to see how Hades would react. Surprisingly, (and much to their relief), he simply sighed in disappointment.

"Seems like this kid's an even bigger problem for us than originally expected." Hades muttered, then turned to the two shivering demons. "Take care of this, cretins. Do not disappoint me...again."

Hades snapped his fingers and the two little worms were swallowed by bursts of blue flame and transported away from his presence.

Finally, Peter decided that there was no one watching over him, no Man in the Moon, and that Jack was just trying to make him paranoid after all the strangeness that had happened tonight. With a sigh, he pushed himself off the roof with his tired legs and glided home, glad that Jack had taken the icy, violent winds and dark clouds with him, so now the night was clear and still, and comfortably cool.

He slipped in through his bedroom window and silently shut it, glad that he hadn't seen his adoptive mother, Anita's, car parked on the driveway. He heard her husband, Roger, playing the piano downstairs. A few of the dogs were barking. (Roger and Anita owned a lot of Dalmatians.) Of course Roger hadn't noticed that Peter was gone; once he was focused on his music, there was no distracting him. He was locked up in his own little world, completely submerged in the music. Nothing could tear him away from that piano. He'd play for hours and hours on end if he could. Really, Peter didn't mind because Roger was quite good. It was the dogs barking he didn't care for; whenever Roger played, the dogs got so excited that they would bark the whole time, seeming to cheer him on because they liked the music so much. After a while, it got pretty annoying.

Peter sighed and flopped over onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling under his heavy eyelids. He figured that he should probably go take a shower before bed; warm up a little, clean up some of the sweat he'd worked up in the last ten minutes. But he was so tired, he couldn't even think of getting up to do anything right now. He decided that he would just shower in the morning before school... Yeah, that would work. Peter allowed himself to slip peacefully into sleep.

He didn't know what time it was when a crashing sound awakened him later on. He couldn't have been asleep that long. He jolted upright on the bed and tried to look around, only to realize that the room was shrouded in darkness. How? He'd fallen asleep with the light on... Hadn't he? Yeah, he was sure of it... He squinted around at the darkness, trying to make out what could have made that sound, sure that he was hearing little voices hiss at each other in derision.

"What the...?" Peter muttered. "Who's there?"

"Um..." A squealy, panicky voice said. "No one!"

"Idiot!" Another annoying voice that seemed twisted by agony chastised the first voice. Peter heard a smacking sound and the first voice whined. The second voice said gruffly, "Let's just bag the brat and get out of here!"

Peter's eyes widened. "Wha-?"

He was cut off when two small bodies flung themselves at him. One clung to his hair and clamped a scaly, clawed mitt over Peter's mouth, while the other was working to pin his arms to his sides and tie them in place. Peter screamed and struggled. Realizing that his legs were free, Peter jumped to his feet and ran clear across the room, running headfirst into the wall. He heard a satisfying crunch as the little creature that was latched onto his head made impact with the wall. The thing squealed, but instead of letting go, it only gripped Peter tighter, digging it's claws into him. Peter let out a muffled cry of pain. Meanwhile, the other creature was finished tying Peter up, and scurried down to Peter's ankles. Peter continued to bang his head against the wall to try to shake off the monster that was tangled in his hair. Each hit awarded him with a cry from the creature, and it seemed to be starting to lose its grip. Peter gritted his teeth in determination and continued to beat the squealing thing against the wall.

"Pain! Pain! " The nasty thing cried in terror.

Yeah, I hope it hurts, you little shit, Peter though ruefully.

"I'm coming, Panic!" The second creature called back, scaling it's way up Peter's body so that now both evil little things were nesting in his hair. Peter continued to struggle, and when the first monster briefly removed its paw from his mouth, he tried to call for help. But the shout was cut off by both demons thrusting his head forward against the wall, successfully knocking him unconscious. As Peter's limp body slumped down to the floor, the two creatures heard dogs barking downstairs. Panic, who was injured and delirious, worked to gag Peter while Pain finished tying the boy's ankles together. When the two demons heard the dogs approaching the bedroom door, with soft murmuring voices close behind, they began to panic. He was too heavy, there was no way they could get the boy out the window in time...

There was a knock on the door, followed by a woman's voice. "Peter? Is everything alright?"

"Uh..." Panic started, then cleared his throat and began to mimic Peter's voice. "Uh, yeah... Yeah, everything's great! Just uh... Bumped into something. That's all."

"Are you sure?" A man called now, trying to be heard over the rabid dogs that were now pushing on the door. "The dogs are going crazy..."

"Maybe they need to be taken for a walk...?" Panic trailed off, catching Pain's glare.

The man chuckled. "Not likely, but... We'll give it a try."

"Sorry to bother you, honey. Get some rest, you've got school tomorrow." The woman added.

"Okay!" Panic called back, his voice cracking. Pain looked about ready to kill him. The two sat in tense silence as they listened to the two adults struggling to lead the dogs back downstairs. They heard the front door open downstairs, and then shut. Pain scurried over to the window to see the two dragging about a dozen whining dogs away from the house. Pain sighed and hurried back over to Panic.

"Okay, let's get him out." Pain hissed.

"Okay! Um... How are we going to do this?" Panic asked, eyeing Peter's large, unconscious form in doubt.

"Well... We could fly out." Pain shrugged.

"Flying... Flying's good." Panic nodded in agreement.

Peter struggled to awaken a few hours later, his head aching and his vision warped by blinding flashes of color. He heard a raspy scraping sound above him, but when he tried to look up, he only saw blurs of white. He squinted for a moment, grunting in confusion, only to realize that he was being muffled by a gag. He craned his neck to try and get a closer look at the shapes, slowly figuring out that they were clouds. Was he flying? No, he wasn't moving... He couldn't move. His arms and legs were pinned. He begrudgingly turned his head to look down, and was immediately blinded by sunlight.

Wait, how could he be above the sun? He frowned and looked down again to see two dark figures peeking out of the light that engulfed them. Each of them was holding one of his feet, and he could make out the vague shapes of wings carrying their distorted bodies. That was the rough sound; wings flapping. Peter slowly pieced together that the two creatures were flying, and carrying him. He was upside-down.

These must have been the little monsters that attacked him in his room.

Peter immediately began to struggle as much as he could, which wasn't much because of the ropes that had him detained. He feebly kicked his feet to try and worry out if the talons of the two great birds that gripped his sneakers. He wasn't sure what he would do once they let go. All he knew was that he had to get away from these two now.

One of the birds, a scrawny hawk with deep blue feathers and a fretful expression, looked down at Peter with gleaming yellow eyes and screeched in dismay. The second bird, a portly eagle of a demonic red hue, followed the blue bird's gaze with the same yellow eyes and warbled in displeasure. While the two birds were temporarily distracted, they struggled to stay on course and dipped down a little bit in the air. In a panic, they both screeched and quickly righted their flight pattern, digging their talons painfully into Peter's feet. He let out a muffled shout, but was ignored aside from the snide chittering of the red bird. Peter glared up at them, then lightened up as a devious idea came to him.

I don't need them to let go... I just need them to crash. To buy me some time...

Peter made his body completely stiff, willing himself to feel heavier, forcing his weight downward. The bigger bird didn't seem to notice, but the blue one cast a quick, irritated look down at him.

Just keep distracting them...

He could feel hysteria rising in his brain as he started to sway back and forth. He didn't know how long he'd been hanging upside down, but he had to assume that they'd been carrying him like this for awhile, because he recognized the feeling of having all the blood in your body trapped in your head and his vision was foggy and he was incredibly dizzy. The swaying of his body and the way the birds screeched and jostled him around while trying to keep ahold of him didn't help. He actually felt kind of sick, but he forced himself to ignore it. The momentum of the swaying was starting to catch up with him, though. He could feel the pressure of gravity trying to pull him back down to earth head-first, but the demon birds seemed to be carrying him further and further up, high above the clouds.

I wonder if I can still fly right now... Or at least hover...

He'd never tried to without the use of his limbs. That would be a good thing to practice once he got back home... Peter decided to at least try to do something.

I wish I could manipulate the wind, like Jack...

Oh, well. He'd just have to settle for some irritating little tricks to throw the birds off-course. With a little grunt of effort, Peter curled his back and tucked his chin to his chest, already throwing the aggravated birds off their center. As they screeched, obviously pissed, Peter willed his head further up and over until his body totally flipped. He did a couple loose somersaults, the terrified birds screaming as they clung to his feet and were just dragged along for the ride. Peter continued to flip and turn clumsily as the three bodies tangled together and soared just above the clouds, with Peter in the lead.

That's right, birds. I'm in control here! Peter thought proudly. He would have grinned if he could move his lips comfortably. The birds continued to squawk and cry as Peter started to thrash his feet about, still awkwardly maneuvering through his somersaults.

At least now he knew he didn't need his limbs to fly... Well, to fly well.

But he felt two pairs of claws sink into the flesh on his legs and groaned. He ducked his head to look back at the birds, only to see their ugly faces twisted in rage as they used their talons to climb painfully up his body. He was sure they intended to scratch his eyes out, or something else equally terrifying. Peter cried out in a panic, then grunted as he started to thrash his whole body around, trying to shake the birds off. They screeched in fright.

Peter was too busy watching them to look where he was going. He couldn't stop himself from diving head-on into a cloud, enveloping the three of them in moisture. Peter quickly realized what he had done and squeezed his eyes shut, holding his breath as he pressed further through the cloud. But the other two weren't expecting it. They let out garbled screams of dismay as they were blinded by the water vapor.

When they finally came out through the bottom of the cloud, the two birds seemed to sigh in relief. Then they looked over Peter's still ducked head and screeched in horror. Peter opened his eyes and looked forward, realizing that he hadn't stopped propelling them downward. His eyes widened as he realized that he had the three of them hurdling toward a forest.

We're gonna hit the trees! That's gonna hurt...

Peter stifled a cry as he stopped himself, but the momentum had ahold of them and they kept racing forward. The trees were stretching up toward them, getting closer and closer. Peter didn't have the use of his limbs to try to catch his balance and stop their movement altogether. And the idiot birds were too terrified and stupid to think to do anything. They just dug their claws painfully into Peter's weak legs and wrapped their wings around each other and screamed hysterically. All Peter could do was watch as they were about to be flung into the thick, scraggly branches of the pine trees.

We're gonna crash...

Peter squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth, preparing for the impact that he kind of hoped would mean death.

Then, all of a sudden, the three of them were caught by a soft cushion of air that seemed to act as a net. They were suspended over the treetops, totally stunned. Peter heard a soft swishing sound above them and turned over to look up with wide eyes. The birds followed his gaze, and their beaks hung open in awe.

Jack hovered above them, his icy staff armed and aimed at the two birds.

"I suggest you two go and scurry back to your master, Tweetie Birds." Jack addressed the creatures sternly.

After a second of just staring up at him in fear, their eyes twitching, the two birds screeched and quickly soared away over Jack's head. Jack shook his head in annoyance and used the wind to carefully lower Peter down into one of the trees, so that he rested safely on a strong limb. Peter sighed and leaned back against the rough bark as Jack drifted down toward him. Jack knelt down in front of him and quickly untied him. Peter groaned as he felt the blood flood back into his numb limbs. He hadn't realized how tightly the ropes had been tied until now. He tried to lift his arms to untie the gag, but they felt so tired and heavy that he couldn't move them. Jack sensed the dilemma and pulled it off for him. Peter stretched his jaw to try and get some feeling back into it. It was sore and it clicked whenever he moved it.

"Are you alright?" Jack asked softly.

Peter nodded, but his expression betrayed his exhaustion. "Yeah, I'm fine... I should get home. My parents are probably freaking out..." How long had be been gone? Judging by the position of the sun, it was afternoon now.

Shit, I missed school... Peter sighed aloud. Lilo's probably worried, too.

"You're going to rest right here awhile." Jack said, sitting more comfortably on the limb so he still faced Peter. "Don't worry about your parents or school. I've handled everything."

Peter raised an eyebrow, silently telling Jack to explain.

Jack smirked. "I froze your house."

Peter's eyes widened to unrealistic proportions. "You did what? "

"Well, not literally, but I did freeze time in your house. Don't worry, no one's been harmed. They're all just sleeping."

"Sleeping?"

"Yeah. And they won't wake up until you get home safe to your bed. Then they'll wake up and think they just slept through the day because last night was so exhausting, what with your dad playing the piano almost all night, and both of them having to walk the dogs so early in the morning..."

Peter frowned. "Why did they have to walk the dogs?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "You can blame those two birdbrains for that."

Peter groaned. "Anita's gonna freak out about missing work..."

"Got it covered. I posed as your dad and called in for her."

"What about me skipping school?"

"I called them, too."

"What about when Roger realizes he didn't make those calls?"

"He won't. He'll just think he doesn't remember because he was half-asleep at the time." Jack beamed with pride. "All you have to do if he comes in to your room later is remind him that you weren't feeling well today."

"Wow... You really got it all figured out, huh?"

"Yup."

"What about the clocks?"

Jack frowned. "Clocks?"

"All the clocks in the house. You said that time is frozen, right? Well, when it un-freezes, are all the clocks gonna read the wrong time, or will they be reset?"

Jack took a moment to think about this. "Uh... We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

Peter sighed. "Well, we should probably go, then..."

"I really don't think you're up to travel just yet..."

Peter frowned. "Well, that's too bad. We should go now. Roger and Anita have been asleep long enough. Besides, I just wanna be home..."

Jack looked at him carefully. "Well... It's kind of a long trip, Peter."

Peter frowned at him. "What do you mean? Where are we?"

"Did you not see when you were flying?"

Peter shook his head. "Uh-uh. Too many clouds. Where are we?"

"Peter... We're about a mile away from Bald Mountain."

Peter groaned in response, shutting his eyes in frustration. His headache was getting worse...

Bald Mountain was a dark, towering mass of ragged black stone, where no plants or grass ever grew, and with sharp summits that stretched up to the heavens. The top of the menacing behemoth was hidden by the clouds. No one had ever seen the top of it. The few who made the venture to try and climb to the top had never come back. They just disappeared. The mountain was also about 500 miles from home. The outline of the damn thing was barely visible from the city.

"Shit... It's gonna take hours to get home." Peter muttered.

"Not if I take you."

Peter met Jack's smirk with a look of surprise. "Really?"

Jack shrugged. "Sure. It's no big deal. Besides, you're in no position to be traveling alone. You're exhausted and injured."

"Yeah, I know... Thanks, man. I really owe you."

"No problem, kid. Now just relax and let the wind take you."

"Hey, Lilo! Where was your boyfriend today?" Aladdin called from across the courtyard. School had just finished, and she was on her way to dance practice. She blushed as she turned to yell back, "I don't know!"

"Oh, alright. I hope he's not sick!" Aladdin called back before walking away with Jasmine, Esme and Phoebus. They were all probably grabbing a quick snack before practice started. Lilo sighed as she turned to enter the gym. She hoped Peter wasn't sick too... She hoped he was just ditching.

I hope he didn't crash or something trying to fly home last night...

She passed by Aurora and Giselle on the way out. Aurora had been talking to Giselle about cheer stuff as Giselle was walking her out to her car.

"So the basketball team's got a huge game next Friday and we all have to be there..." Aurora was saying, obviously irritated.

"Do you think Charlotte will show up?" Giselle asked.

Aurora shrugged. "She seems to think she's still the captain..."

"Well, it's a good thing we figured out a new formation without her. Just in case... And as far as anyone's concerned, Rorie, you're the captain now." Giselle said in reassurance.

Aurora sighed. That was not what she wanted to hear right now. "Well, about that..."

"What?"

"I didn't want to tell anyone this, but since you're one of my best friends and this might really affect you, I guess I can trust you with it..."

"What is it, Rorie?"

"I'm thinking of quitting cheer."

"Really?"

Aurora was surprised by Giselle's casual response. "Uh...yeah. You...aren't mad?"

"Why would I be mad? I can tell cheer's been stressing you out. You're not having fun with it anymore. And yeah, you're a natural performer and the team will probably be a lot worse without you, but...you shouldn't be doing anything that you don't like."

Aurora's eyebrows shot up, hidden by her curly blonde bangs. "Wow. Thanks, Giselle..."

"In the end, Rorie, you have to do what's best for you. Or else the whole team will suffer later on."

Aurora smirked at Giselle as they neared her car. "Well, the team won't suffer with you in charge."

Giselle's eyes widened. "What?"

"Giselle, with me and Charlotte gone, you're gonna be the only captain. Well, you can choose a co-captain, if you want..."

"Wow! I mean... I never really realized that. I..." Her expression turned sad. "I always kind of figured you and I would be co-captains next year..."

Aurora smiled tiredly at her friend. "I know. I just don't think I'll be able to handle it any more. We've still got the rest of this year, though."

"Yeah... I just hope Charlotte doesn't ruin it..." Giselle mumbled.

"The only way she could is if we let her." Aurora smiled as she hugged the redhead goodbye. Then Giselle had to head back to get ready for dance practice, so she skipped away with an energetic wave. "Be back in time for Wicked auditions! 5:00 sharp!"

Aurora laughed and called back, "I will!", as she got into her car and prepared to race to the cottage. There was someone she really wanted to call...

Meg was home alone, locked up in her room with music blasting from the expensive speakers Jafar had gotten her as a late birthday gift. She was working on spreading the purple paint evenly over her bedroom walls, having to climb on top of the furniture that had been pulled to the center of the room so that they wouldn't get paint on them. Not that she really cared, but Jafar and her mom had insisted. Of course they didn't feel obligated to help her with this process, but she was actually kind of grateful for the solitude and the opportunity to let her creative mind flow. There weren't even any servants in the house right now. Meg would have a night all to herself; pure, uninterrupted bliss.

She hummed along to the Meg Myers song that was filling the atmosphere when she felt her phone buzzing in her pocket. She pulled out her phone and glanced down to see who was calling, then frowned. This contact had been created more out of pity than anything else; she'd never actually expected to hear from it, except maybe in emergencies. She sighed and paused the song, filling the room with deafening silence. She rolled her eyes as she answered.

"Hey."

"Hey, Meg!" Aurora's positively chipper voice greeted on the other end. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing much..." Meg droned, her eyes straying toward a spot on the wall that needed another layer of paint. She repressed the need to sigh at the sight of it. "What's up with you?"

"Not much, either, I guess." Aurora laughed. "I guess I just wanted to check in..."

"Oh." Meg replied shortly, obviously uncomfortable.

"I also wanted to make sure that you're coming to Ariel's service tomorrow...?"

Meg could feel a scowl speed over her face, but since she knew Aurora couldn't see it, she just made her displeasure as apparent as she could through her tone. "Of course I'm coming."

"Okay. Just checking."

"Why wouldn't I be going?" Meg demanded icily.

"I dunno... I know you've been having a hard time with Ariel...leaving. And I know you probably feel like this party is the wrong way to handle it."

Meg merely scoffed in response.

Aurora continued, "But it's mostly to help Eric."

Meg rolled her eyes. As if I care about him... "Are Ariel's sisters even coming to this thing?"

"Um... No. No, they're not. They said that they've made peace with her...passing."

Meg could tell that Aurora was struggling with those words, and it only fueled Meg's aggravation. Ariel's family hadn't even seemed to grieve for her after she killed herself; They hadn't held a service for her, they hadn't insisted on finding her body for a proper burial, and they hadn't even cried. They all just moved on, and left all those who were having trouble accepting Ariel's death in the dust.

"So why aren't you calling to pester any of them? " Meg growled.

"I... I'm sorry, Meg." Aurora said miserably.

Meg sighed. She actually felt kind of bad now. Aurora hadn't meant to piss her off. Meg had never been one to shoot the messenger, but she'd been really on - edge lately. "It's alright. Forget it."

There was an awkward, quiet pause. Meg frowned as she began to recognize the song that was playing in the background on Aurora's end.

"Are... Are you listening to Tove Lo?" Meg asked warily.

Aurora laughed nervously. "Yeah... I've been kinda obsessed with her songs lately. Is it bothering you? I can turn it off..."

"No." Meg said quickly. "Don't. I, uh... I like that song."

"Really?" Aurora was obviously surprised by this.

"Yeah." Meg grumbled begrudgingly. "She's not so bad."

"Oh...okay, cool." Aurora said, seeming to cheer up. Then, she said in amusement, "I guess I shouldn't be that surprised. Your music taste seems pretty eclectic."

Meg was confused for a second, but slowly began to chuckle as she remembered how Esmeralda had revealed just a handful of Meg's favorite artists. "Yeah, I kinda listen to everything..."

"That's cool. I've always wanted to get into more kinds of music. Most of what I listen to is either pop or Broadway tracks." Aurora laughed.

"I listen to musicals, too... Sometimes..."

"Aside from Little Shop ?" Aurora joked.

"Sure... I like Sweeney Todd."

Aurora laughed again. "Makes sense."

"Haha, yeah... I'm guessing you're excited about Wicked, huh?"

"Yeah! I'm really excited about it. You're still doing it, right?"

"Yeah."

"Can you believe auditions are tonight? They seemed to come so fast..."

Meg had actually forgotten that that was tonight. "Yeah, I know..."

"Are you going for a lead?"

"Uh..." Meg bit her lip. "I was toying with the idea of trying for...Elpheba."

"Really?"

Meg could feel herself getting defensive even though Aurora hadn't even criticized her yet. "Yeah."

"That's awesome!"

Meg quirked up an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yes! Omigosh, I can't believe I never thought about that before! Wow... You're perfect for that part, Meg."

"Well, that depends on who else is going for it..."

"I think it's just Tiana, but I think I also heard Belle talking about it the other day."

"Well, they're both really good..."

"You're just as good as either of them, Meg. If not better."

Meg made sure her skepticism was evident in her voice. "Really? "

Aurora laughed good-naturedly. "Yes, Meg." The blonde suddenly gasped. "Oh! Imagine if we got the same cast, and you were Elpheba and I was Glinda! Wouldn't that be so funny?"

"Hilarious." Meg droned sarcastically, though she was really smirking in amusement.

Peter stared tiredly down at the fluffy clouds below him while Jack used the wind to carry him. He'd just taken a short nap, but it was fitful and he soon found that there was no use trying to sleep. He was too paranoid about little demons jumping on him again, or of Jack being ambushed by something much worse.

That was what Jack had told him those things were. Demons. Peter guessed he should have known that if there were people like him, there were probably bad guys too. A world with super powers was too good to be true without being fraught with issues. Thinking of the state the world was in today, Peter had to assume that since mere men were capable of such terrible things, powerful ones were even worse. The whole thing made him feel utterly depressed, so he just made himself focus on how tired he was, and the rest of the world seemed to melt away. But, as he gazed down absent-mindedly, his eyes caught a hint of a nasty rope burn that wound around his ankle, peeking at him from under the hem of his jeans. Peter frowned as he lightly ran his finger over the injury. It was sensitive and even the lightest amount of pressure caused it pain. Peter bit his lip and crossed his arms, turning over so that his back was to the clouds and he was gazing up at Jack, who flew over him.

Jack smirked down at him. "Penny for your thoughts?"

"Those demons..."

"Pain and Panic."

"Yeah, them. Were they...taking me to Bald Mountain? For some reason?"

Jack sighed. "Well. They were carrying you a long way, and it seemed to take a lot of effort. So, yeah. I guess that would have been your destination." A solemn look passed over his paper - white expression.

Peter wanted to swallow down the dread, but his throat was too dry. It was an urban legend that the mountain was buzzing with supernatural activity; That demons inhabited it and did all kinds of rituals, using the missing hikers as sacrifices. And it was believed for centuries that the Devil himself resided there, and in the dark of the night, while everyone slept, he commanded an army of demons, fairies, sprites and monsters to reek some temporary havoc and build his strength. But then the sun would come back and chase them all away. So they hid in the mountain, secluded from humanity until Judgment Day.

Of course, these were only myths. The modern world totally denounced them. But it was something that was talked about a lot, growing up in the orphanage. The kids there always told scary stories about the monsters of Bald Mountain. Peter himself used to love freaking out the younger kids with theories of what the demons did with the missing people. But, now that Peter was discovering this whole new world where spirits and guardians and demons actually existed, he supposed that anything could. What he once laughed over and mocked could be true.

He would be in that horrid mountain now if it wasn't for Jack's interference.

"You'll be home within the hour, Pete." Jack said, looking up to face the sky ahead. "Try to relax. You look really pale."

Peter resisted the urge to laugh hysterically.

Auditions for Wicked had just gotten out, and Belle was pretty sure that they went well. She was one of the people who went for Elpheba, but Belle was pretty sure Meg and Tiana both had her beat. She'd already decided that she'd be happy being an understudy.

To everyone's surprise, (well, not really), Charlotte had gone for Glinda. She must have been taking voice lessons over the last few months because her voice sounded substantially better than it did when they were auditioning for Little Shop. Still, it wasn't nearly up to par for Glinda's vocals. But, Belle had to admit, she definitely looked the part. Then again, so did Aurora and Cindy, and they definitely had a better chance than Charlotte. Even Giselle, who'd also auditioned for Glinda, could pull it off better than Charlotte, and Giselle wasn't even blonde.

Belle was in a chipper mood as Adam walked her out to his car to drive her home. He hadn't auditioned, of course. But he'd come to cheer her on (silently), which made her exceedingly happy. Now he was dropping her off at her house really quick, and she would be meeting him at his place later for their movie night.

Their excitement was quickly overrun by dread when they spotted Gaston leaning against Adam's car in the parking lot.

"Adam..." Belle whispered.

"I'll handle it." He said so quietly she almost didn't hear.

"Well, well!" Gaston greeted them loudly with his arms outstretched, drawing the attention of everyone in the parking lot. Meaning, everyone who had just auditioned. "Imagine seeing you two here!"

Adam raised an eyebrow. "By my car...?"

"And you literally just saw us inside." Belle added with a frown.

"Oh. Right." Gaston muttered, stepping away from Adam's car. Then he shot Belle a quick wink. "Nice audition, by the way."

"Thanks. You, too." She had to admit, his baritone was impressive. Though she knew that she was the only reason why he auditioned, and that made her really uncomfortable.

And somewhat fearful.

"Hopefully I can be the Fiyero to your Elpheba." Gaston said suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows.

Belle felt like she was going to be sick.

Adam stepped protectively in front of her, a sudden ferocity taking over his normally placid expression. "You don't talk to her like that. You understand?"

"Oh? What are you gonna do to stop me?" Gaston demanded arrogantly. A good amount of the crowd was now gathering behind Adam to back him up, but Gaston's usual crew fell into place behind him. John rolled his eyes as he was dragged into line with Charlotte and the Bimbettes. Even Tink and her friends were on Gaston's side; Ever since Peter ditched Tink for Lilo, she'd become even more of a bitch and joined Gaston's posse, along with her usual troop of friends. The Tremaine sisters were too busy arguing about something else a few yards away to notice what was going on.

Adam rolled his eyes. "I shouldn't have to stop you, asshole. You should just stop. Honestly, who taught you how to treat people?"

Belle tried to keep the surprised look off her face. She'd never heard Adam curse before.

"I would treat her real well if she'd realize that it's me she's supposed to be with." Gaston snarled.

Adam narrowed his eyes at Gaston. "And why should she be with you? Why is it so strange that she might be interested in me?"

"Well, look at you!" Gaston roared. "You're a mess of emo angst, sloppy clothes, shaggy hair..." Gaston's lips twisted into a cruel grin as he growled, "...and scars."

Without warning, Adam lunged at Gaston and shoved him back against the car, shattering one of the back passenger windows. A few people screamed, cried out or gasped. Most just looked on in silent horror. Gaston stared smugly at Adam, who was breathing heavily and slowly backing away, seeming to instantly regret that decision.

What no one knew was that Adam was feeling that familiar tingling in his eyes, that burning in his veins, that itch in his skin... He squeezed his hands into fists so tightly that the knuckles shone white. He shut his eyes and forced himself to breathe deeply, trying to even out his heart beat.

Not here. Not now.

"You know what you are?" Gaston asked him with a devilish smirk. When Adam did nothing but glare at him, he spat out, "A monster."

There was a long moment of tense silence as the two boys stared at each other. Gaston's face shone with pride, his teeth gleaming white in a nasty grin. Adam's jaw was locked, but that was the only hint as to one of the many emotions he could possibly be feeling at this moment. His expression was a complete blank. Finally, he unclenched his knuckles and let his arms hang limply at his sides, seeming to be coming to peace with something. He slowly turned to Belle, who was doing her best to hide her fear.

Her best wasn't really good enough.

The sadness was evident in his eyes as he quietly asked her, "Can we leave?"

She quickly nodded and walked around the front of the car to the shotgun seat, avoiding Gaston, who was grinning at her as she passed. She ignored him and climbed into the car. As Adam approached the driver's sode, pulling out his keys, he only paused to quickly growl to Gaston, "Get away from my car." Gaston smirked as he walked away. Adam got in and quickly started the car. The engine roared as the car raced out of the parking lot, carrying Adam and Belle out of sight.

Gaston watched them go with a grin. When he caught most of the people in the lot glaring at him, he looked belligerently around at them all. Then, he narrowed his eyes at Esmeralda, deciding that she would be the last person he'd pester tonight.

Stupid little slut. Always so high-and-mighty, fighting for "justice", defending the helpless and pathetic... Works in a whore house through most of high school and has probably slept with every guy in school except me...

All of this bitterness fueled him as he said to her, "Maybe it's Adam who should be locked up in that tower, instead of your ugly little friend."

Her bewildered expression made him grin even wider as he turned on his heel and headed to his car, followed by his friends, most of which were laughing wickedly. John lingered, staring blankly into Esmeralda's tearful eyes. She wanted to say something to him, but couldn't. John angrily shook his head and stormed over to his own car, where Charlotte was waiting.

"That motherfucker..." Meg growled and started to stalk after Gaston, but Aurora and Hercules both held her back.

"Meg, stop..." Aurora murmured calmly.

"It's okay, babe." Hercules said softly, pulling Meg close. But he watched Gaston the whole time he was leaving the parking lot and the stunned crowd. "It's okay..."

Meanwhile, Adam was driving the astonished Belle home in uncomfortable silence. Well, it wasn't completely silent. The wind whistled through the broken window behind them. They were halfway to her house when he finally whispered, "Do you still want to hang out tonight?"

She looked over at him, but he wasn't looking at her. He was staring intensely at the road ahead.

He thinks I'm going to turn him down... He thinks I'm afraid of him... She realized sadly.

"Of course I do." She said softly.

He looked blankly over at her. She was smiling. "Really?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"But I was so..." He sighed, staring back at the road. "Tonight was really bad."

"Yeah, well... Gaston shouldn't have pushed you like that. Bringing up... Any way, at least no one got hurt."

Adam didn't say anything. She reached over and placed her hand on his shoulder. He flinched and she quickly pulled her hand away, worried that she'd freaked him out. He slowly shook his head.

"I don't want to hurt you, Belle."

Belle's expression became tough. "Adam. You and I both know that you would never hurt me. You have to kill that doubt that's in your head." Adam was unresponsive. "Adam, you are not your father. Okay?"

He looked over at her in shock. She gave him a calm smile.

"I know you. The real you. And I know that that monster isn't what you are or ever will be. You'd never do to anyone what he did to you. Right?"

He nodded almost imperceptibly and turned back to face the road. "Right."

"Okay. So we're just going to have to trust each other on this. We're in this together, no matter what anyone says."

"Really?"

"Really, really." She grinned at him through the rear view mirror, where he was watching her from.

He couldn't help but smile back. "Okay."

She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek as they pulled up to her house. As she was getting out, he gently took her hand in his own and she turned to face him.

"If Gaston bothers you anymore... In class, the hallway, at lunch, or during this musical thing... You'll tell me, right?"

She kept her expression soft, but her tone was serious. "Only if you promise to handle it better than you did tonight."

After a pause, he nodded. "I promise."

She smiled. "Okay. I'll be at your place by 7:00."

"Okay. See you then." He waited in his car and watched her until she was safely in her house before coasting up to the corner. He waited there and bit his lip as he took a long moment to decide which way to turn. One way would start him on the winding path back to his castle. The other would take him on a short detour uptown. He glanced at his clock. He had until seven... That was almost an hour from now. He smirked as he turned right, heading toward the city lights rather than the darkened forest. He had enough time to pay someone a quick visit. He parked his car on the corner of Gaston's street, near a liquor store, and walked up to the house. No one was home. Adam grinned.

"Alright, they might be a bit alarmed when they finally wake up, but just assure them that what I told you is true. Everything's going to be fine." Jack said, sitting in Peter's windowsill as Peter was pacing around his room. "And I've got an enchantment on the house to protect it from any more visitors. But I can't keep it up for long, and those demons, or someone worse, will be back. You're going to want to find a place to lay low."

Peter nodded solemnly. "Okay."

"Everything's going to be fine, Peter. I'll be checking in. A lot of kids have been needing my help in this region recently, so I'll be around." Jack started to float out the window, but Peter's voice stopped him.

"Wait! Jack... Why did they want me any way?"

Jack looked at Peter carefully for a moment, then smirked. "Let's just say you might be more special than you think you are."

"How?"

"I don't know for sure yet. But believe me, Peter. Everything will become clear very soon." Jack began to float out the window. "I'll be around. By the way, text your girlfriend soon. She's been worried all day." And he flew away.

Peter sighed as he watched Jack leave, then quickly shut the window. He was too exhausted to think straight, but he knew there was one more thing he had to do before diving into bed. He retrieved his cell phone from his desk and crept around the house to check on all the clocks. They all read 5:45 a.m., which must have been the time that Jack froze the house. Peter rolled his eyes and quickly set them all to the right time, (His phone read 7:15.), then snuck back up to his room and slipped into his bed, curling up in deep sleep.

If Roger and Anita were disturbed upon waking up, they didn't let Peter know. He slept through the night.

"Sorry for running late, sweetie." Maurice was saying as he pulled through the gates to Adam's castle.

Belle laughed lightly. "No worries, Papa. I'm sure Adam won't mind."

"To make up for it, I'll extend your curfew by half an hour." He said with a smile.

Belle grinned. "Thank you, Papa. Adam will drive me home, so you don't have to wait up."

"Okay, dear." He stopped the car. "Have fun!"

"Thanks!" She gave her father a quick kiss on the cheek before hopping out. He didn't leave right away. He wanted to wait until Belle got inside before driving off.

Belle was smiling as she knocked on the door. She waited patiently for a few moments, and when no one answered, she knocked again shortly. There was another pause and Belle sighed. Maybe Adam was in the library or something...

The door was opened by Cogsworth, and Belle was slightly confused to see the foyer completely darkened behind him. He looked unexpectedly startled by her presence, as if he was hoping she wouldn't be here. As if he wasn't expecting company.

"Belle?" Cogsworth asked, looking pale.

She smiled sweetly at him. "Hi, Cogsworth. Is Adam here? We were supposed to be having a movie night."

"Uh... W-well, no... I'm afraid he... He stepped out...for a bit..." Cogsworth said uneasily. Belle could see sweat on his forehead.

"Oh... Well, could I come in to wait til he gets back?"

Cogsworth began to stutter. "I-I don't th-think that would be for the b-best, Ms. Belle..."

"Why not? How long will he be gone?"

They were interrupted by the sound of a window shattering upstairs, followed by some crashing sounds. Belle was alarmed as her ears detected that the noises were coming from Adam's bedroom. Cogsworth was staring up the darkened staircase behind him in horror, still blocking Belle's path. There were horrible sounds of a struggle from above; Belle thought for a moment that the guttural moans were coming from some animal that had broken in, but after a moment the noises became clearer and she realized that they were Adam's sounds.

"What's going on?" Belle cried in alarm.

Cogsworth whirled back around to face her, his eyes wide as saucers and his expression sickly. "Nothing! Nothing's happening! It's just- I- Wait here!" He slammed the door shut before she could say anything else.

Utterly confused and slightly scared, Belle turned to see her dad frowning at her from his car. She shrugged at him, then turned back to the door. She listened intently, but now that the door was shut it blocked all sound from within so that nothing could reach her ears. A few long, heavy moments passed. Belle figured that she might just have to leave, but she couldn't tear herself away from the door. What if Adam was hurt? What if someone had just broken in and he needed help? And if Adam was there the whole time, why had Cogsworth lied about him being gone?

She jumped a little when the door creaked open again, slowly revealing Adam leaning in the doorway in exhaustion. He looked pale and haggard, and a thin sheen of sweat clung to every area of bare skin she could see. He was dressed differently than she'd last seen him; He wore a baggy sweatshirt that hung off of him and some really loose sweatpants. He was barefoot and his feet were filthy, caked with dirt. His hair was wild and he had dark circles under his dull eyes.

Belle stared at him in shock. "Adam? What-?"

"Belle..." He mumbled. "I... I don't feel well."

"Are you sick?"

"Yes... Yes. I think it would be best if you left. Now." He said with surprising force.

She nodded. "Uh, okay... Are you sure?"

"Yes!" He barked, making her flinch. When he noticed her reaction, his expression softened. "Just go. Now."

"But-"

"Please?"

She slowly nodded. "Okay, sweetie... I'll call you tomorrow to check in, okay?"

He didn't say anything. He just nodded faintly and slipped back into the darkened home. The door shut between them with a soft click. Belle stood there for a moment, then shook her head and hurried back to the car. As she climbed in, she saw her dad looking at her in concern and quickly explained, "Adam's sick, so no hanging out tonight."

Maurice nodded and started the car, quickly pulling away from the looming, blackened heap that was Adam's home. The energy of the place seemed even creepier than usual, and Maurice was glad to get away. He didn't know how Belle could stand to be there so much.

They drove in silence for awhile. Then, Maurice sighed and asked, "Did that boy yell at you?"

"No..." Belle answered quietly.

"I thought I saw him yell."

"No, Papa. I mean...he didn't yell, but... He was frustrated, you know. Being sick and all. He was probably worried about getting me sick or feeling bad for having to cancel our plans..." I hope he's not blaming himself too much...

"Right." Maurice said shortly, though he didn't seem convinced.

"He'll be better tomorrow." Belle assured him, though it seemed like she was telling herself that rather than her father.

After all, it was what she always told herself.

"Adam, sweetheart, you can't keep doing this..." Mrs. Potts sighed and fretfully shook her head as she poured him a cup of hot tea. He was sitting by the fireplace in the library, letting the warmth of the flame fill his chilled form, which was still shivering violently as a result of the change. But it was also making him sweat more, which was disgusting.

"I don't want tea." He mumbled, staring into the heart of the flames.

"It'll make you feel better, Master, I-"

"I don't want any tea! " He roared, throwing out his arm to knock the mug out of her grasp. She shrieked as the cup shattered on the marble floor and the hot liquid spread out and seeped into the old carpet. She stared at him with wide, frightened eyes as he glared at her. His eyes shone a beastly yellow. He growled, "Get out."

"But someone has to clean-"

"Get out!" He shouted. She screamed and ran out with tears in her eyes, slamming the door shut behind her. Adam was left alone with the fire and the mess on the floor. The portrait of his parents that hung over the hearth seemed to glower down at him in disgust.

"Well, well..." A regal voice drawled.

A woman's chuckle made him turn to find Maleficent seated by the window, seeming to have miraculously appeared there. She was grinning at him, a feral grin lined with fine red lips and gleaming with amusement in the firelight. Her reptilian eyes shone as she slowly stood and began to stroll toward him, her high heels clicking on the floor.

"What a spectacle." She smirked up at him.

He glared down at her. "Are you here to scold me, too?" He shook his head, his eyes suddenly seeming to calm and fill up with regret and fear. "I didn't mean for it to go so far... I just wanted to talk to him. I can't always control it..." Adam's lip shook and his eyes filled with tears.

"Oh..." Maleficent cooed and shushed him softly, gently stroking his cheek. "Hush, now. None of us are mad at you for that. We're actually quite fond of your chaotic tendencies. You've made Eris very proud." Maleficent's expression became more stern. "I'm here to broaden our business agreement."

Adam glared at her. "What more could you want me to do?"

"It seems that we will need you to watch over someone while the battle rages. You see, a certain young lady's soul happens to be tied to the planetary alignment. I placed a curse on her when she was a baby; a death curse. But over the years I've had the nagging sense that my spell has been...tampered with. So, if there is any chance that she could be in the way of our plans, it is your job to stop it from happening. She shouldn't be the problem though... It's outsiders you'll have to worry about. This is very important, Adam. All our fates depend on this girl being hidden away, and your fortress is the best place for that. Can we count on you?"

Adam sighed. "I've already told you. I'll do anything you want as long as I can keep Belle safe here."

Maleficent grinned. "Then it seems we have a deal. Good boy." She fondly patted his shoulder, then brushed past him to head out the library door. "Hades will be very pleased."

Snow and Ferdinand both jumped when they heard a scream downstairs. Snow clapped her hands over her mouth to hold in her own cry of terror as it was followed by another scream, and another. Ferdinand pulled her close and listened to the screams, easily recognizing the frantic, pleading voices of the maids.

What the hell is going on down there?

"Wait here, Snow..." He whispered as he started heading toward the door.

"No! Ferdinand, no..." She begged, trying to pull him back. He softly hushed her and whispered, "It's going to be alright, I promise." Then he left before she could stop him, gently closing the door after him. She stood frozen in the middle of the room, terror gripping her as she stared at the closed bedroom door and listened to Ferdinand's receding footsteps. There were a few long, horrible moments of silence. She heard Ferdinand's voice call, "Hello?" as he tiptoed around downstairs. Then there was a crashing sound and Ferdinand cried out in pain. A harsh thud brought Snow out of her fearful paralysis and she raced toward her door, throwing it open and standing in the threshold, looking through the dimly lit hall to the top of the darkened staircase. She called, "Ferdinand?" but there was no answer. She felt tears form in her eyes as she continued to call out to him in panic. Then, an eerily calm voice called up to her from downstairs.

"Come down, Snow White..." Grimhilde said in an almost musical way, seeming to taunt her. "He's down here, waiting for you..."

Snow was panting as she fought with herself, her fear wanting her to stay planted firmly in place while her heart wanted her to fly down the staircase to Ferdinand's aid. She had to go down; No matter how much Grimhilde scared her, she had to go down. Ferdinand was hurt and he needed her help. And, if Snow didn't go down now, Grimhilde would probably just come up to her.

Snow took a deep breath and slowly forced her shaking legs to carry her toward the stairs. She paused at the top, trying to see into the darkness below, but it was useless. She'd just have to go. She took a deep breath and felt her way down the winding stairs, gripping the banister for dear life as she slowly lowered herself further into the darkness. She squinted as she neared the bottom of the steps, looking around and hoping that her eyes would adjust soon. She knew that the kitchen was to her left, and to her right was the hallway that would lead her to the foyer. She held her breath and headed right, the blackened hall enveloping her and filling her with dread. She couldn't see a thing around her. She waited for a pair of hands to shoot out and grab her, but none came. She made it safely to the foyer.

She gasped as she tripped over something and fell hard against the stone floor, landing in a thick, warm puddle. The smell of copper invaded her senses and she choked in disgust, trying to climb up out of the liquid. But she slipped and fell back in, sliding clumsily around in the blood as it soaked her clothes and splashed up at her face, clinging to her skin and hair. Snow screamed and crawled away from the puddle, which now stained her and the floor with sticky fluid. Her eyes were just now starting to adjust and she stared down at the dark puddles that surrounded her and covered her hands. And what the blood was coming from...

All the maids in the house. Their bodies were strewn about the foyer, laying heavily on the ground and gazing up at Snow with grey, unseeing eyes. Snow cried out in anguish as she looked around at the faces that had practically raised her after her father's death, had spent the last week caring for her in her "delusional" state.

They were all dead.

Snow turned her wild eyes toward where she saw that a large mahogany cabinet had been turned over. She saw a dark form pinned under it and panicked, recognizing a familiar head of dark brown hair. She ran toward the cabinet and cried out again when she saw that it was indeed Ferdinand who was trapped underneath. She was relieved to discover that he was still breathing, but a dark stain covering his face revealed that he had a nasty head wound. With tears in her eyes, she crouched down by the cabinet and tried to force it off of him, but she wasn't strong enough. With a pained scream, she let go of the cabinet and leaned her head against it, quietly sobbing.

What am I going to do?

She had to call for help. She had to get to a phone. But her cell phone was up in her bedroom, and the house phone was in the...

She heard a clicking sound behind her and turned to see that the kitchen light had been turned on. Her breath caught in her throat when she heard Grimhilde's soft laughter coming from there.

She could either walk right into Grimhilde's trap, or try to make a run for it up the stairs. But if she did that, Grimhilde could sneak up after her, and she'd be trapped up there with her. At least if she went into the kitchen, she could face Grimhilde head-on...

Snow White knew that no matter which one she chose, odds were that she was losing this battle, and that Grimhilde would finally get what she wanted. Snow would die. But, if she had any chance at saving Ferdinand, she had to take it. She had to get to the phone in the kitchen. Realizing this, Snow gathered up all the courage she could muster and hesitantly walked toward the kitchen with her head held high. But as she neared the kitchen, she felt her heart rate elevating. However, she was glad to escape the smell of blood and be greeted by the wafting scent of baked goods.

Has she been baking? Or was one of the maids preparing dessert when this happened?

Snow frowned and paused momentarily outside of the kitchen door, then slowly peered inside. Grimhilde was leaning against a counter by the oven, grinning manicly at her. Her vibrant green eyes shone with hysteria and her normally tamed black hair was wild. She looked paler than usual, and somehow older.

Plotting to kill me has probably been very stressful... Snow thought bitterly. It's probably cost her a lot of sleep. Snow steeled herself for what was about to come and stood in the kitchen doorway with as much confidence as she could salvage.

"Hello, Snow." Grimhilde greeted casually, still leaning against the counter.

Snow looked around Grimhilde for any signs of a weapon, but there was none. Just the oven, which was on. Something was definitely baking inside. Snow then just stared at Grimhilde, saying nothing in response.

Grimhilde chuckled. "Do you like what I did with the foyer?"

Snow still didn't respond, but glanced at the house phone, which hung on the wall across from her. Grimhilde saw this and said, "Ah... I suppose you want to call 911. Maybe save your little boyfriend?"

Snow stared at her evenly. Grimhilde laughed and continued, "Well, I suppose the motherly thing would be to ask you why a boy was hiding up in your room, you naughty child." She smirked. "But I think I know why..." After a pause, she said, "If you want to get to that phone, you'll have to do something for me first."

Snow raised an eyebrow. "Do...what?"

The oven dinged, notifying them that whatever was baking had just finished. Grimhilde made a soft, excited noise and snatched up some oven mitts that hung on the wall next to the oven. Snow watched in confusion as Grimhilde wrenched it open and pulled out a fresh pie. Grimhilde smiled sickly at her as she set the pie on the counter to cool. Snow eyed the dessert warily as Grimhilde shut off the oven, closed it, and hung up the mitts again. Then she turned back to Snow, the smile still plastered on her face.

"Before you use that phone, you simply must try this pie I made for you." Grimhilde said in a sugar-sweet tone.

Snow's eyebrows shot up. "That...that's it?"

Grimhilde nodded.

"Well...sounds easy enough..." Snow shrugged. She started to walk toward the pie, then froze. Noticing the smug look on Grimhilde's face, Snow stared at her now. "It's poisoned, isn't it?"

"You won't know unless you try it." Grimhilde hissed. "And trying it is the only thing that will save Ferdinand's life. So what's it going to be?"

"Well, I can't use the phone if I'm dead..."

"Think about this logically, Snow White. After all the hard work it took to hire someone to kill you, you think I would just poison you and be done with it?" Grimhilde laughed. "Kind of anticlimactic, don't you think? And that would be pretty lazy on my part. See, it's the thrill of the kill that matters to me. I want your death to be messy." Grimhilde snarled, and Snow flinched.

"But, if I call for help, you'll be arrested. You won't get to kill me." Snow whimpered, utterly confused. Nothing about Grimhilde's words made sense.

Grimhilde cackled, making Snow flinch again. "My dear child. You think they'll believe that I did all this? Look at what I've already gotten away with! It'll be simple enough to convince the police that someone else broke in and killed those poor maids, attacked dear Ferdinand. Besides, my hands are clean..." Grimhilde held up her perfectly manicured, pale hands for Snow to see. Then she narrowed her eyes at Snow's hands, which were caked in blood. "But yours aren't..."

Snow tried to swallow down her disgust, but the lump that formed in her throat as she held in her tears made it difficult. She couldn't bring herself to look down at herself; covered in the blood of five different women who had almost been family to her.

"The only witnesses they'll have are you and your boyfriend. Everyone thinks you're crazy, and he might not even be alive by the time help arrives. Head wounds don't stop bleeding, you know. He's fading fast, Snow White. What are you going to choose?"

Snow bit her lip as she stared at the steaming dessert. "Um..."

"Think fast. Honestly, how much could you be risking on a bite of pie? Other than the love of your life that is..." Grimhilde grinned wickedly.

Snow nodded firmly. "Alright. Okay. I'll do it."

Grimhilde chuckled and pulled out a knife, seemingly from nowhere. Snow's eyes widened as she watched as Grimhilde started to cut into the pie. "Good girl. Grab a plate."

Snow kept her gaze glued to Grimhilde as she retrieved a plate and a fork from the cupboards nearby. Then she hesitantly approached Grimhilde and held out her plate. She watched as Grimhilde picked up the slice she'd cut for Snow. Snow warily eyed the fruity filling, easy recognizing and smelling the peaches. But there was also another fruit that was paler and crisper, overridden by the cinnamon glaze. Snow couldn't quite detect what it was.

"What's in it?" Snow asked as Grimhilde set the pie on her plate.

"Peaches and pears, dear." Grimhilde answered quickly. "Enjoy."

Snow silently inspected the dessert, trying to find anything out of the ordinary. She couldn't really make anything out. Honestly, the pie smelled quite good. Her stomach grumbled in anticipation of the rich dessert. She frowned as she dug her fork in for a tiny bite off the end of the slice, then held her fork just in front of her mouth. Grimhilde was watching her with gleaming eyes, anticipating Snow's first bite. Snow knew that something very bad was about to happen. But if she wanted to save Ferdinand, she had no other choice. She closed her eyes and quickly ate the bite of pie, practically swallowing it whole. She slowly opened her eyes and she and Grimhilde stared at each other for a few silent moments. Finally, Snow White smiled and said, "That actually wasn't bad."

"You see?" Grimhilde smiled proudly, but there was still an underlying eeriness to it.

This isn't over. Not by a long shot. Snow thought dreadfully. She started to back away toward the phone. Grimhilde was still holding the knife she'd used to cut the pie, watching Snow's every move quite intently. "I'm going to make that call now..." Snow figured that her throat itching was due to nervousness, though that didn't make much sense...

Grimhilde nodded. "You do that..."

"Right..." Snow began to cough as she continued to back away, never turning away from Grimhilde. But now the itching in her throat had become a hot dryness that spread into her heaving lungs. She coughed and then began to sputter and gasp for air as her throat started to swell and close up. Her eyes were watering as she fell to her knees, just a few feet away from the phone. She couldn't see through her tears as she continued to choke, staring up at the cackling Grimhilde.

"Oh... Did I say I put pears in the pie? I meant to say apples." Grimhilde seemed completely pleased with herself as she watched Snow writhe on the floor. "You see, I was experimenting with the flavors, and..." She trailed off and looked at Snow in mock concern, as if she were just now noticing Snow's agony. "Oh, but my dear, you don't seem to like it..." The saddened expression was split by a sickening grin as she threw back her head and laughed wickedly. Then she drew up the knife and started to slowly approach Snow. "And now I finally get to do what I've wanted to since I first saw you, Snow White. Now I get to cut out your frantically beating heart and use it for myself."

Snow shook her head and started to crawl backward, away from Grimhilde. She tried to ask her insane stepmother what that meant, but it was impossible for her to talk.

"Yes, now I won't have to look at that pretty little face of yours any more. Always taunting me, always garnering so much attention... Including your father's. I can't believe that it was actually easier for me to kill him than it has been to get rid of you."

Snow could feel her life slipping away from her. Her back met the wall behind her and she looked up, seeing the vague shape of the house phone hanging above her. She reached up in vain to try and reach it, but it was too high. Snow was beginning to black out as she suffocated, slumping lifelessly down to the floor. She heard Grimhilde laugh again, but it sounded distorted and far away. Snow could be see Grimhilde drawing closer to her through the sheen of blinding tears. The knife was glistening in the overhead lights.

The last thing Snow saw before she blacked out was a large figure swooping in and tackling Grimhilde to the ground. The last thing Snow heard was a pair of animalistic screams.

"Aurora! Aurora, come quick!"

Aurora groaned as all three of her aunts were gripping at her and trying to pull her out of bed. And they were all shouting at her. Great.

"What time is it?" Aurora mumbled.

"Aurora, Snow White's in trouble!" Flora cried in a panic.

Aurora was suddenly wide awake. "What?"

"Her stepmother- Grimhilde- she..." Fauna stuttered and sniffled miserably.

"Where is she?" Aurora demanded, already getting out of bed and pulling on some warm layers.

"The hospital!" Merriweather replied in irritation.

"Okay, you three go down to my car and I'll be right down. I'll drive."

"Aurora..." Flora started.

"Just go! "

Her three aunts scurried out of the room and down the stairs. Aurora heard the front door slam as they rushed outside. She quickly pulled on a beanie cap and wrapped her purple scarf around her neck. She was about to head downstairs when a familiar image popped out at her. She whirled around to see another rose sitting on her pillow, but she was sure it hadn't been there before. How had it gotten there? She'd only turned away for a second. Aurora held her breath as she walked toward the blood-red rose, but didn't dare to touch it. There was something evil about these things; that had to have been why her aunts burned the first one. Aurora frowned when she saw a note with it this time. She carefully plucked it up and unfolded it. Her heart stopped as she made out the words that were written in the same color as the flower.

We're sorry for your loss.

Aurora threw the card down on her bed and flew down the stairs and out the door, not even needing to pause to pick up her car keys. She ran toward the car, which her aunts were standing around.

"Get in the car!" She called as she approached, unlocking it for them. They obediently hopped in and she was only a few seconds behind them. She didn't hesitate to start the car and drive as fast as she could to the main road. Once there, she continued to push the speed limit in the direction of the hospital. It would be a half-hour drive. Aurora groaned and thought about speeding. Thankfully; there was no one else on the road. Aurora glanced at the clock. It was almost midnight.

"Aurora, your seat belt!" Flora admonished.

Aurora rolled her eyes and used one hand to strap herself in, never taking her eyes off the road. "What happened to Snow?"

"Oh, honey, it's just awful!" Fauna wailed. Merriweather uncomfortably patted her shoulder.

"Well, we don't actually know yet." Flora cut in, giving Fauna a warning look. "We just heard on the radio that there was some kind of incident at Snow's house. And...well, a lot of people are dead."

"What?! Is Snow one of them?!" Aurora cried.

"We don't know yet, dear... It didn't sound like it. But Grimhilde..."

"I don't care about Grimhilde! This whole thing is her fault." Aurora seethed. She sighed and started to fiddle with the radio, tuning into the news station. "Let's try to listen for updates."

They all fell into silence as an announcer's voice came from the speakers.

"And in other news, there's been another sighting of the urban legend around our city, the Beast. A high schooler named Gaston has actually claimed that the monster was in his home and that it not only trashed the place, but also attacked the young man. He hasn't been mortally wounded, but he did suffer from some severe trauma and a ghastly scratch running down the left side of his face. Gaston is currently at the city hospital being checked on by our finest doctors. His father, a very wealthy lawyer in these parts who also has a knack for hunting, has vowed to capture the Beast and mount its head on his wall."

"Oh, my..." Flora whispered.

Aurora glanced around to see that all three of her aunts had gone very pale. Fauna's sobs were stilled by shock. Aurora rolled her eyes and said, "Please, the Beast is just a myth. I'm sure Gaston was just attacked by a burglar and decided to dress up the story to look cool. You know, some kind of publicity stunt."

But her aunts weren't convinced. In fact, they seemed really scared. They remained silent and stared out the car windows as Aurora drove on. Aurora wanted to tell herself that their fear was unfounded, based completely on elderly superstition. But she had to admit that the whole thing was strange.

Suicides, insane storms, attempted murders, bloody fish and wild Beasts... What the hell is happening to this place?

Aurora couldn't bring herself to focus on anything the reporter said next, especially since these were the next words she heard:

"Also in the hospital, it is suspected that the young Snow White, who was recently brought out of the shadows and into the arms of her stepmother, has now actually been the victim of an attempted murder by said stepmother. We haven't learned much since the incident just a few hours ago, but we have reason to believe that Snow will not be partaking in a happy end. The police seem to be withholding details until further notice."

A/N

Well helloooooooo there! It's been awhile. I meant to post this on Christmas, but...life happened. So here's a nice long chapter as a late Christmas present.

Because the idea of Disney's semi-operatic voices singing the cheesy Phil Collins song was way too hilarious to pass up. XD

AND because I don't want to get into details about who's auditioning for what and all the audition processes for Wicked, (because I read through the older chapter that went into such heinously tedious detail for Little Shop auditions and thought, 'Holy shit, did people really read through all this? I totally would have just skipped over it...'), here's what you basically need to know as for who's auditioning for what:

Elpheba- Tiana, Belle, Meg, Drizella, Pocahontas

Glinda- Giselle, Cindy, Aurora, Lottie, Anastasia, Tinkerbell

Nessa Rose- Alice, Esmeralda, Jasmine, Giselle

Madame Morrible- No one. Because no one wants to play her. I'll probably stick the Tremaines with this part since it's double-cast.

Fiyero- Phillip, Naveen, Aladdin, Hercules, Gaston

Boq- Phillip, Charles, Ferdinand

The Wizard- Phillip, Charles, Ferdinand, Naveen

Dr. Dillamond- Charles, Ferdinand, Phillip

And the chorus seems to be...everyone else. I don't know exactly how this is happening yet, but I have the major roles planned, so that's great. Callbacks will be covered next chapter, and the official cast list will be posted then too, so stay tuned.

Any way!

What did you guys think of this chapter? Hmmmmmmmm?

Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about how the pie part was written... But that's the only part that had me like "Eehhhhh" and it really seemed like that would be my reaction no matter what I did- because I'm never happy with anything I do HAHA- so... I dunno. Any way, feel free to review! You guys have been strangely quiet...

Thanks to everyone who has followed and favorited! ^.^

Love you guys.

*Also, if my name change threw anyone off, I'm sorry. Just really wanted to change my pen name. It's still not perfect, but, meh, all in good time.

Til next post, lovelies. It shouldn't be too long because I think the next one will be kind of short... This one and the next one are kind of a two-parter, because they were originally supposed to be one chapter, but it just seemed way too long (this chapter alone is 58 pages long). So here you go!

Also, have any of you gone back and read earlier chapters in your stories and just gone like "UGH."

ALSO, I went to see Into the Woods in the theaters yesterday and it was WAY better than I thought it would be. I was soooooo happy Hollywood didn't ruin my childhood this time around. Good job, guys! *thumbs up*

ALSO ALSO, I know that the whole thing with Jack Frost probably seemed real sudden and rushed, and for that I apologize. I really should have introduced him earlier because he's actually going to be really important later (I know he was briefly mentioned in the chapter with the Cartoon Network characters but since then he's been kind of ignored soooooooo) but OH WELL HE'S HERE NOW.