Chapter 72: Storm Within

Carlos leans back against the display case in Rumpelstiltskin's shop. He's unsure what he's feeling inside. It feels like a tornado of emotions and his brain is being tossed around in a whirlwind. He hates what he's been doing the past couple of days; lying to his best friends and sneaking around, all to see his mother, who is dead and living in the Underworld... because of Emma. He doesn't know if he should believe what the woman was telling him; after all, his own mother on the Isle was an expert at lying and manipulating people to get what she wanted, and she practiced on him a lot. She'd ruined his childhood and it was a relief to go to Auradon to escape her, but what if this version of his mother was worse...?

She did not like being called a mother and she seemed only concerned in escaping from her current situation... but wouldn't you if you were trapped in the Underworld?

The son of Cruella De Vil then thinks about Jay and the rest of his friends. Would they agree that he deserved to have a parent, or at least know her... Jay didn't seem bothered by the fact that he didn't have his father around here but... the two friends were different from one another... more different than he cared to admit. While Jay usually took everything in stride and tried to hide his emotions, Carlos was more open and wore his heart on his sleeve. Jafar treated his son better than Cruella treated hers and it made him sad, but also angry.

What about Mal and Evie? Would they hate him too when they found out? The two girls were like his sisters and he can't lose them. They protected one another and everything that he's done since coming to Storybrooke ruined all that.

Then there was Jane, the girl he'd crushed on for so long and then finally asked out. He had deep feelings for her and thinks about how she might react to all this deceit and lying. While not out of character for a VK, Carlos had changed, and he wanted to keep making Jane happy, her smile was worth everything to him. He's afraid of what might happen if everything was revealed. If he lost Jane, he's not sure what he'd do... if he lost everyone, all to see a mother that wasn't technically his.

"What should I do?" he mutters to himself. He kind of wishes for Dude to be here, to tell him the truth, even if it hurt.

The teenager stares forward at the mirror, thinking about his choices.

Does he risk everything for a parent's approval and ruin everything with his friends or does he just sit and do nothing, waiting to go home?

…

"What's going on out here?" Belle asks, returning with a stack of books in her arms.

"Discussing some recent developments," Regina answers.

"About the portal potion?" the bookworm inquires.

"No, about these kids' potential for magic." Rumpel grins.

"Well, we all know that Mal has it, and Uma too," the beauty says. "We've all seen it."

"And we can now add Evie to that list," Crystal explains. She shifts Gideon to her shoulder and the baby's eyes wander to the strangely dressed pirate behind his big sister. His brown eyes look on curiously before smiling at the stranger.

Harry is taken aback by this, usually, babies just cry when they're near him, but this little guy seems almost happy to see him. Apparently, he wasn't afraid of pirates, but if his father is the dark wizard that the others from Storybrooke fear so much, it's clear that nothing can scare him. He's unsure of how to react and just waves at the baby. This amuses the wee lad as he smiles even wider and even gurgles.

Crystal notices her brother's sudden mood swing and she turns to see where he's looking.

"Looks like he likes you," she says.

"Not sure why usually they just start screamin' " Harry shrugs. "Even CJ was like that."

"Well, just don't tell my dad because he and your father don't get along,"

"Why might that be?"

"Because he's still a bloody crocodile," Hook answers, entering with Emma, Snow, David, Simon, Whitney, and Neal. Rumpel grimaces but chooses to ignore the comment, helping his wife instead.

Harry looks extremely confused and the daughter of Rumpelstiltskin decides to fill him in.

"My father is the crocodile who took Captain Hook's hand," she explains.

"Took a lot more than that," Killian says. Emma puts a hand on her husband's shoulder to soothe him, she knew it still irked him when someone brought up Milah.

"Ye talkin' about Tick Tock?" the younger pirate asks.

"Who?"

"The crocodile that lives on the Isle. Ye mean that yer father is the reptile that ate me dad's appendage?"

"Well, he didn't eat it and he didn't crawl on all four legs. He was cold-blooded back then and he certainly looked the part," Crystal says, conjuring up a picture of her father in his Dark One form. She hands it to the VK and the boy drops it in fright.

"Bloody hell!" he screeches. "That is not normal. What is that?"

"That is our version of Tick-Tock," Crystal says, slightly amused by Harry's reaction.

"Perks of being the Dark One," Emma grimaces darkly.

"And yew two are his kin?"

"We both look like our mothers," Crystal says, humouring the young pirate.

Harry is stunned by this and he bites his lip. He didn't realize that the crocodile who took his father's hand was the father of the girl he liked. She was indeed a sight to behold but is linked to the creature that ruined his father's life, that is a lot to process. Fortunately, he just sucks in a breath and takes a step back, sitting near a cart full of books, unsure of how this would impact his ability to "date" her.

"Can we please focus on the task at hand?" Regina asks.

Just then Carlos enters the library, looking worse for wear as his thoughts about what to do still bother him. He had snuck out of the shop and saw Emma and her family heading towards the clock tower. His blood had boiled slightly at the sight of the blonde, the so-called Saviour, the woman who killed his mother. Why hadn't she told him yet? Was she ashamed of it? He hoped she was because she deprived him of a mother in this land...

He shakes the thoughts from his head, trying to think straight before entering the building.

"Dude there you are!" Jay says. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Walking around mostly," he lies.

"You said you were going to be watching movies."

"I got bored and I went for a walk," he says. "I'm sorry I didn't text you guys, but reception out here is pretty bad."

"Which should be expected since we're a town cloaked in magic to hide us from the real world," Emma says. "Cell phone reception is mediocre at best."

Carlos just grinds his teeth and looks away from the pregnant Saviour. He goes to stand next to Jay and his eyes wander towards the stack of books now on the library's front desk. He inhales sharply, wondering which one contained the potion for the portals. His heart races as he debates about doing it, hiding his emotions as best as he can.

Regina brings signals for Evie to bring over the duffle bag. The former Evil Queen then removes the ingredients, examining them carefully. She turns to Rumpel's daughter.

"You still need to restock my potion's cabinet,"

Crystal sighs waves her hand and the jars on the desk re-stock to the appropriate amount. She then hands Gideon to Ben so she can get the proper page. She then lays the book down next to the duffle bag.

Carlos's heart is pounding in his ears. He slowly shifts towards the book, his eyes gazing at the potion... the one that could bring his mother back. He inhales sharply and decides to just stand there and not draw attention to himself while he ripped the page from the book. He knows that to get this page, he'll need to subtle and act casual so that no one would suspect anything.

"Belle still wants to investigate these portal potions before we send people somewhere," Rumpel says, examining the volumes that his wife had acquired. None of them seemed very helpful.

"And we still need to talk to Uma about whether she used the same ingredients," Evie adds.

"Why talk to her, when her worm of a first-mate is right here," Mal says, turning to glare at the son of Captain Hook.

The VK holds his hands up in surrender but does stand up to face the purple-haired teen.

"Ye kin stop goupin' at me. Everything Uma did is a complete mystery. She did this a' on her own."

"Then how come you had a jar of the potion?" Jay inquired.

"She gave it to me. I just followed orders."

"Big surprise," Evie mutters sarcastically. "Following her like a mindless drone for the queen bee."

"Which means we still have to go talk to her," Ben sighs, not entirely eager to confront the girl who had kidnapped him twice.

"Dad, where did you let Ursula and Uma go? I mean Granny's is filled at the moment and Killian would never let you near The Jolly Roger."

"Aye," the blue-eyed pirate mutters angrily.

"I simply relocated my former cabin hideout to the seashore to allow the two ladies to be closer to their element. I can direct you to it."

"Well, I think it's safer if Ben and the other AKs stay here," Mal says. "She doesn't exactly like any of you, and while she does hate us, we know how to handle her."

"And to get her to listen, her first-mate needs to come with us too," Jay says.

Harry nods and goes to stand by the door, deciding not to argue, despite the possibility of facing Ursula, the cruellest sea witch on the Isle and thankfully the only sea witch. He was wondering what his captain had been up to with her mother since the other day.

"The rest of us should portion out the ingredients and help Belle with her research," Regina finishes.

Carlos knows that he needs to find a way to be alone with that book, so he speaks up.

"Do you mind if I stay and help you?" he asks the former Evil Queen.

"Aren't you going with your friends?"

"I'm not exactly comfortable with going near Uma..." He turns and pulls the woman aside.

His mind races as he thinks up a lie.

"She and I... we kind of have a rough history that I'd rather not go into, but if she sees me, she might not help at all."

Regina looks at the boy for a long moment, eyeing him carefully. She's not sure if he's telling the truth or not, but perhaps he's just trying to get out of helping. She knows Emma is better at telling if someone is lying, but she suspects that he's not being completely truthful. Unfortunately, at this point, the group can't afford to risk anything, these kids needed to go home. They needed the information from Ursula's sea urchin offspring.

"Okay, you can help Belle with her research, but I'm warning you, it's going to be boring."

"I'd rather read than face Uma," he admits honestly. "I'm better at tech and information than fighting."

"All right," Regina says. "Let's get a move on."

Carlos lies to his friends and tells them that he's going to help Belle with research since he knew how to use a computer in case they needed to look something up. They just nod and say their goodbyes before following the Dark One down towards the harbour.

Now I just need to be alone with that book, he thought, the guilt of his decision eating his insides.