Chapter Thirty Four


A/N: I do not own anything other than my OCs when they come out to play. Everything else either belongs to either Disney or the Greek Myths.

Yes ladies and gents it's cookie making time! Hard to believe we're already here!

Thank you all for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter!


"Why do you always manage to talk me into these things?" Jay muttered two weeks later as Mal gathered the ingredients for the cookies they were going to make.

"Because I've known you since I was five and thanks to my dad, I'm fairly decent at smooth talking people," Mal said, propping up Maleficent's spell book as DeVil hopped on the counter after handing her the last ingredients.

"And I'm here why?" Carlos asked, petting the small dog that was sitting next to him. It had honestly been the shock of Mal's life when she had walked into Jay's room a few days prior to see Dude sitting on Carlos' bed.

"I'm not seeing things am I?" Mal asked Jay, still staring at the dog in shock. "You didn't turn DeVil into a dog did you?"

"If I did, would DeVil be sitting next to the dog?" Jay scoffed. "Also, I don't have magic Mali."

"I hate when you have a point," Mal muttered. "Still, DeVil's sitting on his bed next to a dog and not running back to the Isle?"

"Apparently Carlos met Dude when working on his Tourney stuff with Ben," Jay muttered back. "I came back from meeting with coach to see DeVil with the dog."

"Somehow this still doesn't crack my top ten in terms of the strangest things I've seen."

"Your mom and dad are Gods. Somehow. I'm not surprised."

"Alibi," Mal and Jay said, Mal pulling herself out of her thoughts.

"Won't it be more suspicious if we're seen together?" Carlos asked. "Plus Evie's not here."

"Blueberry can do what she wants," Mal muttered, looking over the spell book. She honestly hated the idea of doing this but Ben needed the kick in the pants to get out of the contract. That's all this was—Mal saw there was an antidote for the spell anyway. Once Ben got himself out of the betrothal contract, Mal would slip him the anti-love spell.

The last thing I need is Prince Beastie mooning after me, Mal thought with an inward scoff before pausing at the last ingredient.

"Jay, we may have a problem," Mal muttered.

"What's up?"

Mal pointed to the last ingredient listed in the recipe. "The recipe calls for one tear of human sadness. Human sadness Jay. I don't apply, and you and DeVil don't cry."

"We could just cut up an onion," Carlos suggested. "Would the magic really know the difference?"

"I'd rather not take the chance," Mal sighed. Of course, she'd know if an onion would have worked if Auradon actually taught students about magic. After all, the headmistress's own daughter was half fairy but knew nothing about magic.

Granted she didn't seem to have the good sense the Gods gave her, considering Mal found the younger girl paling around with Blueberry in their room on the rare occasion Mal spent time in her dorm.

"Look, let's just get this started," Jay said with a frown. "We can cross this bridge when we come to it."

Mal nodded and they got to work on the cookies. Soon, however, there was nothing left to add but the tear.

"Alright…" Mal sighed. "Which one of you boys wants to cry?"

"Mal, we're from the Isle," Jay said. "You cry, you die remember?"

"Well sorry Jay but unless you're content to just stand here by cookie dough, we just wasted about forty five minutes."

"Why is this so important?" Jay asked. "I mean, I know I'm the one who suggested becoming allies with Ben but—"

"It's nothing Jay," Mal told him with a small shrug. She didn't know why she was so determined to get these cookies done. Maybe it was just to wipe the smug grin off of Audrey's face whenever the brunette princess saw her in the hall, maybe it was because it wasn't fair to Ben to be trapped in a relationship he no longer wanted to be in.

It was clear to anyone with eyes—yet Ben insisted on it. Though it could have been the reason why he was almost always in his office, much to the consternation of his shadows. Mal sighed as she thought back to her first Ben Dinner Shift as they were called.

"Okay, which one of us is on Ben Dinner Duty?" Akiho sighed as he sat down at the table about a week after the VKs arrived.

"I think Emir is," Lonnie said.

"I'm sorry, what now?" Mal asked, taking a break from shoveling down food as fast as she could and tilted her head in confusion.

"Ben often works through dinner," Emir explained. "He claims he doesn't but the number of times we've had to bring him dinner or breakfast says otherwise. What are we up to now Akiho?"

"I think twelve times this year," Akiho said. "Thankfully it's steak night again so a nice big slab of protein will keep him full."

"Wouldn't this be Audrey's job?" Jay asked. "I mean, even if she didn't know before, she knows where Ben's office is now. He gave us directions right in front of her."

"That would require the banshee to think about someone other than herself," Emir muttered and Mal snorted in amusement.

"You know Ben's going to catch on that you gave her that nickname," Lonnie said dryly.

"Ben hasn't caught on that Audrey's just in the relationship for the crown and it's so obvious that Mama Odie could see it," Akiho told her. "It doesn't help that he and Audrey have been friends longer than Ben's been friends with us."

"That is one toxic friendship then," Jay muttered.

"Took the words right out of my mouth," Emir chuckled and Mal couldn't help but shake her head slightly This was her life now apparently: hating Sleeping Brat with the son of Aladdin.

"Why don't I take the food?" Mal offered, not realizing how 'girlfriendy' she sounded. Ben was always there, making sure the VKs got anything they needed. Like she said, they repay their debts on the Isle.

Not to mention, she was longing to knock some sense into this boy! He didn't know how good it was, having the option to work through food. On the Isle, if you did that it was likely you wouldn't eat again that day!

"Thanks," Emir said without a second thought, handing Mal a plate with the biggest steak he could find and a heap of potatoes.

"Appreciated," Mal told him with a small nod of her head. It was really amazing how much the AKs trusted them-she couldn't imagine letting someone she'd known for only a week to be alone with the person who was next in line to rule the Isle. "Jay, watch my food. I'll be back."

Hopefully with a wayward prince, she thought before banishing it out of her head. She strode off, making her way to Ben's office and clutching the plate of food as firmly as she could to keep any from spilling off the plate.

"Ben?" Mal called as she marched into his office, not bothering to knock.

"Huh? Oh, hey Mal," Ben said, looking up from his paperwork. "What's up?"

"I'm your cue to stop working," Mal said, holding up the plate of food. "Unless you became a robot and I missed the notice?"

"What? But dinner's not for…" Ben said, trailing off as he looked at his watch. "Oh. I didn't realize what time it was."

"Obviously. Now, come on. Away from that desk," Mal insisted. "If you insist on being in here, you can eat on the couch but you're going to eat!"

Ben smiled slightly as he got up and sat down on the couch next to her. "You know, I don't insist on being here Mal. I just got caught up with work."

"If you can work through your body telling you you're hungry, then yes you are insisting. Now, eat up," Mal told him as she handed him the plate.

Ben took the plate and began eating. "Oh, this is good," he said after swallowing. "You know, I half expected Emir or Akiho to come in."

"I took their shift from them."

"Shift?"

"Ben Dinner Duty shift," Mal explained. "Apparently this is the twelfth time they've done this?"

"Not surprised. They think I work too much."

"You know, I'm starting to think that too."

Ben shrugged. "Coronation has to get planned and thee paperwork's not going to fill itself out," he said as he continued to eat.

"That doesn't mean you can't eat," Mal said as she shook her head.

"I eat," Ben said softly. "Akiho'll bring me sandwiches especially if we've got Tourney practice the next day."

He paused and looked at Mal for a second, as if trying to see if something was wrong. "Where's your food?"

"Don't worry, I'm good—"

"You sure? No need to be hungry just because you brought me food Mal."

"I got Jay guarding my portion."

Ben nodded. "Well, I should get back to—"

"You barely touched your food Ben," Mal said. "That paperwork's not going anywhere. Eat!"

"Okay, okay," Ben chuckled as he took a bite of steak. He couldn't help but feel a bit touched that Mal felt concerned enough to check on him, even if she was potentially dating Jay. It was more than Audrey did—truthfully Ben felt like he was putting all the work into the relationship.

"So…do you normally have this much paperwork?" Mal asked.

"No…but like I said, coronation needs to be planned out—"

Mal frowned slightly. "But…by you?"

"It's my coronation."

"I just thought you'd have committees to handle this," Mal muttered.

"It does go through my dad's council but it needs final approval," Ben explained.

"But…isn't your dad still the king? Why wouldn't he give his final approval?" Mal asked. "Hand some of it off to him! You're not king yet, he can't just pass off his job."

"It's just three hours a day Mal," Ben shrugged. "Sides, it has to be done so why not by me?"

"Maybe because you're sixteen and should be focusing on homework, sports or whatever else you Auradon kids do?"

"Oh I do that too," Ben nodded. "School, homework, captaining the Tourney team along with R.O.A.R…"

Mal shook her head.

"So um…thanks for bringing me dinner by the way Mal," Ben said after a few minutes.

"You needed to eat, it was nothing," Mal said with a shrug.

"Still, you've known me for a week," Ben said, not wanting to add that he had friends who'd known him a lot longer who wouldn't have done that. "Thanks you. You should go eat though, don't let your food get cold."

"Okay," Mal said softly.

"See you around?"

"Sure," Mal nodded. She'd work on getting him to take a break later, at least he was eating. "School's only so big after all."

Mal sighed and shook her head, pulling herself out of her thoughts. After that, she and Jay had doubled their 'Ben guard' efforts as they called them. DeVil really did have a good idea with that. However, it was a lot harder than it looked considering Ben didn't have classes with either of them. Or DeVil. Or Blueberry.

It didn't help matters that Ben was practically a workaholic, only stoping for breaks for Tourney, ROAR or if someone forced him. Akiho had said at one point that he was just about ready to borrow Sven from his father and use the reindeer to drag Ben out of his office.

Mal wasn't going to lie. She'd pay good money to see that.

But that didn't matter right now. What mattered was that tear.

"We still need the tear," Mal muttered under her breath, looking over the recipe once more.

"Hey guys!" Lonnie said as she walked into the kitchen, not noticing Mal frantically covering up the spell book. "What are you…oh making cookies? Midnight snack huh?"

"Yeah, just couldn't sleep," Mal lied, nodding her head a little. Lonnie grinned and stuck her finger in to grab some of the dough. Mal froze, not sure how to react. Anything too sudden could be suspicious but she didn't want Lonnie to be under the love spell too.

"Um, I don't think you should—"

"What? I'm not gonna double dip," Lonnie said, giving Carlos a small smile as the younger boy softly voiced his objections. "Hmm, could use some chips."

"Chips?" Mal asked, looking at Jay in confusion.

"Chocolate chips!" Lonnie elaborated with a grin as she got some from the pantry. "Only the most important food group," she added as she poured some of the chips into the bowl. She paused when she realized that none of the other kids seemed to know what she was talking about. "Wait…didn't your moms ever make you chocolate chip cookies?"

Mal froze, glancing at Jay and Carlos. She knew she was lucky—she was probably one of the few kids on the Isle who could say she was loved by her parents. But Jay still found talking about his mom to be painful even if it'd been years since her death and DeVil would probably run the other way if Cruella actually baked cookies out of fear they were poisoned.

Though to be fair, most kids would have done that too.

"Like when you're feeling sad," Lonnie elaborated, not noticing the reaction of the VKs. "And they're fresh from the oven and she gives you a big glass of milk and makes you laugh and puts everything into perspective…why are you all looking at me like that?"

"It's…it's just different where we're from," Jay told her. There was no delicate way to say 'you lot don't throw out stuff to bake cookies with' and Lonnie was one of the few AKs who were genuinely trying to make the VKs feel welcomed.

"Oh," Lonnie whispered and then tried to regain her cheerful attitude, "well I mean, I just thought…you know even villains love their kids."

Mal, Jay and Carlos stayed silent; Mal didn't want to rub her relationship with her mom in the others faces. Jay had been loved by his mom—until her death when he was four. Auradon was partially responsible for it too, thanks to the fact that they had a stellar lack of a medical system.

Jacqueline may have been a thief but she truly loved her child.

Meanwhile Carlos was sleeping in a nest of furs surrounding by bear traps. At least, if Jay was telling the truth from the one time he tried to rob Hell Hall, Mal thought, once again referring to the smaller boy by his first name. At least, in her head.

Lonnie frowned as the three of them stayed silent, gently resting a hand on Jay's shoulder. After all, it was safe to assume that if Mal was publicly stating she was Lady Persephone's daughter then there was some love in that relationship.

"Oh guys…how awful," she whispered, her eyes beginning to well up with tears. One of Lonnie's tears dropped down her cheek and landed into the bowl.

"Well," Mal sighed, noticing it but trying no to be suspicious and rush Lonnie out of the room. "Like we said, it…it's different where we're from."

Lonnie nodded. "Hey, if you guys ever want to spend the night, Jane and I usually have a sleepover with Akiho and Emir. Sometimes Ben joins too if he can tear himself away from his paperwork."

"Fairy Godmother's okay with this?"

"What she doesn't know doesn't hurt her," Lonnie shrugged. "Just…think it over okay?"

Mal nodded. "Thanks for stopping by Lonnie. Evil dreams!"

Lonnie chuckled. "Thanks. Sweet dreams to you guys too."

As soon as Mal was sure Lonnie was out of ear shot, she said, "let's get these guys in the oven."

Jay nodded and quickly dished out the cookies, getting the tray into the oven.

"We've got to be out of our minds," Mal muttered.

"This was your idea," Jay muttered back.

"I know. But now…there's a million ways this could go wrong. But it's the only plan we've got. Unless you want to be saying Queen Audrey a few years from now?"

"So…how are you guys going to get Ben to eat this cookie?" Carlos spoke up. "I'm just saying he's probably been coached a million different ways to avoid eating strange items."

"Just ask him first," Jay said with a shrug.

"You want one of us, VKs, to ask Ben to eat a cookie?" Mal asked slowly.

"He is a very trusting guy. I mean he spent a good ten minutes alone with me in a tree grove that was slightly overgrown," Carlos pointed out. "It shouldn't be that hard."

"Especially if Mal does it," Jay teased. "He seems to have a better report with you than he does the rest of us. Unless you want Blueberry simpering after him?"

Mal sighed but shook her head. "I can't promise he'll take it though."

"This was your idea Mal. No weaseling out of it," Jay told her. "All you can do is try."

"So…who wants to tell Lonnie that we mainly eat their leftovers?" Carlos asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Carlos, if you want to be the one to break that girl's world view into a million pieces be my guest," Mal sighed. She didn't even realize she'd called the younger boy by his first name. "We're wicked, not cruel. There's a difference."

"What did you just call me?"

"Carlos. Why, you go by something different now?" Mal snarked.

"No you…you normally just call me DeVil," Carlos said with a shrug but Mal could see a small smile pull at the younger boy's lips.

"You have a problem with me calling you by your first name?"

"No."

"Then what's the problem?" Mal asked. "Jay calls you 'Carlos'."

Carlos shrugged. "Just at Tourney practice and I think that's just so the others don't think anything's weird considering none of them refer to each other by their last name."

"Carlos, you're the only one of us with a last name," Jay snarked.

Carlos smiled slightly. "Anyone else slightly worried about their hearing when Ben breaks it off with Audrey?"

"No matter where we are in the school, we'll be able to hear her," Mal predicted as the timer went off for the cookies. There was no turning back now.