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-Dark-

Prep.

The word kept coming back like a nightmare.

An ominous, nerve-wracking nightmare.

She wanted so badly to demand what he was prepping for, but she swore to mother if Hiro threw another smirk, knowing or otherwise, at her she was going to beat him with the IV stand.

Still.

It bothered the shit out of her.

And her mind just kept getting pulled back to their hangout.

To the drawers, cabinets, and pretty much any empty space crammed with supplies.

Supplies for what?

For whatever T was fucking prepping for!

Ugh.

It's because he's never felt prepared enough.

She sighs as Deez's response echoes in her ears before she shakes her head.

Not the time for that bull shit to creep up on her.

Besides, she should know better than try to figure out what Hiro was planning. It always ended with her frustrated and a pounding migraine when she'd tried it with T.

But fuck if it didn't set her on edge.

If Hiro- fucking shove half my body into a dragons mouth Hiro- was actually taking the time to put forethought into something-

She startles when the machine she's hooked up to starts beeping loudly, grimacing when she finds four pairs of eyes on her.

"The fuck is-" Jay sits up with a grunt as his machine echoes hers.

Then Carlos's machine adds the shrill cacophony.

"Chill, brah," Hiro frowns as he looks down at Carlos in concern before he eyes her and Jay, "It's your heart monitors." He gives her a worried glance, "Your pulses spiked." He explains as he rubs Carlos's shoulder. "Just breathe and try to relax, and they'll go back to being steady."

Damn it. Just what she fucking needed. Instructions to calm down from the source of her stress. She swallows her groan.

She sighs in relief as, one by one, the machines go back to their rhythmic beating.

"Damn," Hiro grins, "You kids really know how to reign your shit in."

"It's an Isle thing." Evie shrugs daintily.

"Nantekotta*," Hiro breathes out, "Of course it is." His concerned eyes return to her. "You okay, Malg-"

"Hey! No running!"

She's glad she wasn't the only one who jumps at the sharp reprimand as they turn to the door leading to the hallway.

"One o' one!" Roy beams happily as he skids to a halt in the middle of their room. "And Fam!" He looks around. "Sup!?"

"Sorry, he's an idiot."

Her lips twitch in amusement at Doug's simple apology before he, Lonnie, and Ben fill the doorway.

Fuck. She stares at Ben as the fact she'd run from him hits her. Her monitor's shrill beep comes back full force as it feels like her face catches on fire.

"Mal!" Ben rushes to her side. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

For once, she's actually grateful for Hiro's laughter.

Until he moves.

Her eyes narrow suspiciously as he rolls out of bed and walks closer to her.

"She just realized she left you hanging." Hiro supplies for her as he pulls a wire out of the machine.

She growls before she whips her pillow at him. "Shut up!"

"I could have left the tattletale monitor beeping." Hiro points out with a chuckle.

"Oh fuck off." She rolls her eyes.

"Can you believe the mouth on this dragon?" Hiro grins, "You really know how to pick'em, Princey."

"C! Call it off!" She demands before she snatches her pillow out of Hiro's hands to press her face against the stiff fabric.

"Call wha-" Comes Carlos's wheezed response, "Oh."

"Red!" Hiro snorts, "You're gonna strangle my Chibi-chan. Let the kid breathe."

"Help?" Carlos strains to say around his grin.

Pup was fucking lucky he was cute. He wasn't even trying if she could hear his smile.

She stiffens when she feels the bed shift and pulls the pillow closer when she feels a hand on her head.

"I was worried about you, but I am so glad you came back."

Worried? She peeks up to look at him.

He didn't look disgusted.

Or scared.

Or mad.

Not that she had been worried about any of those things, because that would be fucking dumb.

Who the fuck was she kidding? She hides back in her pillow.

"You did, do plan to come back, don't you?" Ben asks as he lets his hand fall from the top of her head to run his fingers through her hair.

She takes a deep breath steeling herself before she pulls back, "We're here, aren't we?" She breathes, though she couldn't make herself meet his eyes.

"Yes." He smiles as he takes her hand in his, "You are here. And that means a lot to me."

"Um, hello?" Roy snorts, "He means us. It means a lot to us." He corrects him from his spot next to Carlos. "Come on now, you can't leave wrangling me in to just Doug. He can't handle this."

"That too." Ben chuckles.

"Ass." Doug rolls his eyes.

"See!" Roy points to Doug, "What type of deterrent is-" Her lips twitch as Jay's pillow hits him square in the face. "Missed you too, of course man."

Jay snorts, "That wasn't me."

"Oh," Roy grins, "huh. I keep getting hit on in all the wrong ways."

"Might be your personality." Doug quips.

"I think it's my face, honestly." Roy shrugs before he lays back casually, "Some people can't handle true beauty."

Carlos pats his head, "I'm sure that's it."

"See, this is true friendship." Roy chuckles before he pulls Carlos back into a tight hug.

"I mean statistically-" Doug stops short when Evie tugs him and pats the bed next to her.

"Odds were, we would all end up friends." She finishes for him batting her eyelashes as she smiles sweetly.

"Right!" Doug agrees, grinning as he slips onto the bed next to Evie.

Lonnie snorts, "Look who's back to herself." She smiles. "Still might want to give her-"

"Oh yeah!" Doug pulls his bag to his lap before he pulls out an embroidery ring and supplies. "In case you were getting stir crazy. I know how much you hate being idle."

Evie bites her lip before she looks up at Doug, "Thank you." She whispers as she takes the ring, "One more news report, and I was afraid I'd go insane."

"You guys have been watching that bull shit?" Lonnie raises an eyebrow.

"What else were we supposed to do in here?" Jay asks, "Besides, it's always better to get ahead of rumors when you can."

Lonnie shakes her head before she plops down on the bed next to him unceremoniously. Her eyes narrowing at his grimace even though she doesn't comment.

Huh.

She looks around the room. This totally had not been the reunion she'd been expecting. Though, to be fair, she hadn't really been expecting anything in the first place.

She thought for sure she'd ruined everything- Well, that her mother had ruined everything.

"What the news might not be reporting is that the council has cleared the four of you of any involvement with Maleficent's plan. They even admitted that if it wasn't for you guys we might all be under her rule right now."

"Seriously?" Jay's brow furrows.

"Yeah." Ben smiles down at her before he looks up at Jay's skepticism, "I was heading that meeting." He explains with a nod, " Heard it myself."

That sounded too good to be true. And even if it was, what did that mean for them?

She hugs the pillow to her chest.

"See Chibi-Chan. You're all heroes. And if you weren't being called that, we'd have just gone back to my place." Hiro pats Carlos's back as all the HKs look at him, appearing conflicted.

Oh good. So it wasn't just them.

Ben clears his throat, "Thankfully, we don't have to worry about that, since as Hiro said, you're all heroes. You saved so many people. Kings-"

Oh god. The king- Ben's dad. She grimaces.

She somehow doubted he was in favor of calling them a hero squad. She still wasn't sure how she'd caught him without puncturing something vital, but she could only imagine the damage she'd inflicted. And as much as she didn't like the man, like even a little, she still didn't want his blood- any blood honestly, on her hands.

"-and Queens alike, their heirs as well." Ben continues, "Not to mention nobles, ambassadors, and the people of Auradon City as well."

"We're really not-"

"Shh, One o' One!" Roy frowns, "Take the compliment and the thanks."

"But he's right." She frowns, "We're not."

"Why do you think that?" Ben asks softly, his hazel eyes watching her thoughtfully.

"Because we can't be." She frowns, "We just weren't fucking frozen. What the fuck were we supposed to do? I hadn't thought about what I'd do if I saw her again, and then just, boom, puff of green smoke, there she was. Been there, fuck that. And what were we just supposed to let her fucking take everything away from us? Everyone we've like, started caring about? Fuck that. And then what? Watch her completely destroy the only hope the other kids on the Isle have of a normal life? That wasn't heroics. It was just different, and kind of desperate, like real heroes, have plans and shit. And that's so not what we had. We're a mess. We were a mess. And we're VKs, not HKs." She shakes her head, "That was just sheer and utter self-preservation."

Jay, Evie, and Carlos all nod.

"The fuck do you think heroes are?" Hiro snorts, "Cause congrats, like every other member of the fam, you've stumbled into the secret. I'd hand out commemorative shirts, but I didn't know they'd be needed so soon."

"But-"

"Dudes," Roy shakes his head, "Ya'll could've just like, bowed do-"

"Fuck that, I ain't bowing to that cunt." She snaps.

Maybe if she'd demanded it on the isle. But who wouldn't? Her mother- She blinks.

Was much scarier in Auradon than she'd ever been on the Isle.

That mother fucker.

T.

She hated it when he was right. Hated that he'd had the balls to stand up to her- But, wasn't it because of him-

NO!

Nope.

Fuck that shit.

No.

He had nothing to do with the fact she'd been willing to go toe to toe with her mother.

Nothing.

Except-

NO!

But hadn't he been the one to show her how mortal she was? How fallible? That even the Mistress of Evil could feel fear? Hadn't he been the one to turn her into a joke in her eyes?

After all, who the fuck was afraid of fucking T?

The kid who she beat the shit out of every time they'd been in the same vicinity.

Fucking T!

Over Deez? The literal arsenal.

Dumb.

"Honestly, Mal, why you did it, how you did it, doesn't matter." Ben's The point is you did do it. And I'm grateful. We all are."

"No shit, right?" Roy agrees, "My mom ain't shit compared to yours, but I would've turned tail and run like a bitch if mine pulled that shit."

"You are a bitch." Jay grumbles as he rolls his eyes.

"Ouch." Roy pouts.

"Can we change the subject so we stop attacking each other?" Carlos pouts.

"Please?" Evie adds.

"Ooh, guess what Hiro's gonna teach me!" Carlos perks up, "We're building new cell phones together."

"Boss." Roy grins.

"Right? Now you guys can stop yelling at me for taking mine apart."

"We didn't know how to get you a new one." Jay frowns. "And you're like, attached to that thing."

"Well, now you don't have to worry 'bout it." Hiro shrugs, "After all, why buy, when you can make it a hundred times better."

"You mean you two." Lonnie snorts. "I'll stick to buying-" Her eyes move to Carlos, "Speaking of, I call dibs on the first one you sell."

She sighs as the conversation continues, grateful to their pup for realizing how uncomfortable the conversation was and taking it upon himself to change the topic.

He was getting so much more confident lately.

She was still conflicted on that.

On the one hand, she was absolutely proud of their pup.

On the other? She missed him just rolling over.

Who would've guessed C'd have such strong opinions? She certainly hadn't.

Her eyes follow Hiro as he talks animatedly while pacing the room.

She still didn't know what to think of an adult version of T adopting their pup. Or why that's who it took to bring out his confidence. It was a lot to process, and she still hadn't even touched the surface.

She turns to their pup with narrowed eyes.

He'd blatantly gone behind her back to work with an enemy before. For greater good or not- What the fuck was it about those two that inspired that behavior in him?

She blows a stray hair out of her face.

Did it really matter? On the Isle it had, but here?

Yes. Yes, it did.

Not because she was afraid of someone taking him away. More like in the way she wanted to help bolster that confidence too. She wanted it for him.

"Would a sketchbook make you feel better?" Ben's question pulls her from her thoughts.

"A-" She blinks, "Oh, I mean- Why do you have one?" She holds out her hand, "Cause give."

Ben chuckles as he pulls a large sketchbook from his school bag, "I even remembered the brand you said you like for your pencils." He sets a small stack on her hospital tray.

"Knew I kept you around for a reason." She smiles as her eyes roam the room.

What to- Huh.

Lonnie was lying next to Jay.

Doug next to Evie.

Fuck, even C was with Roy.

"And I'd like to be kept around, so let me know if there's anything else I can get you." Ben chuckles as he sets a small paper bag down on the table as well.

"Shut up." She rolls her eyes as she moves to the side of the bed, "And come here- Or don't. Whatever. Your call." She mumbles with heated cheeks as she bends over the sketchbook and starts a rough sketch of her pack and their friends.

She can't help the small smile when she feels Ben scoot closer to her.

"Well, if it's my call, then I like this." Ben smiles as he opens the bag and plucks out a-

"Mine!" She steals the strawberry and pops it in her mouth.

Fuck.

She could literally feel herself drooling.

Yeah. She kept telling herself she could handle going back to the Isle… But could she really?

Go back to the food? Back to the dirty water? To the ice-cold baths? To the- Well, any of it?

Sure she could hold her own in a fight. She knew that now more than ever.

But could she give up the comforts that now surrounded her?

She eyes the room again.

The people she and her pack had come to claim here?

Ben?

She knew the answer.

She just wasn't sure she liked the realization.

I used to hate writing Mal's PoV but I feel like I've really gotten into the swing of it.

Hopefully?

What do you guys think?

And thanks to those of you that have said they can see the difference between him and T, that really helps like so much.

I think it's just the reckless abandon and love of poking the two share that always has the VKs thinking of the shadow.

Hopefully?

What do you guys think?

Was the reunion of Hks and Vks everything you'd be hoping it would be?

Were you expecting them to be comfortable enough to share beds with their counterparts?

And fuck if I didn't love writing Mal's awkward ass demanding the shit Ben had brought her.

All of these Hks know their Vks so damn well.

Fuck that realization at the end. Mal realizing it would be insurmountably difficult to return to the Isle due to simple everyday shit.

It was kinda bitter sweet.

Which you know, sums up Mal.

And just so we're all on the same page, yes these kids clearly would've stepped to the big bad MoE, without T. We've all seen it. Know it.

But it just made sense that's how she would feel about it.

Not giving themselves enough credit is like the Vks bread and butter.

Though in a way it kinda made sense, T is a fucking idiot most of the time, and did/does have MoE sleeping in her own dungeon so yeah…

There's that.

Fave Quote:

"C! Call it off!" She demands before she snatches her pillow out of Hiro's hands to press her face against the stiff fabric.-Mal

What's yours?

Much love and appreciation,

-Twisted