Disclaimer: I do not own Descendants.

Chapter 11: Into The Rush

The water drenched pages of the San Fransokyo arrangement sat under his lamp, wrinkled, but miraculously still readable. At the same time though, it was still mocking proof of how quickly things could go south in just one morning.

Tired hazel eyes met the glare of an emerald pair across the room. It was just the two of them. Evie and Jay had wanted to give them space and thus had gone to change out of their wet clothes (but Ben wouldn't be surprised if they both had their ears pressed against the door, listening in).

The room was silent, and it was becoming obvious that Ben was going to have to be the one to speak first. He knew that as High King of the United States of Auradon that he needed to contact Fairy Godmother and get to the truth of what went down between Herkie and Uma but he also knew that he was Ben, a sixteen year old boy forced to grow up way too fast and who was in love with a girl who still carried a lot of demons.

"Mal, I-"

"You need to send him back."

Ben snapped into a straighter posture. "What?"

Mal pursed her lips, standing in front of his desk with arms crossed. "Harry," she clarified. "You need to send him back to the Isle."

The young king shook his head. He should have expected this, but hearing Mal actually say the words still hurt his chest a little. Harry Hook wasn't the . . . friendliest of people, but he was just as deserving of a chance in Auradon as all the other children born on the Isle.

"I'm not doing that, Mal. He doesn't deserve to be sent back there."

The half fae scoffed, placing both of her hands on his desk and leaning forward. (Ben wondered if she was even aware that she did this when she was trying to intimidate someone or if it was just something from the Isle that she would just never quite get rid of.)

"He had his hook against your neck, Ben. What part of that do you not understand as life threatening?"

"He had a hook that was spelled to be ineffective as a weapon and despite your belief, I'm not made out of glass," he reminded her.

Mal scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Says the boy who got himself kidnapped by a bunch of pirates," she muttered before saying in a louder voice, "Harry has always been unstable and Uma is delusional if she thinks she can actually control him! He's a danger to the other students! Do you not remember how he practically got off on the thought of killing you?"

Ben closed his eyes, his temples beginning to pound with an incoming migraine. Did Mal really expect him to be so cruel and heartless? How could she ever expect him to ever send anyone back to the Isle after his short but impactful time there?

A brief thought of his father came to mind before he quickly pushed it to a far corner of his conscious. It had been a stressful day for a lot of people, he thought. Maybe she just needed some time to cool off…

"It's been a long morning," Ben sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Let's table this for now when we're both a little less on edge and preferably dry," he said, stopping himself from shifting uncomfortably in his still wet clothes. In all honesty, he really just wanted to change, curl up with a cup of Mrs. Potts' hot tea and not have to deal with this. He didn't want to deal with being King of entire kingdoms. Didn't want to deal with running a kingdom and all of its problems at just sixteen when all his friends just had to worry about grades, and sports, and just being a kid...

Mal opened her mouth, as if to say something more, just as the door to the office flew open revealing a frazzled (and recently changed into much dryer clothes) Evie.

"Turn on the television," she cried, leaving no room for questions as she strode quickly across the room and turned on the television herself. Jay, who also looked like he had changed clothes as well, slipped into the room, closing the doors quickly behind him.

"Evie? Jay? What's going on?" Ben asked stomach sinking as the television turned on to reveal Snow White standing outside of Auradon Prep with many other news reporters in the background.

"- Auradon Prep behind me. Sources have confirmed the identities of the new transfers from the Isle of the Lost as Hermie Bing, daughter of the Ringmaster; Eddie Balthazar, son of Edgar Balthazar; Samuel Smee, son of Mr. Smee who was First Mate to the infamous pirate captain, Captain James Hook; uh . . . Big Murph? Hmm, another son of one of Captain Hook's pirates; Claudine Frollo, daughter of the disgraced Judge Claude Frollo; Harold and Jace Badun, sons of Cruella De Vil's henchmen; Diego De Vil, son of Cecil B. De Vil and nephew to Cruella De Vil, that poor dear. Joining them are Yzla, daughter of Yzma; Gil, son of Gaston; Harry Hook, son of the previously mentioned Captain Hook; and finally, Uma, daughter of the sea witch Ursula.

"No new development on which of these children the King has appointed as his new Royal Councilor, however, Auradon Prep is swirling with witnesses saying that on her first day of classes today, the daughter of Ursula instigated a fight with the son of Hercules, before also taking part in another fight later in the afternoon involving Harry Hook, the High King, and our newest Lady of the Court, Lady Mal. You may remember Uma of the Isle as the same sea witch who put King Ben under a love spelled and attempted to cause mayhem by turning into a horrid tentacle wielding creature. She seems to be following in the horrendously wicked path of her mother.

"We're still waiting for more eyewitness details on these incidents, but if this first day is any indication, High King Ben might find some push back on his proclamation. Despite the success of the original Four, some are saying that enough disapproval is being felt to force the Council of Heroes to meet, something that hasn't been done since former High King Adam first united the kingdoms. This is Snow Whi-"

"How did this happen?" Ben groaned, falling back to his seat, head cradled in his hands as Mal muted the television. "How did it get out like this?" he demanded, looking up to the other three for answers.

"Some kid probably cried to their mommy and daddy about the big scary Isle kids," Jay said crossly. "I talked to Herkie though. He openly admitted he instigated the fight. He wouldn't say why, but he promised that he wasn't the one who went to the media."

"We don't have time to start a witch hunt," Evie firmly stated, though her voice seemed to shake slightly. "Just a few minutes ago, Doug's dad sent me a text to give us a warning that the Council of Sidekicks is scheduling a meeting sometime within the next few days where they're going to reassess the Isle Reform Initiative and possibly vote to repeal Uma's demands and possibly the entire proclamation."

"That's the first good news I've heard all day," A dark sneer curved Mal's lips. "At least now we won't have to deal with Shrimpy and her obnoxious pirate crew."

Before Ben could even begin to address how horrible that statement was, Evie whirled around, her eyes blazing at the purple-haired girl. "Mal," she said, voice shaking and it was at this point that Ben realized that all this time Evie had been holding back tears. "If this repeal happens it means not only is Uma being sent back but all of us are being sent back, except for you, I suppose. After all, you now have an official title as Lady of the Court."

The half-fae could only blink in disbelief, but it was Ben who spoke up for her.

"WHAT?" he roared, springing to his feet. "They can't do that that! It was my first proclamation as King! A first proclamation has never been overturned once it's been put into effect, even before the kingdoms united!" He slammed his hands down on his desk, the wood creaking ominously under the force.

Gotta breathe. Gotta focus. Gotta lead. Gotta breathe. Gotta focus. Gotta lead…

"We need to plan and come up with something," Evie's breaths were uneven, and her composure was cracking. "W-we can't go back to the Isle! Our parents! M-m-my mother!" she cried, fresh horror sweeping across her face at the thought. "I can't go back there, Ben, I can't! Not again!" she sobbed as Jay silently went over to her and wrapped his arms around her.

Ben's chest hurt as he saw the how the fear of returning back to the Isle stripped Evie of all the confidence she had built for herself in Auradon. He saw how that fear caused Jay to close up, face expressionless over Evie's shoulder. Saw the way fear made Mal's green eyes glimmer with the threat of vengeance for anything that seemed like a threat towards those she considered hers.

"You won't go back to the Isle," Ben said, managing to pull himself together, standing taller. He pushed the scared little boy down and called forth the King he needed to pretend he was. He smoothed out his suit, moving around his desk to face the others. "Jay, can you alert Fairy Godmother as to what is going on and to get rid of the reporters? And once you do that, can you make sure that Herkie stays away from Uma and the other new Isle transfers, especially Harry?"

"On it," the former thief nodded, pulling away from Evie and looking carefully at her face. When Evie gave him a watery smile, he glanced at Ben and Mal, gaze landing the longest on Mal, who was scowling angrily out the window before she caught him staring in the reflection. She waved Jay off, which seemed to be all the permission the former thief needed before slipping out of the room.

"Evie," Ben said turning towards his blue haired political partner. He gently took her by the shoulders, feeling her shoulders shaking underneath his hands. "I need you to get Uma so the three of us can come up with something to present before the Council. Do you think you can do that? I really need you, Eve. We all know this whole initiative would have never even had gotten off the ground if I didn't have you here."

His Royal Councilor took a deep breath, gathering herself slowly, putting herself back together, piece by piece; cracked but still whole. "Of course. You would be hopeless without me, Ben," she said with a shaky smile before taking one last deep breath and wiping her eyes, waterproof mascara still in place. "I'll go find Uma," she said, before pulling away from Ben, taking a quick glance at Mal before giving the young king a meaningful look as she made her exit.

"You're still trying to work with her."

Ben looked at Mal who was now sitting on one of the couches, staring down at her hands. He silently made his way towards her, kneeling in the spot in front of her, shedding his kingly facade for the girl who held his heart. He took one of her hands, waiting a few eternity-long minutes for her to speak again.

The half-fae dragged her eyes up to meet his, a look he didn't know how to quite decipher in them. "You're still trying to work with Uma," she clarified.

"Yes," Ben nodded. "I know you two have your history and I'll never force either of you two to spend time together if that's not what you both want to do. But Uma is a great leader, just like Evie. People on the Isle listen to her and I honestly think that people here will listen as well."

Mal chuckled, a dark sound that grated against his heart painfully. "Uma . . . a great leader, huh?" She quickly got to her feet, nearly toppling over Ben with the hastiness of the movement before he scrambled to get up to his feet again, following her as she made her way to the door.

"Mal?" he asked unsure, almost reaching out to her but holding back at the last second.

She stopped, back facing him; hand on the doorknob before she glanced over her shoulder. "Do you realize that I've never been called a great leader? Never. My teachers praised my evil schemes and my mastery in causing unbelievable pain, but they never said anything about my ability to lead." Her lips curled up into a bitter smile. "Certainly, my mother never thought so."

Ben's heart hurt at the thought of how callously Maleficent had treated her, but he didn't get a chance to say anything, because Mal was talking again, her eyes taking a far-off look.

"But you know who she did think was a leader? Uma. It boggled my mind how my mother, who hated Ursula and despised Shrimpy even more, could say she was a good leader. I never saw it, but I tried so hard to be a good leader, Ben, so hard. You know my mom though, nothing I did was ever good enough for her," she laughed humorlessly. "I guess even here, in Auradon, Uma is still considered a great leader. And where does that leave me?" she asked looking up at Ben expectantly for an answer. When he hesitated too long, trying to figure out what was the right thing to say, she shook her head. "I'll see you later," she murmured, quickly leaving.

"Mal, wait!" Ben yelled, but it was too late. As he ran into the hall, she was already gone.

WLTF

"See? I knew it! I told you that color would look great with your complexion!"

Uma looked down at her toes, wiggling them slightly and watching as their sparkly sea-green color caught the light. "I guess?" she said, not really sure what else to say in this situation. The day felt like she had gone through multiple trips through a blender and now, finding herself in a genie's lamp, getting a pedicure was not making her head spin any less.

Jordan grinned, perusing the carousel that contained the nail polish until she found a dark plum color. Some show or another was playing on the television. Uma had no clue what the plot of the show was or why it involved women with obvious plastic surgery yammering on about pregnancies and the family name. Instead, she focused her attention on her new roommate. (No, she wasn't trying to stop her mind from wandering over and down the halls to the room she had left, wondering what her two crew members were doing . . . If they had taken her words seriously and decided to find someone new to follow . .)

"Sooo...What's the deal? Were you just the unlucky one who drew the shortest straw and got stuck with the wicked sea witch?" Uma questioned with a cruel grin, testing the waters. She didn't get where she was on the Isle by trusting just anyone.

Raising an eyebrow but not really looking up from the nail she was painting, Jordan nonchalantly asked, "Why?"

Shrugging, Uma reached out for one of the nearest bowls on the tray that Jordan had conjured up. She looked at the contents of the bowl and realized it was filled with strawberries which she immediately put down, images of watching Mal's smug face eat them on the television coming to mind. She picked up another bowl, filled with orange slices of fruit and looked questioningly at it before putting it in her mouth. The sweet juice flooded her mouth, and she barely resisted the urge to moan (Seven Seas, she had only been in Auradon for a day, and the damn place was already making her soft), before she shoved another slice in.

The pirate captain wasn't aware that she was being watched until a poor attempt at holding back a laugh snapped her attention back on Jordan. "Sorry," the young genie said, not sounding sorry at all. Uma narrowed her eyes, walls immediately coming back up.

"I don't get you," the pirate captain said plainly, seeing no point in playing a game of wits with the strange girl. "Or why they allowed me to be roommates with you after what I did at your fancy Cotillion."

Jordan sighed, flopping down on the large pillow next to Uma. The sea witch snatched the bowl of delicious fruit close to her, not used to sharing her food with anyone but her crew. (Again, she tried to ignore the pain in her chest at the thought of her crew that she left behind. Gods, what was happening to her?).

"Well, there's not much to get when it comes to me. I'm a teenage genie in a lamp just trying to get through life, just like another teenage genie in a lamp. Well, I think," Jordan said thoughtfully before giving Uma a smile that seemed a little forced. "I mean, I don't really know any genies my age . . . And as to why we're roommates," she shrugged, "it made the most sense. I needed a room because even putting my lamp on the highest shelf of the common room didn't stop a few idiots from rubbing my lamp or knocking it over and disrupting my privacy or forcing me to make unintentional wishes."

"So you do make wishes," Uma said with a thoughtful look on her face before a slender finger poked her nose. Startled, she nearly fell off the oversized pillow before regaining her balance and throwing Jordan a scowl. Good food and good pedicure aside, this girl was getting way too bold, Uma thought with a frown, rubbing her nose where Jordan poked her.

"Don't get any ideas, Captain," Jordan winked playfully. "I'm a Level 2 Genie. Anything you could wish for outside of my lamp would either be too big, require a significant amount of your own magical energy which could possibly result in your own death, or make whatever you wished for disappear in an hour, maybe a day depending on whether I was really trying to grant your wish. It would take another millennium to get anywhere close to my father's wish granting level. I'm essentially useless if you had any nefarious plans set up."

"You just became infinitely less interesting," Uma sighed.

Jordan laughed as if Uma had been joking, and Uma frowned, not entirely sure whether this was an Auradonian thing or just a Jordan thing.

"Anyway," Jordan continued. "I needed a room but to get a room I needed a roommate and . . .well, here we are," she said spreading her arms out before dropping them.

"And here we are," Uma said, sounding unconvinced as she ate another orange slice.

The two were silent for a few moments though the silence wasn't too uncomfortable. From the corner of her eye, Jordan watched as Uma reached for the bowl of strawberries again, her curiosity overwhelming her. The sea witch looked skeptically at the piece of fruit before taking a bite, considering it before eating the rest of it, hand already reaching out for another one.

"You seem to like those," Jordan commented offhandedly. "You're like Mal."

"Don't ever say that to me!" Uma growled, placing the bowl of strawberries none too gently back on the tray. Ugh! Couldn't she just have one moment to pretend like things weren't going to shit?

"Okay. Okay," Jordan said holding up her hands placating. "Do you want to talk about what happened after I last saw you, then? Seems like you had a rough morning."

Uma scoffed. "Try rough life," she sighed, plopping back down on the pillow she had just vacated. She gave Jordan a scrutinizing look before asking: "Why do you care? Why do all of this," she said waving at the delicious snacks, the large television, the nail polish, "for a villain kid?"

"Because you're not just a villain kid, are you? Don't sell yourself short."

Uma blinked, the amount of sincerity coming from her roommate foreign to her. It reminded her a bit of Ben. She wasn't sure why she did what she did but the words were already out of her mouth before she could stop them.

"I think I may have lost my two best friends."

Uma wanted to swallow the words up, to deny them but the memory of the look of fear in blue eyes, the same fear that had probably also been in too-gentle-for-the-Isle brown eyes, made the back of her throat itch. She cleared her throat, pushing her turquoise braids over to one shoulder. She avoided making eye contact with Jordan, and for the second time that day she felt so small. What a fearsome pirate captain she made, she thought sarcastically.

(Thinking about it, even the word "friend" felt weird after leaving her tongue. They were more than friends. They were crew. And on the Isle, crew meant so much more than just people you fought your enemies with. It meant more than just people who followed her wholeheartedly because Uma had a plan, a vision, a voice that she could make many believe in. Crew meant long nights staring up at the sky, Jonas and Gonzo trading an old harmonica back and forth while a few other crew members joked and boasted about whatever happened that day, Desiree singing random sea shanties that they had all heard at some point growing up on the docks - all the naughty bits included that would have made an Auradon princess blush - while Bonny would challenge Gil to a contest of who could drink the most barrels of whatever crappy brew they managed to steal away from the Chip Shoppe. And Harry. Harry would be sitting at her side, hook tucked away safely between them, her hand running through his hair as his voice took on a softness that not many were privy to as he told her story after story of each constellation and how to use them to navigate seas he had never seen, only heard and dreamed of...Seas she promised to show him.)

A tan hand lightly placed itself over hers, startling the sea witch into making eye contact with the other girl. Jordan smiled softly and again, Uma found herself hating how much the small act from this child born of Auradon - who didn't know the horrors the Uma had seen, experienced, participated in - made her feel just a little less alone.

"Gotta say," Jordan said thoughtfully, "that if you just think that you may have lost your friends, then there's still a chance that you haven't."

Snorting, Uma removed her hand, pretending like she was inspecting the hem of her new shirt (which she was totally stealing). "Is that some Auradon shit you tell each other because you already know you'll get your happy ending without even batting an eye?"

"Insult me and what you think you know of my upbringing all you want, daughter of Ursula," the genie replied calmly, though her azure eyes sparked with a power that was older than time itself. (If Uma hadn't lived with one of the kingdom's worst villains she might have been intimidated under the other girl's heavy stare.) "But you're no fool. Everything you have, you got it because you fought for it with every ounce of passion in that little body of yours. If they're truly your friends, why shouldn't you fight for them? You've fought to get this far." Suddenly, Jordan gave her a wide grin that reminded her of a certain voodoo man's daughter, a grin that never meant anything good. "Or . . . did I confuse you for a fierce pirate captain when you're actually just a little shrimp in this big sea?"

The words hung in the air, the hair on the back of Uma's hairs standing on end.

"Get. Me. Out. Of. This. Damn. Lamp," Uma ground out, getting to her feet.

"Oh, leaving so soon?" Jordan grinned, already snapping her fingers, calling forth the lavender smoke that began to creep around Uma.

The self-proclaimed Queen of the Lost just sneered. "I got business to take care of," she said, this time willingly thinking of bright blue eyes, before the smoke took her out of the lamp, leaving the resident of the lamp alone.

Once Uma was gone, Jordan pulled out her phone and dialed one of the numbers at the top of her saved contacts.

The phone barely rang twice when it was answered, an exuberant voice greeting, "Hello schnookums, light of my lamp, daddy's number one-"

"Dad!" the young genie groaned. "Stop, that's embarrassing. I have an image to maintain!" She barely had time to remove the phone from her ear before a pair of blue lips came through the phone's receiver and pecked her on the cheek before retreating.

"Sorry, sorry. I just missed you ever since I took a year off from teaching to help your Uncle Al and Aunt Jazz teach Aziz the ropes of running a kingdom. Promise you'll come home and visit your old dad soon?"

Jordan sighed fondly. Though she was a very independent young woman, Jordan did miss her dad. After all, not including the Sultana of Agrabah, her husband, and their son, her father was the only family she had now . . .

Shaking off those thoughts, she smiled fondly. "Of course, daddy. But listen, I've got a favor to ask you. Does Hercules's old trainer still owe you a favor?"

Outside of the lamp, Uma was almost at the door to go in search for her boys when there was a sharp knock at the door.

The grin on her face at the thought that it was either Harry or Gil or both melted when she opened the door to reveal a dry but slightly worse for wear Evie.

"You need to come with me. Now. And no, that wasn't a request."

WLTF

Elsewhere, away from Auradon Prep, on a small island of great renown, the youngest daughter of the infamous Captain James Hook stared up at a large tree covered in gold pixie dust coated leaves.

The usually loud and lively sounds of the island and its inhabitants seemed muted in this space, as if this was sacred ground. To a certain extent it was, CJ thought, gazing up where the wide trunk of the tree was made out of various twisting branches that weaved in and out of each other to form a protective cradle around a silhouette of a young boy who for all intents and purposes looked as if he was sleeping. The young pirate took a step closer, wanting to get a closer look at her father's greatest foe . . .

"We told you not to come here."

CJ let out an irritated sigh, glancing over her shoulder to see Tiger Peony, daughter of Chief Tiger Lily, frowning behind her with her mob of Lost Boys.

"Well, ya see Tiger Daisy, that's the thing. I'm a pirate. We do things we're told not to do all the time. Comes with the job description," CJ grinned mockingly at the girl, (who hissed out "Peony,"), before taking another step forward towards the tree.

She heard the pulling of a bow half a second before she felt an arrow whiz past her, nicking her shoulder before it embedded itself into one of the tree branches.

"Ow! Blackbeard's fucking ghost!" CJ cursed, glaring at the Lost Boy who was already reaching for another arrow. "That hurt! And I just stole this jacket too!" she pouted, fingering the tear in the shoulder of her new red leather jacket where the arrow had nicked her. It wouldn't be anything too serious if she got it cleaned but damn it! Why couldn't she just have the nice things she stole without some chief's daughter and her merry band of Lost Runts ruining her fun?

"I'll only say this once more, daughter of Hook. In the spirit of High King Ben's proclamation, you are welcomed to stay here. The blood of Neverland runs through you, despite who your father is. But you cannot keep coming here to Pan's Cradle!" Tiger Peony hissed, stomping closer to the pirate until their faces were only inches apart.

"Why not?" CJ huffed, crossing her arms and leaning back. "He's as good as dead, ain't he? You Neverland lot couldn't handle the little brat and Neverland's Curse once you got rid of Daddy so you did the 'good' thing," she said making air quotes, "and had Pan's own fairy put him to sleep."

"It was the only way Neverland would survive in this changing world!" Tiger Peony growled. "Pan is Neverland and Neverland is Pan. The land, the inhabitants, the magic is all his and he didn't take lightly to King Adam's demands for magic to be retired. How could he when he is magic himself?"

CJ looked bored. "I'm sorry. Were you saying something important?"

Tiger Peony fumed but she held herself back. She was the daughter of the Chief. She would not let some pirate get to her.

"Return to your room, Calista Jane, or I will be forced to make sure that you are the last of your codfish bloodline to set foot on this island . . . and I'll also make sure Mom takes away your boat."

CJ gasped. "Seriously?! Come on! That's cruel, you can't take my boat. You know how hard it was to steal that from those Boradon brats and take out that fancy security tracker on it!"

Tiger Peony did nothing but look expectantly at CJ before the daughter of Hook sighed in defeat. She and Tiger Peony were almost back at the line of Lost Boys when the ground beneath them seemed to shake. They both turned to see the golden pixie dust on the tree leaves swirl and fall to the ground in a thick dense cloud, almost obscuring the tree.

"Get back!" Tiger Peony ordered as she grabbed CJ's sleeve and pulled the stunned pirate back. After a few seconds, when the ground seemed to stop shaking, Tiger Peony slowly turned towards CJ. "What did you do?" she whispered in fear.

"Peony," one of the boys near her dared to speak out. "I think . . . I think it was the arrow."

Choking on a gasp, Tiger Peony's eyes fell on the arrow shot earlier before looking down at the place where CJ's jacket was now torn, a few drops of blood visible.

"Blood of Hook," she said in disbelief, letting CJ go, her and the Lost Boys taking steps back away from the pirate, eyes wide with fear.

CJ stumbled as she was released, a scowl and biting retort dying on her tongue when she noticed that no one was looking at her but was looking behind her.

Glancing over her shoulder, CJ's brown eyes met with hazel eyes paired with a youthfully mischievous smile.

"So, you're the girl who woke me up, eh?"

Well...things are about to get a bit interesting.

Anywho, thank you so much for your supports via reviews, favorites, bookmarks, subscriptions, views, etc. I don't think I can say enough how much I appreciate them.

As always, thank you to the wonderful, amazing, and the best beta ever, elphaba_swan. If you haven't read any of elphaba's Descendants fics on AO3, I highly recommend you check them out.

Feel free to visit me on Tumblr (edream93). I got some cool stuff posted like songs that inspired each chapter as well as a few dreamcast for characters who don't have live actions actors yet.

The next chapter might take slightly longer because I've hit the mid quarter mark at school so that plus looming PhD application deadlines might take over writing time. I'll try to get the chapter out asap though.

Until next time!