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Gonna go ahead and post this a little early, I've been aiming for Sunday night/ Monday mornings so this is close enough... right?

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Lots of Love,

-Dark-

"MAL!" He yells as he stares at the open doors in disbelief.

Why had they run?

Why had she run?

A low growl sounds in his throat.

What. The. Fuck?

Today was supposed to be a day to celebrate.

A day to bring in a new era.

A day to cement the future. Both his and theirs.

Then Maleficent- He turns to glare at the magical dome that once housed the wand but now contained the woman who'd caused this mess.

How had she even gotten- His eyes narrow before he closes them with a long exhale.

Jane.

The wand.

That gong-like ring.

It must've- His eyes widen in horror as he runs for the door, ignoring the protests in his wake.

Once outside, he looks in the distance to find the barrier.

The, thankfully, still erect barrier.

The still erect barrier with a large enough crack could see it from the church steps. "Shit."

"We're certainly in for a lot of it."

"Dad?" He asks in surprise before concern washes over him.

He'd been horrified when he'd seen his father swept up Maleficent's tail. Paralyzed. Unable to do anything to try and assuage the terror that had filled him. He'd thought for certain his father was going to-

He swallows the acid in the back of his throat.

But then he hadn't.

Mal had caught him before her mother had the chance to toast him.

He never thought he'd be grateful that villains enjoyed playing with their food-

But if-

Maleficent hadn't tossed him with her tail.

Mal hadn't been so fast. Hadn't caught him.

Blood rushes from his face.

God.

They'd almost lost him.

Hell. They'd almost lost half the most prominent people of the kingdom.

He grimaces.

No, some of the most prominent people in the world.

There were so many world leaders and ambassadors here.

If it hadn't been for Mal and her gang-

He closes his eyes as he sways slightly, dizzy over how everything could have gone wrong if it wasn't for the pack being here.

"Ben." Adam pulls him from his thoughts as his large hand clasps his shoulder. "Breathe, son." He instructs firmly. "Can't have the future King passing out after such an affair. The people need you to be strong."

"I know but-" He frowns and shakes his head. "You're right." He takes a deep breath. "This was just so-" He struggles to find the right word.

Unexpected?

Terrifying?

Bad?

Bad sounded good.

Not good enough, but still. It summed it up rather well.

"Unfortunate." His father supplies for him. "Unfortunate timing. Unfortunate events. Unfortunate circumstances. Unfortunate everything," he sighs. "This is what the barrier was supposed to protect us from Incidents like this. Back before the damned thing was erected, this type of thing would happen all the time. It would just seem that we've become lazy and woefully underprepared for it. Magic hasn't been used to defend our kingdom in quite some time now. I see now that it needs to be rectified, and I will be speaking to the Li's as soon as possible about that. But first-" He looks up and down the street. "Our people need to be seen too. The wounded need treatment. The royals tended. The leaders and ambassadors apologized to and swayed to remain in good graces. But even more important than that-" He lets out another deep sigh. "Mal and the others need to be found-"

"Dad!" He whips around to look up at his father, unsure if he'd ever felt more betrayed, hurt, or angry. "They saved us! They didn't-"

"BEN." His father states firmly as he squeezes his shoulder with a pained expression. "Let me finish." He sighs. "Those four children saved hundreds of lives today. They faced down the Mistress of Evil herself. Untrained. Unprepared. And unprompted. They're heroes." He takes a deep breath. "I know that." He assures him. "However," He lets out a long-suffering sigh. "I really wish they hadn't run."

"Me either- Wait, why?" He demands, not liking the tone.

"Because there are already those who believe them to be evil. And after that… Incident. The accusations. The spells. Dragons. And them running? It's going to be harder-"

He had to be joking, right? "Are-"

His father holds up his hand, "We both know that couldn't be further from the truth, but there are still people who will try to use this for their cause." Adam sighs heavily.

He stares up at him in disbelief, "How-" He growls, "Nevermind. It doesn't matter right now." He shakes his head. "I'm going to go check on security- maybe they detained Mal and our friends."

"It's a long shot-" His father sighs as he rests his hands against his hips.

"Why?" He swallows the groan.

He feels his father's hand on his shoulders before he's turned, "Because it looks like everyone out here was put to sleep, which is a favorite tactic of Maleficent. Fairies in general."

"What!?" He looks around in confusion.

How had he missed- He frowns when he notices people still helping each other up.

"Ben, listen to me," His father starts sternly before his voice softens, "I think it would be best for you to rally with the Kawenas and the Hamadas. They're our best bet at finding them right now, and I'm sure no one would be able to tell them otherwise anyway."

"Right." He nods before he pulls away, this time losing his attempt at swallowing his groan, as he turns back to his father, "Should I-"

"You're not king yet, Ben. Go on. Your old man can handle clean-up. Just come get me for cliff notes once you find them." he sighs, "Hopefully soon, before the mongers in court and the counsels can start calling for votes and judgments."

He nods firmly, not needing to be told twice before he runs back to the church.

He was so grateful to his father for understanding.

There was so much happening.

So much that needed to be looked after.

So many things to check on.

But his mind was stuck on one thing and one thing only.

Where was Mal?

Where was his Dragon?

Where was the girl who just shouted her love for him at her mother?

"Sonovabitch." He curses as he kicks the garbage truck angrily.

What the fuck?

How the hell had they thought to-

Damn fucking Isle.

Fucking teaching Chibi-Chan and all his friends these kinds of survival instincts.

Stupid.

Fucking.

Isle.

"Damn it!" He kicks the truck again.

"Is he okay?" He hears the truck driver whisper.

"He's always been a little lolo," Nani explains in her forced 'everything is fine' voice, "don't worry, he's too nerdy to damage your truck."

"Right… So I'll just be heading back on my route then?" The man looks at him in concern.

"Yeah, go for it." He huffs as he throws his back against the wall and glares at the tech in his hands. Not only had they tossed their phones, but they'd also shattered the shit out of them too.

He hears a collective sigh as the rest of his family joins him against the wall.

"Ey," David shrugs, "Just means we'll have to find them another way. No big."

"How!?" He glares at his brother-in-law.

"Haven't gotten there yet, brah," David admits as he rubs the back of his head.

"Why the fuck did they run man?" He growls as he glares up at the emergency staircase above him.

"Because they're scared children?" Nani asks in her 'are you dumb' voice.

"Or because they're convinced this is going to get used against them, so they took matters into their own hands." Lilo adds, "Ya know, or something in between those."

"Ugh." He pushes off the wall, "I'mma go get Baymax. I really didn't want to do this."

"I thought you erased that protocol?" Lilo frowns.

"Can't erase the schematics from this brain." He taps his head lightly.

Lilo beams at him before he finds himself tackled. "I love you. You know that?"

He grunts as more weight is added to the pile. "Mahalo* iki brah."

"Illegal and unethical or not, like hell am I letting those kids, especially our Chibi-Chan, rough it out there. No fucking way." He sighs.

"I'mma do myself a favor and forget the first part." Nani chuckles before her weight is added to the pile. "Mahalo lolo."

"I'll send out anonymous letters to anyone with an impending condition," He shrugs, "there, ethics taken care of."

"Hardly." David snorts. "But who gives a fuck. We're concerned parents, not cops."

He nods, "I'll work as fast as I can, but I have several updates I'll have to make with the newer generation of Baymax's programming. It will take a few hours at the very least."

"Then what the fuck are you still here for?" Lilo demands as she kisses his cheek.

"Currently? Being weighed down by about three hundred pounds of stupid."

"Ouch," David leans back and slaps a hand to his stomach, "brah, I don't weigh three hundred pounds."

"Yet. I'd lay off the Cheetos and pizza, brah." He chuckles, happy to have a plan of action as he worms his way out of the pile. "Call you when I have it." He dismisses himself before he bolts for their ship. "By the way, it looks like ya'll are walkin' back- Byeeee."

Nani chuckles, "Damn, I can't even be angry with him for that."

"Part of my charms." He calls over his shoulder before they're out of earshot.

He cracks his knuckles as he walks onto the ship.

He had a lot of work to do.

"Anything?" He frowns as he meets back up with Lonnie, Roy, and Ben.

The other three shake their heads.

This was killing him.

Where were they?

Where was she?

Was she okay?

Was she getting the medical help she needed?

She'd gone down.

Was she still- He closes his mind to the thought.

He'd never been an overly emotional person.

Never even raised his voice- Well except at Roy, but that was different, and yet he'd destroyed half his room in his rage.

He couldn't get the sight of her crumpled body out of his head.

The sight of her collapsing.

How pale she was.

How deep the circles under her eyes had been.

How she looked worse and worse with every spell uttered.

And how she'd just kept going.

Going to protect people she didn't even know.

Fuck, people that probably didn't even like her.

Cause that's just the type of person she was.

Down beneath the makeup and the fashion.

Beneath her veneer of shallow intentions.

She was a caring, kind, and magnificently radiant soul.

And now?

Now she was hurt.

Hurt and missing.

"Maybe we should check vet clinics. They might not want to go to a hospital or anything, but I'm pretty sure they know how to like, do triage and stuff." Lonnie offers as she pulls out her phone, "Jay mentioned knowing how to sew themselves up, and Mal got a pretty bad gash on her face and neck. And Jay-" Her voice hitches.

"Yeah, your boy kissed the wall a few too many times. And I'm pretty sure One o' One got clocked by shit that was falling." Roy sighs, "I'm pretty sure I saw blood in his hair."

"Great." He sighs heavily. "So they all have head injuries. That's promising." He rubs his temples.

Ben looks up over his hand before he drags it down his face, "Where- What would you do, Roy? Where would you go if you had to avoid everyone?"

Roy shifts in discomfort as all three of their eyes suddenly bore into him.

"Deep into the forest. Or deep underground."

Ben sighs, "Of those two options, I'd say we should start considering that they've gone underground. Deez has written about abandoned sewer lines, but they all have said that nature and plant life are nearly nonexistent over there."

Roy nods. "Sounds 'bout right. C can't tell grass from grass."

He can't help his groan.

His princess?

Underground?

In sewers?

The thought was enough to make his heartache.

"Doug, can you check to see if any vet offices are reporting theft? That might help us narrow it down."

"On it." He nods before he pulls out his phone, already working on roogling the city's clinics.

"Until then, we just need to keep an eye on their rooms, in case they come back."

"Yeah. I mean that was, that was so intense, right?" Lonnie wraps her arms around herself, "Maybe once they settle from all of it they'll realize they can come back."

"I mean," Roy shrugs, "Maleficent just tried to kill us all, so there've been fatter chances. So, yeah..."

Lonnie scrunches her face as she looks between Roy and Ben, "About that… Um, how?"

He raises a brow as he follows her gaze. "Great question."

"Hey, don't look at me. I'm a low-level offender, not an evil genius." Roy holds up his hands defensively.

Ben sighs, "We think the barrier may have been damaged when," He sighs again, "When the wand was fighting."

"Shit." Lonnie scowls as she shoves her hands in her pockets and kicks a rock. "Well, that fucking sucks."

"I'm just... I'm a little confused about why Jane tried to take the stupid thing." Roy shrugs, "Like what was the point? I thought she and Mal were like cool or some shit now. Evie made a big deal out of her not riding with you guys."

"She said something about being pretty or something." Lonnie sighs. "Girl needs a wellness check bad."

"Well, knowing Fairy Godmother," Ben smiles sadly, "she's going to have more wellness checks than she could ever want. Hopefully, it helps."

He looks between Roy and Lonnie when he catches them both closing their mouths. "Doesn't matter how it happened." He sighs, "What matters is finding them. They're hurt. They're scared. They're confused."

"Right." Roy claps his hands together, making Dude bark and jump around them.

"It's okay, Dude. We'll get your friend back for you." Ben smiles as he bends and pats the dog's head.

That was another thing that hurt.

Carlos was forced to leave behind Dude. And he loved that dog more than he loved science.

It had to be killing him right now, not knowing if Dude would be found and taken care of in their absence.

If- He feels the blood drain from his face.

"You…" He swallows, "They wouldn't have gone back, right? Not with my-" He clears his throat, "Evie in that condition, right?"

Ben's brow furrows as he looks up from Dude, "Back?"

"To the fucking Isle?" Roy asks in disbelief. "No fucking way man."

"Jay wouldn't take Evie and Carlos to the Isle." Ben adds as he stands, "Jay and Mal have always been adamant about that. They don't want those two anywhere near the Isle."

He looks between the three of them before he lets out a breath of relief. "Right." He nods. "I'm just…"

"We all are." Lonnie assuages him as she wraps an arm around his side. "How can we not be after all that. They have to be scared outta their fucking minds. They were already on edge, and this just tipped it."

"I would be too if my evil ass parents just started showing up after I've been assured they can't do anything to me anymore since I arrived." Roy rubs the back of his neck. "I mean, this has to have really fucking sucked for them. Talk about triggering PTSD."

"Thanks for that Roy." He grounds through grit teeth.

Damn it.

He hadn't even thought about that yet.

But- Roy made a great point. They'd been assured thousands of times that their parents couldn't touch them here, and then boom. Today fucking happened.

After everything they'd worked towards. Everything they'd worked on. Was it all going to be undone?

Were they ever going to trust anyone again?

Anything again?

Was Evie ever going to trust him again?

He closes his mind off to the thought.

It hurt too much.

She'd finally agreed to give him a chance.

The girl of his dreams was willing to give him more than just the time of day.

Then this.

He knew the thought was selfish.

Stupid even.

But being rejected a thousand times by her wouldn't hurt as bad as this did.

Not knowing where she was.

Or if she was okay.

"There-" Lonnie half chokes as she wraps her arms around herself, "There's not like, a chance other villains got off the Isle too, is there?"

He stills as he whips his head to Ben, who closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before he looks towards the barrier.

"We're… Not sure yet. Things are still being looked into. As far as I know, it was only her- But there's nothing definitive one way or the other. I do know my father is pushing the importance of finding that out and leaving the search for Mal and the others out of it for now."

Lonnie nods, "My parents are part of the search efforts… But, ya know, military. So they can't tell me anything."

"So we're kind of basically right back where we started." He sighs.

"That's not entirely true." Roy shrugs, "Well, yes, I mean, we are. But ya can't forget who 'dopted One oh one. Guy's a psycho stalker. But he's a stalker. And an awesome one at that."

"True, he did find you and Carlos almost the moment the two of you left the school on your little road trip, didn't he." Lonnie laughs lightly.

He could cry at the reminder. "You're right." He nods with confidence he hadn't been feeling before. "We'll keep looking obviously-" Cause how couldn't they? They- or at least he knew he would go insane if they just had to sit and wait. "But Hiro is an amazingly persistent genius and he's more obsessed with Carlos than you are."

"Which is either scary or impressive." Roy shrugs.

"That one's still up for debate." Lonnie snorts even as she hugs him close to her side.

"Hey, you three found your…" Roy's eyes roam over them before he blinks and tapers off. "So, vet clinics?"

He bites his lip as he glances over his shoulder at Jay.

His limp was getting worse with every step. His breathing slowly sounding more pained.

He'd offered several times to carry Evie, but he was pretty sure it made Jay feel better to hold her.

To keep her close.

It would have made him feel better.

None of them had mentioned it, but he was certain Mal and Jay were just as concerned about her as he was.

He so wasn't a magic guy.

Sure, on the Isle the concept had fascinated him. He loved puzzling out the laws of magic with Deez and Yensid, trying to make it make sense in scientific terms.

It was fun to talk about the theory.

But that? What Evie did?

They still weren't sure how much magic she'd used.

How many spells she cast.

He just knew it was because of her that Jay survived Maleficent's fire, and the building was still standing.

He also knew the sight of her standing in the middle of the chaos with her arms in front of her would haunt his nightmares for the rest of his life.

Seeing her so drained terrified him to his core.

He knew she was all about being fair-skinned, but right now?

Her skin was nearly translucent.

And the circles under her eyes?

It was hard to look at her without panicking.

She was going to lose her shit when she woke up… If she-

No! He shakes his head.

He would not spaz!

Couldn't afford to spaz.

Evie may not have been the physically strongest among them. But when it came to the strength of will?

Even Hiro-

He swallows hard.

He couldn't think about him. If he thought about him, he'd worry.

And worse, he'd want to go back.

He sighs.

Not that he didn't want to already.

No!

Stop thinking about it.

Evie was the scary one.

Everyone knew that.

She'd be okay. She had to be.

He swallows a sigh as he turns back to Mal.

Jay and Evie weren't the only ones he was worried about.

Mal's face was still bleeding. It had started to clot, but still, he was scared.

He wasn't stupid. He knew head wounds bled a lot.

Hell, his still was. But she'd taken a dragon claw to her face.

Even if she'd been a dragon herself at the time, he still wasn't sure what that would do.

And Jay.

Jay looked like one big bruise.

A stubborn bruise.

A stubborn, limping, wheezing bruise.

He bites his lip.

He wasn't sure where they were heading, doubted any of them did. But there was no way they could keep up this pace forever. Or hell, even another hour.

They needed rest.

They needed food.

Fuck. They needed a break.

"Um, guys. Try to keep an eye out for a service tunnel or engine room." Maybe they'd get lucky and find some supplies.

At the very least, a first aid kit.

Mal turns to glance at him, "Right." She nods.

He grimaces. She sounded exhausted.

He wasn't sure how much energy it must've taken to fight her mother in that form.

Until right now, he hadn't even thought about it.

He inches closer to her until he can wrap an arm around her waist and one of her arms around his shoulders, "You know, so we can take care of E."

"Sounds like a plan." Mal frowns as she glances back at Evie in concern only to wince and turn back to the tunnel.

He bites his lip, "So um, once we get… where we're going, I um, I'm kind of the only one not, ya know, hurt-"

"We're not separating," Jay states sternly. "We'll figure it out. We always do."

"Yeah but, we need like, a first aid kit. At least."

"We know," Mal sighs as she squeezes him to her side weakly. "And we'll find something. I brought money. Not sure if it survived. But… Like Jay said, we'll figure it out."

"Shit," Jay grunts. "I didn't even think about the cash." He sighs. "I brought some too, but I don't know if it's still on me. I was just hoping we'd run outta gas, or we could talk someone into stopping at one of the candy stores you were talking about..." He snorts.

"Same." He sighs as he pats his pocket, "I still have it."

"Then we get some supplies on the DL. We've lived off of less. It'll be fine." Mal frowns.

"Right," Jay says firmly.

He nods.

For now, all they could do was keep going.

Hiro is such a complete psychopath, but understandably so.

To us anyway.

Any objections?

But, fuck if we aren't glad we added him to the story. Seriously super glad. He's a blast to write.

Smart to break their phones, wasn't it? Though incredibly irritating.

Poor fucking Doug.

Ben.

Lonnie.

Roy.

The VKs aren't' going to be the only ones with PTSD after this one.

Anyone else agree?

*Breathes deeply* Carlos and the others are in rough fucking shape.

Terrified. Wounded. And not even sure if Evie's going to make it.

Does anyone want to kill us for these alterations?

Or are you enjoying the ride?

Hopefully, this is putting you guys in a mood.

Not sure what type, but a mood nonetheless.

We try so hard to elicit emotions.

Anyone wanna volunteer to answer that?

No fave line in this one guys-

Just an ache in my chest.

Much love and appreciation

-Twisted