Chapter 13 – Let's Rumble

WARNING – Major spoilers for Tangled the animated series season three this chapter.


-:-:-


Harry had been kidnapped plenty of times before.

It was mostly by Mal's crew, when she was feeling bored and felt like Uma was getting too big for her britches. It was usually after a fight he and Uma had thoroughly lost – not a stalemate that Mal had just edged over victory on them but a total antihalation, something worth being humiliated about, and as insult to injury Mal would have Jay drag Harry's battered and bruised body away for however long they could hold him.

Sometimes Harry had ended up in Cruella's cellar or in the cramped storage room of the Junk Shop. Mal had locked him in the attic of one of Bargain Castle's guard towers once, which had been cold and miserable, kicking off Harry's battle with the flu. They never really bothered with him much, though Jay liked to use Harry as his pillow – 'for comfort' supposedly, or 'body heat', which had been more believable. Sleeping cramped atop the pile of matted rugs Jay was offered as a bed, the heap shoved underneath the lowest shelf of the storage shelves had been the closest Harry got to physical intimacy before Gil came along, and while he sure as shit didn't treasure being locked up with his enemy, there had maybe been some appreciation for the novelty of it.

This was not like those times.

This was, if Harry had to describe it, entirely lazy.

He woke up slumped on some metal chair in the middle of an abandoned warehouse.

He wasn't even tied down. There were no obvious magic in effect that he could feel, no traps that he could see. Not that his vision was all that great, seeing as whoever had nabbed him felt like aiming a giant spotlight at him, nearly blinding him and leaving the rest of the room in shadows. As far as he could tell, they hadn't even searched him. He didn't have his phone, but that was it. He still had his knives, still had his necklace. He was pretty sure he still had the powder bombs he kept on hand out of what was now justified paranoia.

Total amateur hour. Harry was insulted he'd allowed himself to get grabbed by these asshats.

"Harrison Hook," a modulated voice said somewhere off in the darkness as Harry started getting himself back in order, shaking feeling back into his fingers before testing out the rest of his muscles. "Are you prepared to meet your end?"

"What, is there like five of ye?" Harry asked, standing up with a lazy prowl as he slid out of his Sonny persona and into the familiar mask that had helped him survive the Isle for fifteen years. He undid his bowtie in gentle movements, leaving it artfully draped across his neck as he slowly undid the small buttons of his shirt, trying to get access to his necklace.

There was a pause, meaning Harry had heard the shift of bodies more of less correctly. "We have enough," the voice settled on. "For too long you have been allowed to walk free inside Auradon, corrupting its future leaders, worming yourself in where you're not wanted. Here and now, we will prove that the people of Auradon have no interest in the Isle. We'll show you-"

Harry cut them off before they could finish whatever stupid speech they had planned, hurling one of his powder bombs towards the modulated voice before chucking another towards where he guessed was the greatest cluster of attackers. After that, it was a simple matter of sliding his necklace off and transforming his hook back into its regular form, holding a knife in his other hand as he charged into the fray.

There were more of them than he expected. At least a dozen, and half of them had escaped the range of his powder bombs. It didn't matter in the end, because Harry was used to fighting large groups of people, used to getting in what hits he could, fighting dirty if it meant staying alive. He didn't hesitate to lash out with his weapons, dragging his hook across one of the attacker's throats before stabbing his knife in another one's eye. He kicked out knees and slashed at arteries, made his blows count because otherwise he'd be a dead man.

It wasn't long before the powdered individuals threw themselves into the fray, but they were even easier to take out than the first set of guys. Harry was able to leave a few of those alive – albeit with a few broken bones – before at last all his opposition was taken care of, either knocked out or permanently incapacitated. He received a few nicks in the process, further ruining Evie's work on his body, but that was something to be mourned later. For now, he settled for hobbling along the walls of the warehouse until he at last found some light switches. He flicked them on, hissing as his eyes adjusted to the mess he'd left behind, revealing the kidnapper's full setup.

That was how Harry realized, belatedly, that amidst everything else, hidden on the outskirts of the warehouse was an array of cameras. He wasn't sure if they were security cameras or if they'd just wanted to get their execution on tape or what, but Harry didn't care. He tied up the few guys that were unconscious and got back on the move, checking the outskirts of the warehouse until he could find a car or phone or something. He'd figure things out from there.

-:-:-

Despite not being able to locate a phone, help seemed to arrive by way of emergency services about thirty minutes after Harry had woken up. He waited for them with a bored sort of detachment, the blood cleaned off his hands as best he could in the dingy bathroom he had located in a small building next to the warehouse. The place had been built for seclusion, that was sure enough, seeming far off the beaten path. There was a cluster of buildings surrounding them, but outside of that was nothing but woods as far as the eye could see, making Harry wonder if this was some kind of abandoned manufacturing plant.

His hook had already been safely transformed back into his necklace, tucked under his shirt that had been rebuttoned, his bowtie lost somewhere in the warehouse. People seemed wary to approach, most of them bypassing him to head straight into the warehouse, until he was at last approached by the same inspector that had taken his statement when he'd fallen overboard.

"My apologies, Mr. Hook," Detective Basil offered with a tilt of his head. "Thought we'd weeded out the entirety of this little terror group, but it seemed like we missed some."

"How'd ye find me?" Harry asked, watching the way the other workers considered him with open trepidation.

"Followed the broadcast signal," the inspector replied. "They were going to publicize your execution. Obviously, they underestimated your resourcefulness."

"I'm used to people trying to kill me, inspector," Harry replied in a drawl. "Isle hasn't been peaceful for even a year yet."

"I think they forgot that," the inspector murmured before taking Harry's statement. "Do you have any serious injuries?"

Harry shook his head. "Scrapes and nicks, nothing awful."

"Then I'll take you straight to Auradon Castle, if you don't mind," the inspector said, herding Harry into his car. "They can treat your wounds there."

It took a few minutes into the drive for Harry to truly settle, for him to slowly come out of his emotionally detached state that had allowed him to survive that encounter. "The broadcast- did they see the fight?"

The inspector gave him a heavy look, then nodded. "Yes, Mr. Hook, they did."

Ah. So much for being a pacifist. So much for being gentle and sweet. Now they knew the true ruthlessness of Harry Hook.

Maybe that had been inevitable. Maybe that was for the best.

Harry tried not to dwell on this as they pulled into Auradon Castle's private garage. It had been a few hours since Harry had been grabbed, meaning the dinner party was long over, assuming they had it at all.

"We took care of the leak inside the castle," Detective Basil explained as he let Harry out of the car, herding him towards Cogsworth's concerned visage. "You'll be safe now."

Harry was never truly safe, but he appreciated the sentiment.

"Thank ye," he murmured, giving the inspector an appreciative nod.

"Come, let's get you cleaned up," Cogsworth said, fussing over him the way he might Ben. That was how Harry came to be herded into the private infirmary of the castle, Dr. Potts looking him over for injuries while he dressed the few cuts Harry had managed to acquire. His shirt was a bit of a wash now, and he'd gotten a cut on his upper thigh, but it was nothing new, and nothing that wouldn't heal.

It was in this time that King Adam and Queen Belle descended upon him, the latter looking concerned while the former just looked stoic.

"Sonny," Queen Belle murmured, offering him a soft grin. "I'm so happy you're okay."

"Your necklace," the king said, his tone a complete counter to his wife before he held his hand out palm up, as though waiting…

Harry narrowed his eyes. "I'm not giving ye my hook."

"You shouldn't have any weapons," the king said, his voice tight with anger. "That was one of the conditions-"

"They only reason I'm alive now is because I had those weapons," Harry snapped. "Because the people in your kingdom keep trying to kill me."

This wouldn't have happened on the Isle. Harry was safe there by both reputation and position, but mostly because he'd put in the damn work to make it safe for himself and everyone else who lived there.

"Still," the king said, like that was any kind of argument. "You presented yourself falsely. We thought you were a pacifist-"

"I am a pacifist," Harry snarled. "Ye think I like fighting? I don't, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna lie down and die if my life's threatened. I survived fifteen years on the hellhole you created before we rose up and fixed it. I learned to fight because I had to, because if I didn't, the people I cared about, the ones that didn't deserve to be there in the first place, were going to get hurt. They didn't deserve that. They didn't deserve what ye did to them."

"Do you hate me?" the king asked, his voice level.

"I sure as shit don't like ye," Harry snapped. "Ye left children to clean up the mess of an incarceration system ye created. It's good fortune that Ben's taking over as king, since you've done such a shitty job at it."

Belatedly, Harry realized that perhaps now was not the best time to let his anger get the best of him. Or ever. He'd been furious and scared and hurting, and instead of being sensible, he had to go and prove to the entire world exactly what kind of barbarians Isle people really were.

"Is that why you're dating Ben?" the king asked, his expression thunderous. "Why you prompted this entire fiasco-"

"Alright, we're taking a step back now," Queen Belle declared, grabbing on the king's shoulder and reeling him back with a determined look. "We're not doing this. We are not yelling at teenagers who were stolen out of our care and almost killed. We are not arguing policies we know are broken, and we are not questioning who our son pledged his heart to." She buffered him away, back towards Cogsworth with a few determined steps before she closed in on Harry, pressing a comforting hand to his shoulder. "Sweetheart, I'm so sorry for what you've been through, both now and then. No one faults you for doing what you needed to in order to survive, and if Ben trusts you, I trust you."

"Ye fucking shouldn't," Harry muttered, heat building behind his eyes. "Didn't ye watch the fight? Your husband's right, they're all right-"

"They are wrong," the queen interrupted, cradling his face between her hands. "You have never once reacted violently towards anyone who antagonized you without the intent to hurt you, and I know, because we've been looking. It's one of the things we expected to happen, but it never did. If anything, you seem determined to avoid violence. You hate watching Tourney games, you didn't even want to join the Swords and Shields team despite being adequately prepared for it. The fighting you have learned – that was a necessity, but it is not in your bones, and you are not a monster."

Spoken so plainly, there wasn't much else Harry could do aside from cry – helpless, ugly sounds spilling from his throat as the stress of the day caught up to him. Not having a family, the kidnapping, the partners he probably didn't have any more since he'd literally killed he didn't even know how many people, he didn't keep track. It was one of the things he learned to do early on, to stop counting. It wasn't information he needed to know.

"It's okay, sweetheart," the queen said, hugging him close. "It's going to be okay. We're going to ensure the problem is settled this time, and we're going to fix the Isle too."

"How?" Harry asked, clinging desperately to her, eagerly soaking up the motherly affection he'd never received.

"By doing what we should have done a long time ago," the queen murmured. "We're going to develop alternative forms of confinement and rehabilitation, and then we're going to drop the barrier and properly crown your queens."

"It's not that simple," King Adam said. "With Ben's coronation-"

"We're pushing it back," the queen hummed. "I know you're worried about losing objectivity, Adam. I know you're worried about the resurgence of the beast, about remaining neutral, but we created this damn mess and we're going to be the ones to fix it, okay?"

For a moment the king didn't say anything, and then he was nodding. "Okay, Belle. I'll call an emergency meeting to address the new issues as soon as possible."

"And no more yelling at teenagers," the queen continued. "Now get out there and order the guards to let Ben in, I'm sure he's frantic right about now."

"Right," the king said, seeming a bit detached – no, preoccupied, like he was reevaluating. "Right, I'll just-"

He left without finishing the sentence, which was fine for Harry. The pirate didn't have much else for him anyway.

Holy shit. Holy shit. He'd gotten what they wanted, what he'd been working for, but he'd been a giant asshole to do it. He'd been the closest to himself he'd been in a while, not holding back, fighting, killing, and yet that was what got him the leverage he needed to instill reforms.

It was ludicrous. Harry could almost start crying again, it was so absurd.

"Adam ordered the others to keep away," Queen Belle explained. "They've all been worried since we realized you were missing. Cogsworth has been beating himself up over the mishap, but just know they are very concerned, and yes, they do still care about you even after seeing that footage."

It seemed too good to be true, but Harry wasn't given much time to argue it. Dr. Potts was done treating his wounds and the queen was moving away, the door flying open to reveal Ben, but he paused to let Chad and Lonnie scuffle past him, both of them charging towards Harry with frantic eyes.

Lonnie was the only one to hug him, Chad hanging back at the last moment, his fingers nervously twisted together with uncertainty, like he wasn't sure if he was wanted.

"I'm so sorry," Lonnie murmured, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "That never should have happened, you never should have had to do that, to learn how to do that."

"Ye still like me?" Harry asked, because even if the queen had insisted that much, she wasn't them, she couldn't know for sure. "Even after…?"

"They attacked you, Sonny," Lonnie said, her voice firm. "They threatened to kill you and you defended yourself. You didn't do anything wrong."

"I killed them, though," Harry said, watching as some of them tensed. "And it's not- they're not the first people I've-"

Lonnie took his face between her hands, staring him hard in the eye. "You're not a killer. I stand beside you for every Tourney game, I think I would notice if you liked violence for violence's sake. You don't, not even close, and every time you get mad you try to cut yourself off before you can do something you regret, because even if you're angry, you care about us, you care about who you're arguing with, because you are an empathetic person. You're still sweet and cute and I'm sorry you had to grow up like that."

Harry croaked, because even though the Queen had apologized, even though all of them had apologized before, it seemed more poignant now that they knew how broken he was.

"Sonny," Chad said, his voice soft, and then the blond was joining their hug, the others piling in, climbing around the examination table so they could surround him. "Sonny."

"You're not- you're not being alone anymore," Ben declared. "Not until we know for sure that you're safe. I know we said that before but I fucking mean it this time – no more, Sonny. If you're going to the bathroom, you're getting company. I can't- I can't do this again. I can't."

"And I'm going to court you," Doug burst. "I hated- you were so sad when you left and you were gone and all I could think was how the last thing I did was hurt you because of traditional technicalities, so I asked Fairy Godmother if I could court you and she said yes so fuck tradition."

"Douglass," Aziz laughed, seeming breathless. "So bold."

"So true," Doug muttered. "I'm not – you're mine, and I'm not missing out on a single one of you."

It was the heat of the moment, that was all. This was relatively new, and even though they'd been friends for months now, they were all just wooed by thoughts of fairytale romance and fantastical rescues. They were willing to forgive Harry's actions, but maybe that was just because he'd been relieved of his blood-soaked clothes. They saw, but didn't know.

They would, soon enough, though. That kind of stuff couldn't be hidden forever. They might be able to recognize how little Harry enjoyed fighting, but eventually they would figure out his lack of compunction with actually engaging in battle whenever it was necessary.

Sometimes, these things needed to be done. He had no way of knowing whether they would view that as acceptable.

He tried not to think about it.

For lack of anything better to do, Harry surrendered, letting the five of them hold him close and treasure him. He should definitely be worried now, he realized. It felt like they were going too fast, but that would fade. Or maybe the others back home wouldn't want him anymore anyway since he was soft. Not soft enough to die in a fight, but he'd obviously broken their rules and dressed like his tacky self – he'd been gone for months anyway, they'd had time to adjust to things without him. Maybe they were even better.

Harry didn't know what to do. He wished he could talk to Uma, wished he could get her orders, but since he couldn't, he could only relent to their care and hope that the barrier fell sooner rather than later.

-:-:-

They spent the night together in Ben's suite. None of their parents argued. They had been invited to stay the night after the disastrous affaire that was their attempted dinner party and no one had declined the offer, taking up guest suites and staying for a much more laid-back brunch in one of the private sunrooms that looked out upon the castle gardens.

It helped to see the visiting royals dressed down, all of them seeming to either borrow clothes or having casual clothing brought in early that morning. That said, it was nice to see Sultana Jasmine with her hair pulled back in a loose braid, see General Shang with his own dark locks in a lopsided bun that made his wife and Lonnie giggle. It seemed entirely less intimidating to talk to these people when they were gathered around a respectable breakfast buffet, still half asleep and trading easy laughter like they'd been friends forever.

Of course, Harry hadn't even sat down by the time life decided to deliver its next complication. He hadn't even filled up a plate, too content to guide a sleep-muzzled Chad through collecting his own breakfast when a frazzled Cogsworth brushed into the room, hesitating for a moment before he made a beeline for Queen Belle. The two exchanged an intense murmured conversation before the queen's gaze landed on Harry, making his stomach sink.

So they'd decided to arrest him after all. Maybe one of the people he had killed yesterday had been important, maybe Isle justice didn't really matter, maybe he'd ruined everything-

"Sonny, sweetheart," the queen said. "There's been a development."

"What happened?" Ben asked, immediately cutting to Harry's side, damned if he had been in the middle of pouring a cup of juice. He'd apparently meant what he said about Harry not being alone. "Is it about yesterday?"

"Not really," the queen said, making everyone relax. "In an effort to aid Douglass's courtship traditions, I put in a request for a DNA test to be run after Dr. Potts finished treating Sonny's wounds. I was hoping that maybe we could get a lead on his mother's family, assuming they were part of any of our national DNA databases."

Harry felt his gaze go wide. "Did ye find something?"

He'd given up on investigating anything that had to do with his mother years ago. So long as his mother wasn't a major villain, her bloodline could do nothing to aid him. Children of the Isle had to use their parents' reputations to get anything, and if she didn't have that, there was no point in looking into her. CJ always made noises about wanting to try, but Harry and Harriet knew the whore that had been her mother had been killed shortly after her birth, and that was likely the case for the rest of the Hook children as well. That was just the Isle for you.

"Yes," the queen said, and Harry wasn't prepared for it, almost lost his footing but Ben's hand was there to steady his elbow. "Actually, we found a match for both your parents."

That… didn't make sense. "Ye have my father's DNA on file?"

"We have all the major villains' DNA on file, yes," the queen said. "But our tests revealed that you aren't related to the late Captain James Hook."

That was- that-

He was an orphan? Or, had been an orphan before Hook had claimed him. Harry couldn't say he was entirely surprised, his dad had always wanted a son more than daughters, was tragically sexist that way, and couldn't seem to produce the desired results on his own merits. Who even knew how many orphan girls were running around the Isle that were Harry's – well, at least Harriet and CJ's – sisters.

His dad must have found a baby that looked close enough like him to pass and claimed him, claimed Harry for the promise of an apprentice he presented. A younger version of himself.

Harry swallowed, slowly working his way through that information. When he thought he was steady, he pushed on. "Um- do ye- do ye know who my parents are?"

"Yes, sweetheart," the queen said, crossing the room in gentle movements before she was right in front of him, her gaze kind. "What do you know about the heirs to Corona?"

Her words seemed to make the people around him tense, though Harry had no information for her. "Princess Ruby's from Corona, right?"

"Correct," the queen murmured. "The royal trio of Corona had children, half-siblings that shared the same father. One was mothered by Queen Rapunzel – that's Princess Ruby. The other was mothered by Lady Consort Cassandra. She had a son named Cayden."

"Had?" Harry asked, his brows furrowed in confusion.

The queen reached out and took his hands in her own, giving them a gentle squeeze. "Like Queen Rapunzel, he was kidnapped out of his crib as a child, never to be seen again. It was believed to be an attack done by those who opposed the thought of Mother Gothel's descendants staying on the throne of Corona." She squeezed his hands again. "They never stopped searching for their son, but despite their efforts, they never found him. At least – not until this day."

"I don't understand," Harry said, confused why she would be telling him this story. What Corona and Gothel had to do with anything.

"Sonny," Queen Belle said, her voice careful, soothing. "You're Cayden. Your DNA was a match for King Eugene and Lady Consort Cassandra. You must have been hidden away on the barges when you were young. Perhaps Captain Hook found you there-"

"No," Harry said, a million objections surging through his throat at once before he remembered who he was talking too. Dazed as he felt, he couldn't get away with mouthing off to the reigning royals of Auradon more than once. He had to- he had to stay focused. "No, um- it was probably Mr. Smee."

"Then we're in his debt," the queen said, her smile gentle. "Your parents have been looking for you for a long time, Sonny. I know this is probably a lot to take in, but they would love to meet you. As queen, I'm civically obligated to inform them of this development, but I thought you'd like to know first."

"Of course," Harry said, nodding absently. The ground felt unsteady beneath his feet, like perhaps that might betray him too, like it all might shake apart. "Thank ye. I um… I think I um- need to get some air, for a second."

"Of course," the queen echoed. "Take your time, Sonny. You deserve it."

"Right." Harry nodded, pulling away when she released him and entirely unsurprised when Ben fell in step with him, the prince deftly sliding his hand into Harry's before he tugged him out into the gardens, down meandering, lovely paths.

"Are you okay?" Ben asked when they got to a small alcove with a fountain, the water trickling like a grounding thing, reminding Harry of Uma's absolute love and adoration for any and all water.

"I… I'm fine," Harry settled on, even though he didn't feel remotely close to fine.

He shouldn't be a prince. He wasn't good enough for it, wasn't worthy enough. He wanted to scream, wanted to breakdown and cry because suddenly he had a family that supposedly wanted him – only they'd likely be disappointed with what they found. But more than that, Harry was one of the few back on the Isle that already had a family, he had Mr. Smee and his sisters and Sammy and the twins. He already had so much more than any of the others, even if Evie insisted Dizzy was her little sister, had claimed her in all but blood. Carlos and Jay had cousins and Gil had LeFou but Uma and Mal didn't have anything. Maybe Mal had Diaval, but the shapeshifter preferred to be a damn bird more often than not, it wasn't-

Harry shouldn't have this. He already had too much. He had temporary partners and real partners and family and now he was a damn prince? How could he be expected to run a kingdom? He hated being on his own, hated his independence, hated stepping up as captain the few times Uma had been incapacitated. And now he was supposed to do that for an entire kingdom?

No, just- he wouldn't, that was all. He needed to look at this as a good thing. If he was a prince – an actual, proper prince, that meant he had a kingdom to do with as he pleased. And Harry… what was his was Uma's, which meant he could turn it over to her. The Isle kids could get a proper foothold in Auradon. Even if Queen Belle said she was fixing things, Harry could- he'd have power now, right? He could give that to Uma. Maybe he could get in regular contact with her finally, after months of terrible separation. There was too much he couldn't put down in his reports for fear of their discovery – developments like this relationship with the AKs, his fears, his insecurities- he just wanted to talk to her again. She could call him an idiot and roll her eyes and tell him what to do, just like she always should have.

There was an upside to this, as little as he wanted it. He would rather be a nobody – Hook's failure son – than some fucking prince, but he had to push through just as he had before. It was the only way.

"It's a lot," Harry said when he realized Ben hadn't replied, the other prince watching him with a careful expression. "It's… it's an adjustment."

"Yes," Ben said, shifting to wrap an arm around Harry's shoulders and drag him in. "It is, but we'll be there every step of the way, alright? I know it's intimidating, but you'll be a great king, Sonny. Your people will be proud to follow you."

Harry's people were back on the Isle, but if he could claim them, maybe get them transferred over to his kingdom- then they wouldn't have to worry about weeding out bad seeds all the time. They could just be at peace. Could have access to all the magic they wanted instead of everything coming in bits and pieces.

"If ye say so," Harry said, trying to find some ounce of confidence. Even if he felt unsuited, he needed to push onwards. The others were counting on him. He couldn't pass up this opportunity just because he was being a child.

He'd just have to charm his new family and prove himself fit even though he didn't deserve an ounce of it, knowing that in the end, he could help the loved ones he'd left behind.

"I know so," Ben said, choosing to leave things at that.

He didn't say anything when they stayed there, enjoying the fresh breeze and open sky as Harry tried to settle into his new mask, feeling the seconds count down until his world was going to be utterly and irrevocably changed once again.

For Uma, he could do this. He had too.


-:-:-


Endnotes:

Just when you think the Isle reform is the biggest development of the chapter – BAM, surprise prince. Classic Paisley action, if you ask me ;)

Story notes:

Of course Belle was going to be the MVP of this chapter, there was literally no other option ;)

Forever and always willing to address and correct the utter stupidity that is crowning a teenager. Let kids be kids, man. Heck, it would even be too big a deal for adults to manage – let these people live their lives for as long as they can, please.

In the Tangled Animated Series, it's revealed that Eugene is heir to the Dark Kingdom. I got the name Cayden using the default Descendants lazy naming conventions, taking the first two letters of Cassandra's name and filtering by country of origin until I found one I liked.

I think Eugene and Cassandra both have brown eyes, but I like to think that Harry's blue eyes are latent affects from Cassandra's use of the moon stone, which uses blue magic.

Classic young royal kidnapped and snuck over to the Isle on the barges storyline – an old Paisley favorite ;)

We're not counting the nameless other daughters of Ursula that show up on the Descendants' wiki as Uma's relatives. If they're not important enough for names, they're not important enough for this story.

So yes, Harry's hints of magic – that's all from Cassandra and Mother Gothel. He doesn't know how to channel it yet, but the capability is there, that's why he noted a difference when the barrier changed, but he wasn't overwhelmed like some of the others.

Until next time :)