Seconds later...

Gil doesn't think as he pulls back his fist and punches T in the face, sending him to the ground.

"Gil!" Carlos shakes his head as he tries to get even smaller in the back of the hideout. What the hell was happening? One second everything had been fine, and now? Now, it was chaos. Gil was every bit the brute he'd once judged him to be, and T was laid out on the sand unmoving. D was gone, sacrificed herself to her father's wrath to keep them safe- He presses a hand to his chest.

T still wasn't moving. His thumping heart was beating so fast and hard he was sure it was going to pop out of his chest. Fuck. Could Gil hear it? He blinks as the world spins. What was going on! It hurt to breathe. He fists twist into the fabric of his shirt, making it stretch oddly over his chest.

He swallows, a whimper leaves him as his entire body begins to tremble. T still wasn't moving. He hated this.

He swallows, he wished he'd never agreed to this. He had known it was going to end badly. That was the most solid punch he'd ever seen Gil throw.

He needed to do something. Needed to calm them down, something, anything! But he couldn't seem to move. Everything was moving so fast and so slow.

Everything had been going so smoothly. What happened?

Hades showed up- And now everyone was fighting-And Deez was gone and he felt trapped.

T wasn't moving. Fuck. T still wasn't moving. T wasn't moving.

He tries to swallow, but his mouth was dry. Had Gil killed him with that punch? He'd flown pretty far. And he still wasn't moving. And Gil looked more livid than he'd ever seen him. He couldn't breathe.

"S'no big, pup." T finally gruffs, his hand coming up to wipe away the blood trailing from his nose,. He grimaces as he drops his hand. His nose was clearly broken, and bruises were already forming under both eyes.

He tosses his hood back on before he stumbles back to his feet. "I need to go after D." He looks between them, his normal monotone voice more nasally. "I've never heard of any OV's besides Maleficent come out to fetch their kids themselves. Especially cause, ya know, imps."

Gil narrows his eyes as stomps closer and grabs fistfuls of T's baggy shirts, "YOU WOULDN'T NEED TO-"

"Guys…" Carlos wheezes unintelligibly.

"What were you gonna do man?" T stares up at him, completely unphased.

Carlos grimaces as he shrinks smaller, curling into a ball. What was T thinking? Another whimper leaves his throat.

Gil starts to shake T, "I could have-"

"Guys!" Carlos calls out in desperation, his voice thin and muffled but certainly louder than before.

T's eyes narrow as he turns to Carlos in concern.

Gil lets go of T's shirt at the sound of Carlos' voice cracking. His eyes widen in surprise.

"Fuck." T frowns as he steps back. "You're gonna have to take care of that." He pats Gil's back. "Mal and Uma need to know, about this, somethings up. Besides you're better at calming people down."

Carlos lets out a squeak, "No-"

"You'll be fine C," T promises him. "Gil was just upset." He turns to Gil with narrowed eyes. "Right?"

"Right." Gil glares at T, "I'll make sure C is alright. So go."

T nods, "I'll bring her back." He promises them before he turns and starts racing in the direction of the temple.

Gil takes several deep breaths as he stares at T's retreating back before he turns to Carlos, rubbing his neck nervously. "C?" He asks softly as he slowly walks closer.

Carlos flinches and flails, unable to move anywhere. All he could do was focus on breathing, when he didn't he found himself gasping.

Gil frowns, "I'm sorry, but we don't have time for this…" He bends over and picks up the terrified boy in his arms, ignoring the way he fought and squirmed. "Uma's gonna kill me if I don't get back to her with this." He apologizes. "And I ain't leavin' ya here like this."

Heat floods Carlos' face, sending patches of red down his entire body. He was helpless, unable to fight and unwilling to test Gil in his current state. He blinks rapidly until his eyes focus on a dark smudge of ash on his arm. Without a thought he immediately starts wiping at it. Dirt… He could fix that. Wipe it away until it wasn't there anymore. Clean. He could clean. Nothing bad happened when everything was spotless.

Gil runs full out towards the ship. Once they get closer to the docks he tosses Carlos over his back like a sack of potatoes. "Sorry." He apologizes when he hears Carlos whine of fear at the sudden movement.

Carlos blinks. Where'd the spot go? What was pressing into his belly? His lungs? He pulls in another deep breath, fighting against the pressure.

"Almost there," Gil informs him, his pace picking up even more now that he saw the ship.

Gotta clean. Gotta clean. His eyes search his arms again as he sways. One, two, three… He counts each time he feels himself move. Clean. Eight. Spot! Ten. He starts rubbing at the red on his arm. Gotta clean.

By the time they're on the ship, his arm was dripping blood from where he'd rubbed himself raw.

"HARRY!" Gil shouts, his grip on Carlos tightens as he calls across the deck. "Harry!"

"Aye lad, what ya be ah-" Harry's eyes widen as he opens the door to the cabin, "That be ah pup ya be draggin' here mate." He hisses, his eyes searching the ship for witnesses, "Where be Deez?"

Gil quickly sliding past him. "I didn't know what to do, I couldn't just leave him like this." He frowns as he gently rolls Carlos off his shoulder and places him on their bed. "Stay." He tells Carlos firmly before he turns to Harry.

"Be leaving him like…" Harry frowns as Carlos starts scrubbing a spot on the bed, "What the hell be ah matter with the pup?"

"Senior came and took Deez." Gil breathes out. "I tried to stop him- But T-" He growls as his eyes darken, "He got in the-"

Harry's wide eyes seem darker as his face pales, but he quickly grabs Gil by the shoulders and yanks him close, slamming the other boy's face into his chest as he cups the back of his head, "Ya be try'na ta tell me T be holdin' ya back from attackin' an OV mate?"

"Deez slammed me into the hideout first." Gil admits softly against his jacket, "Then T got in my way." He adds with a flare of anger, "I decked 'im, Harry. I was so angry I punched him."

"Shh lad, I be doubtin' T were'nah expectin' it at this point," Harry tightens his grip, "Mate. They be ah doin' ya ah favor. We can'nah be goin' up against them OVs."

Gil frowns as he hugs Harry back, tears of frustration running down his face. "I could have at least tried." He grunts.

"Be ah thinkin' boyo…" Harry runs his hand up and down the back of Gil's head, "Ya never be ah wantin' us ta be ah facin' yer old man yeah?"

"That's different." Gil shakes his head in aggravation.

"It ain't." Harry shushes as he rocks Gil, "We don'nah be interfering with Ursula either if ya were ah plannin' ta use the girl card."

Gil takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "I just- He took her. And said she belonged to him. And she doesn't. She's ours. She just hasn't figured that out yet."

"You an I both be ah knowin' that lad. But she be ah havin' ta do what she be ah havin' ta do." Harry pulls Gil back, their gaze meeting before he continues, "And she will be ah comin' back, ya best be ah believin' that."

Gil studies Harry for a moment before his eyes finally soften. His shoulders droop as he relaxes slightly at Harry's reassurances.

"Aye, good lad." Harry pats his back soothingly, "Now be ah sweet boy and be helpin' the pup while I be ah fetchin' Uma. She be ah needin' ta know." He walks backward as he gestures to the boy fidgeting on the bed.

"Right." Gil stares at the door for a couple of breaths after it shuts, rubbing the back of his head nervously before he turns to Carlos. "Sorry… I'm gonna come closer to you now, okay?" He asks his voice low and gentle, as he walks over to the bed slowly hands up. As if approaching a wild animal.

"Do you have any cleaner?" Carlos asks as he continues to scrub the rough wood with the corner of the bedsheet.

Gil's brow furrows at the question, before widening at the sight of Carlos' arms. At the blood running freely down them. He quickly, his hands shaking in his determination to be gentle, reaches out and inspects Carlos' free arm in concern. "What happened?"

"It's okay, I cleaned the dirt off, but now I need to clean this." Carlos shakes his head as his eyes narrow, "There's red paint on it."

Gil frowns, "I think we have some cleaner." He states carefully, eyeing Carlos in concern, "But, Imma take care of this first."

Carlos frowns, "Okay, but then I really have to get this cleaned up. Mother likes everything neat and tidy and clean." He turns and looks up at Gil, "Spots only belong on furs you know."

Gil sighs as his eyes soften. "Kay…" He agrees before stepping back to go grab medical supplies. "Stay." He orders gently.

Carlos nods as he goes back to frantically scrubbing a spot on the wooden bedframe, "I can't go anywhere until this is clean, anyways."

"Good pup." Gil sighs in relief before he pulls what he needs out of Uma's desk.


Uma can't stop staring at Mal's pup as he frantically cleans her quarters while she contemplates what her next move should be. She remembered the last time she witnessed Hades claiming his daughter himself, and it worried her. Not that she could show that with the pup this close. Though she doubted he was paying attention to them with the state he was in.

Honestly, she felt bad for the poor kid. Gil had come home most nights to talk about their book club, and she'd grown fond of the boy. Fond of the way Gil spoke of him, and fond of the way he treated her boy. Still, this was going to be a problem. She doubted Mal knew all the details of the club, otherwise, it wouldn't exist…

She couldn't secret him back to his own territory. At least not with the way he was acting. And even if they did it would be an all-out war if Mal found out. She lets out a heavy sigh.

What a fucking mess. She brings her thumb to her lips to chew on the nail.

"We kidnapped him." She finally decides as she hits her fist into her palm at her decision. It had been years since any of them had bothered kidnapping each other's crew- Mostly because they were all too big to go down without serious damage- But she couldn't see a way around it.

Harry tightens his jaw and quickly looks away.

Gil frowns at Harry with a questioning look in his eyes, before he turns back to Uma. "I'm sorry that I made this more difficult, but I couldn't just leave him on the beach like that. It would have been real bad if anyone found him-"

"It's okay." Uma holds up her hand and sends him a smile. "You did what you had to do. It's not the first time we kidnapped him after all, it's just been a while." She shrugs. "Just looks like this time," Her eyes soften as she looks at Carlos. "he ain't gonna be stayin' in the Brigg."

Harry pulls himself to his feet, spinning in place before he grabs Uma's hand, "I be assumin' it be me ta be ah deliverin' the message to the dragon then?"

Uma swallows, knowing what Harry was volunteering to walk into. "Try to just tell the princess or the fuck boy, first." She orders firmly. "However if the bitch is the first one, so be it… We need this pup back with his pack." She sighs before she softly runs her hand over his hair, "Tell her to meet us at the beach. I'm sorry," She leans forward, wrapping one hand around the back of his head before she kisses him deeply. "We'll take care of you pretty boy." She whispers against his lips. "But, we can't just let the kid go in this state. It would be cruel."

"Aye Uma." Harry presses his lips to the back of her hand before he walks backwards towards the door, "I be ah holdin' ya both to that promise." He winks before he turns away. He looks over his shoulder, sparing the pup one last look before he leaves.

Uma stares at the door sadly, before she turns to her second. "Gil, why don't you go to the hold and see if we got something from T to actually distract the pup? There might be something he can clean with besides water and a towel."

Gil smiles at Uma. "Yes, cap'n." He agrees before quickly making his exit.

Uma sighs as she walks over to her chair and plops into it. Her sad eyes watching as Carlos viciously scrubbed at a stain, muttering about cleanliness and spots.


Did Gil surprise you?

What do you think of Carlos's panicked assessment of the situation and then the way he coped with it?

Do you think Gil did the right thing? What about Harry and Uma?

What do you think Harry's going to walk into when he goes to tell the other gang they have Carlos?

Let us know below! :)