3…2…1…Happy New Year! *cue confetti cannons and other noisy, celebratory explosions*

I hope you all had a safe and Happy New Year's celebration with your friends and family. Hopefully this chapter will be worth that grueling, year long wait. ;)

Ok, I'll stop with the jokes and get on to the reviews!

Rowan: I'm glad I made you so excited over the update! Hopefully you're just as excited about this one. :)

Tiredandlazy: Heck yes, I enjoy your reviews, lol! They're so random (in a good way) but still entirely sincere and full of comments on the chapter/story/my writing, and they're thoroughly amusing to read. And I didn't mind the shortness, it still made my day to have a new review from you. Hopefully you found Aziz, but I'll drop more descriptions of him in future chapters, so it should make it easier to search for him. It's fun to imagine all the VKs as tiny, though Carlos and Jay are my favorites to imagine tiny. Especially tiny family Vks, haha! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Kevin4baconhugs: Thank you for the review! I'm glad I was able to make you feel for the characters. :)

Guest: Poor Carlos, indeed! I can't imagine it was easy for any of the VKs growing up, but Carlos especially. And don't worry, he's still in the room somewhere, and Mal and Evie will definitely take care of him! (An aside, if you wouldn't mind creating a name for yourself, I'd really appreciate it! I just like to address my guests as something a little more personal than just Guest. It feels more polite to me ;))

Ellie: Thank you for the review! I'm glad you're enjoying my story so much! Characters are really important to me, so it's good to know you like how I'm portraying everyone.

IWantColoredRain: Do you have a preference for what color rain you'd like? ;) lol, but thank you for the review and I hope you will continue to read and enjoy my story!

MakeItShineDiamondKat31111: Thank you for the review! I'm glad you like this story so much! Cruella certainly did a lot, but I thought it would fit better if I also showed how other VKs on the Isle reacted to him and the rest of the group and give some backstory there. And it's alright; his name is Aziz, and we will be seeing more of him in the future, don't worry!

Nik137nvty: Aw, thank you so much for the kind words! I'm glad this story had got you so worked up, in a good way, of course. Hopefully you've managed to not explode, at least long enough to read and enjoy this next chapter! :)

theNiceDevil: Thank you for the review! I'm glad you're enjoying this story and especially glad you like how I've written the characters. Hopefully you'll continue to enjoy this story.

Kris68: Thank you so much for your review and your kind words! I'm glad you're enjoying this story so much and that you like my characterizations. I definitely feel like Disney sugar coats a lot, so I wanted to dig into things as much as I could. More of that will be coming soon. :) I hope you'll keep reading and enjoying!

Ok, Author's Notes! This chapter contains crude language (sorry, they are villains after all) as well as mentions of underage drinking. (Again, villains.) This chapter also contains more sign language, though not as much as usual, sorry!

**Warnings as this chapter also contains mentions of child abuse, though nothing too explicit. More warnings for angst! You get some angst, and you get some angst; everybody gets angst! And aside from the angst, there are also references to panic attacks; relatively mild, but still there, so be warned!**

Also more flashbacks for you guys, (remember, flashback POVs are in Italics) and multiple POV shifts, including a character we haven't heard from in a bit. :)

***Note there's a bit of a Poll/Q&A at the end of this chapter, so pay attention to that!***

Alright, I'll let you all go and enjoy the chapter! I look forward to hearing what you all think!

Evie

"You're late, Evelyn."

The voice was cold and entirely unforgiving as the girl stumbled through the door. She froze just in the entrance, quickly arranging her features into a mask similar to the woman's; revealing nothing as she folded her hands demurely in front of her.

"I'm sorry Mother," the girl said meekly, though inside she was screaming the words, her hands trembling minutely. Full name was never a good sign. "I didn't realize how late it was, and I was delayed…Maleficent…."

"Do not make excuses," the woman snapped, and the girl flinched. "A true Princess takes responsibility for her actions."

"Yes Mother," the girl whispered hoarsely, forcing herself to remain upright as the woman rose from her place in the shadows and approached her.

The Evil Queen was fierce in her anger, and though there were no obvious twists of her expression, her fury was there in the cast of her eyes; the slight twitch of a brow, the curl of a lip. Evie fought to keep her mask in place as thoughts of poisoned apples and dungeons leapt through her mind, thinking bitterly that surely the only reason Snow White had managed to stay so cheerful through her story was because she had never had to face Grimmhilde in all her glory.

Her thoughts were broken by a sharp snap, and Evie flinched again, her body reacting out of instinct and jerking sharply backwards. But there was no pain, and when Evie dared to bring her head up she realized that it had only been her Mother's fingers snapping, and not a blow. Although the look in the woman's eyes did promise violence, and Evie shivered, shrinking under the force of the woman's gaze.

"Stand up straight," Grimmhilde said sharply, her hands darting out and gripping Evie's shoulders firmly. "A true Princess doesn't slouch, and certainly doesn't cower."

"Yes Mother," Evie murmured, the words barely making it past her suddenly tightening throat.

"Head high, Evelyn," the former Queen intoned, her fingers finding the girl's jaw. "Smile," she hissed.

"Yes Mother," Evie recited dutifully, swallowing the stone in her throat and easily slipping a smile onto the mask that was her face.

"Honestly, you are royalty," the woman said, her brow twitching again, her lip curling just a little higher. "Act. Like. It."

The girl nodded this time, not trusting herself to speak. Her voice would crack if she tried, she knew it. Her mother's hands hadn't left her yet, adjusting her hair now, her eyes narrowed in scrutiny.

"Is this dirt in your hair?" the woman asked, her voice pitched minutely higher. It was her incredulous tone, but also another warning.

"It-it must have been from when I was with Mal," Evie guessed, though she made sure to keep her tone contrite and apologetic.

"Maleficent," her Mother said, and though her voice was still hard, a grudging sort of respect had crept into her tone. "Now there's a woman who knows how to carry herself. I don't think I can say the same for her daughter, though. Too…wild."

The daughter of a Fae was too wild. The thought amused Evie, and a soft chuckle slipped past her lips. Quickly she clamped down on the sound and turned it into a quiet cough, but her Mother hadn't noticed.

"Now then," the woman, said, stepping back to peer at her handiwork. "What have I forgotten?"

"Mother please," Evie said, a reluctant plea in the young girl's voice as she fidgeted with the hem of her skirt. "I look fine."

Crack. The blow came then, a harsh slap that made the girl's ears ring and lights flash behind her eyes. She cringed back with a cry and received another slap for her show of weakness.

"You don't look fine!" Her Mother shouted above her. "Fine is for the tramps on the corner! Unless that's what you'd prefer?"

"Please," Evie whimpered, attempting to retreat and receiving yet another slap.

"Oh, but you look fine," her Mother hissed, her voice just as poisonous as her apples. "As fine as any slut on this forsaken rock!"

"Forgive me," Evie begged, trying to straighten so she didn't appear as worthless as she was. "I didn't mean…"

"Be silent," her Mother commanded. "Princesses don't beg."

Evie bowed her head, biting the inside of her cheek to keep herself from crying, but a tear slid down her face regardless.

"And now you've ruined your makeup!" Her Mother's voice was a wail of disappointment and fury. "What am I going to do with you, Evelyn?"

"I'm sorry," Evie shook her head, blindly stumbling back towards the door.

"Evelyn?" Her Mother demanded, and Evie reached behind her without seeing.

"Evelyn!" Her Mother yelled shrilly, her voice hard again. "Don't you dare run from me!"

But Evie was already gone, bolting down the street and away from the house, tears streaking across her face and blurring her already hazy vision. She tripped, but picked herself up before she could hit the pavement, stumbling down a side street and gasping hard to avoid sobbing. Her feet took her with no conscious thought from her except 'away,' and so she was entirely unprepared for the voice when it came.

"Hey…what's up Beauty Queen?"

She jumped, slamming back into a tapestry covered brick wall, a harsh gasp slipping past her lips. A dull laugh sounded from the dark before her, and the voice spoke again, soft and slightly slurred.

"I guess nothing entirely bad if it drove you to me."

"Jay?" Evie whispered, suddenly recognizing his voice.

"No," he murmured. "Some other devilishly handsome street rat."

She squinted through the dark and was finally able to make him out, propped up against another tapestry in the far corner. His head lay back against the wall behind him, but he had twisted the rest of his body so that instead of facing the door, he was facing the opposite wall.

"Come on in," Jay mumbled, his voice thick. "I don't have much to offer except some stale wine, but it still does its job pretty good."

"Well," Evie said, out of habit.

"Huh?"

"Does its job pretty well," Evie corrected, wiping her face with her sleeve before walking further into the room.

Jay scoffed, but the sound broke off hallway and turned into a choked groan. Evie moved a little faster, starting to reach out to him, but he stiffened, drawing away from her and holding out his hand.

"Don't," he growled, and it would have been threatening if she couldn't see the way his hand shook.

"Are you ok?"

"Oh I am fan-fucking-tastic," Jay rasped, grinning at her broadly.

Evie nodded skeptically, sitting down slowly against the wall adjacent to him. She peered closely at her…ally? They'd known each other long enough to be something by now…Whatever he was...she saw that despite his smile, his eyes were tight, and his lips stiff in what was definitely more a grimace than anything amusing.

"Let me see," she demanded, and Jay glowered at her, flipping her off rather easily for someone who was in so much pain.

"Jay," Evie snapped, and the boy raised an eyebrow at her.

"For a second I thought the Evil Queen was here, but then I figured she wouldn't humiliate herself by stepping into this sty, with such a lowly mortal as myself."

"Well it's a good thing I'm not her," Evie said, ignoring his mockery. "Let me see."

"Why don't you worry about your own bruises?" Jay snapped harshly.

"Because we both know that yours is more than just bruises," Evie countered firmly.

"Piss off," Jay snarled, but his eyes had flickered, and she knew she was right.

"No."

"Why not?" the boy said, but it sounded more like a whine as he closed his eyes again and leaned back against the wall.

"Because you're my…" Evie faltered, and Jay opened an eye, peering at her stoically.

"Go on," the other boy pressed, but something about his tone seemed almost hopeful, instead of mocking like he usually was.

"Friend," Evie decided with a nod, and both of Jay's eyes opened and fixed on her.

"Damn," the boy said lowly. "Friends with royalty."

Evie's eyes narrowed at him, but he continued, smiling a bit more now despite the pain he was in.

"What sort of 'friend' are we talking here, though?" he said. "Like, am I just a friend who's a stepping stone, or is this like a 'friends with benefits' deal?"

"You have the benefit of remaining alive," Evie retorted. "And not dying a slow and painful death."

"Death by apple," Jay chuckled, but then he winced, his smile twisting in a grimace. "Ow," he murmured, shifting away from the wall.

"Bad score?" Evie guessed, but Jay shook his head, still grimacing.

"Nah," he hissed. "Interrupted a business deal...really missed the warning signs on that one. Though to be fair, they were speaking in Arabic, so…"

"Isn't that supposed to be your native tongue?" Evie questioned with a raised brow.

"Yeah, well, I've never had to use it for much," Jay protested. "And Dad only uses it around me when he's angry, so all I'm really fluent in are swear words."

"As if regular swears weren't enough for you," Evie said with a dramatic sigh, and she was rewarded when Jay laughed again, his expression lifting.

"I do like my curse words," the boy joked.

"I know," Evie rolled her eyes at him.

"And I thought you liked singing at the parlor," Jay said softly, suddenly serious. "But you came running out of there fast enough, so I take it things didn't go too good for you either."

Evie stiffened, but covered it up quickly with a laugh, reaching over and prying the bottle from Jay's hands.

"Ok," she said with another forced laugh. "I know by now that when Jay gets all dark and brooding, it's time to confiscate the alcohol."

"Not brooding," Jay mumbled in protest, but he let the bottle go easily enough. "Dark, maybe. But the brooding is more Mal's thing."

"Cheers to that," Evie agreed, smile still intact as sat back again.

"But why did you run?" Jay insisted. "Won't that just make her madder?"

"Angrier," Evie sighed. "And why do you care?"

"Friends…?" Jay dragged out the word as though it were another language. "Isn't that part of it? Caring, or whatever?"

"Unfortunately," Evie agreed, though she wouldn't lie and say it was all bad. "She'll forget about it eventually."

"You're talking about the woman who tried to carve out her step-daughter's heart because she was prettier than her," Jay scoffed. "And she held that grudge how long?"

"Then you're currently conversing with a corpse," Evie responded solemnly. "And therefore, hallucinating."

Jay chuckled. "Well you're certainly the best looking corpse I've ever talked to."

Evie felt heat rising in her cheeks, and it had nothing to do with the forming bruises. "I'm really not, though," she said quickly, shaking her head. "If I were, I wouldn't be worried about being one, and I definitely wouldn't be talking with you."

"To being an above average looking corpse, then," Jay amended easily, raising his hand in a mock toast.

"Above average," Evie cheered quietly, and she lifted the stale wine to her lips and tried to ignore the feeling that it was her last meal.

Jay

The second the bathroom door slams open, Jay is on his feet, but even he's not fast enough to catch Carlos as the boy comes sprinting out, making a mad dive for the fireplace.

"Carlos!" Evie cries from the bed beside him, but Carlos is silent, only the slightest shuffling noises echoing from inside the space.

"Come on, bro," Jay finds himself saying, pleading, almost. "I wasn't trying to be a jerk, you know that."

Something flies out of the fireplace and hits Jay solidly in the legs, stinging and yet strangely freezing all at once. Jay kicks his legs free of the projectile, making to move closer when Mal's voice calls out from behind him.

"Did he just throw his pants at you?"

Jay looks again and realizes that, oh yeah, those are Carlos' shorts. Evie makes a scandalized sound beside him as a second, soaking wet projectile is flung from the fireplace, this one aimed at Mal, but falling short by half a foot.

"That's great, Carlos," Mal calls to the fireplace in an unamused deadpan. "Now you're soaking wet and naked."

"No," Jay says, shaking his head. "I caught him shoving some clothes in there earlier with the rest of his toolkit; he's fine."

"Still wet, though," Evie murmurs, and Jay feels a strange urge rising in his chest.

"That's what she…" he begins, but cuts himself off before he can finish, coughing pointedly as Mal storms past him.

"Carlos," the purple clad girl snaps, crouching down in front of the stone fixture. "We are going to talk about this, so there's no point in hiding!"

"No point in ta-ta-talking, e-ither," the boy retorts, and though his voice is slightly muffled from the fireplace, there's no mistaking the fierce sharpness of his tone.

"At least now he's mad at both of us," Jay mutters lightly to Mal. "So, way to even the field."

"Don't fuck with me right now, Jay," Mal growls, and Jay frowns, backing away from her.

"You know I didn't do this on purpose, right?" he says.

"Purpose or not, you did still do this," she replies tersely. "So shut up for a minute."

"Hey, it wasn't my idea to come here," Jay can't help but retort, his own anger growing in light of hers. "And I'm not the one pushing for things."

"You did your fair share of pushing out on that field," Mal counters harshly. "As I recall, you sent three Princes to the infirmary."

"Yeah," Jay agrees hotly. "I was protecting Carlos."

"Fucking bullshit," the other girl snaps back, standing to face him head on. "All you were doing was fucking off and playing dominant."

"Oh and what were you doing then, Mal?" Jay accuses right back. "What are you doing now?"

Mal's eyes light with green, a snarl rising to her lips as she stalks towards him. Jay straightens and prepares to meet her attack, bracing himself for a fight.

"Go on then, Jay," Mal growls lowly, her own hands in fists at her sides. "You really want to poke the dragon? I dare you."

"Both of you shut up."

Evie's voice is cold and stern, jarring them out of their confrontation. "What happened to doing this thing together?" the girl continues sharply.

"Well clearly, Mal's not one for teamwork right now," Jay counters, frowning back at Evie. "But I never said I wouldn't..."

"You piece of shit!" Mal hisses. "You haven't been working for this team a second since we got here! All you've done is think for yourself!"

"Like hell I have," Jay snaps right back. "What have you done besides ordering us around, which is all you ever seem to do?"

"Is this about that thing with Fairy Godmother?" Mal demands, crossing her arms. "I made that decision because was obvious that some of us were hurt and..."

"And we couldn't have that, could we?" Jay retorts mockingly. "The fearless leader can't have weak followers, can't have anyone dragging them down."

"Is that really what you think?" Mal argues, something hard coming up in her eyes that Jay doesn't have time to interpret in his own anger.

"No, it's what you think," Jay answers. "And that's the only reason you're here, the only reason you're doing this thing with Carlos. You don't really care one way or another, you just want to make sure nothing gets in your way of that damned wand!"

"Jay!" Evie gasps by the fireplace, both shock and anger in her cry.

"Get out," Mal growls at him. "Before I do something I know I won't regret."

"It's my room," Jay counters smugly. "So technically, I should be kicking you out."

"Jay," Evie chimes in again, and her voice is once more hard, and when Jay turns his head he can see that her face is set in her 'Evil Regal' expression. "Leave. Please," she adds carefully, but Jay finds that he doesn't quite have words to respond.

"You…you're actually…kicking me out?" He finally manages, incredulous.

"You're only making things worse," Evie murmurs quietly, and she at least manages to look somewhat apologetic.

No such thing with Mal. The girl's eyes are hard and full of cold fury. "Unless you can stay and actually help with Carlos," she shoots at him through gritted teeth. "But I'd really rather you leave."

"That's fine," Jay snaps hastily, throwing up his hands and pretending that there wasn't a vise squeezing his insides. "Like I said, I know when I'm not wanted."

He crosses back to the window and lifts the latch, balancing in the frame. He flips Mal off with a mocking salute, then slips out onto the roof, locking the window again behind him before jogging towards the building's edge. He's almost grateful to the Auradon residents for confiscating their weapons; he's certain that if Mal had had her knife in that moment, she'd have thrown it at him. And she would not have missed.

Carlos

Carlos wasn't entirely sure when the screaming stopped, but when he finally uncurled himself from his position in the fireplace, the room beyond was silent, and nothing sounded like it was breaking...Jay must have left then. He frowns, shifting his weight and debating whether he really wanted to go out. He runs the towel through his hair again, feeling the droplets of water slide down his face. He shivers, wishing he'd thought to put a long sleeved shirt inside his hiding space instead of a short sleeved one. He also really wishes he wasn't so mentally worthless and fucked up; as if the stuttering wasn't enough...no, he had to be a freaking spaz, too.

'Useless,' he thinks to himself, reaching for his kit. 'Freaking useless.'

His mother had always thought so, said so, on numerous occasions. He was barely competent enough to do his chores without screwing up, but even then there'd always been something not quite right.

'Just like me,' he thinks wryly, twisting a gear.

And now with everything happening in Auradon, first with biology, and then the fight, the last thing they needed was for him to start panicking again. Carlos fiddles with the box in his hands, ignoring the way his fingers tremble. They had something important to do and here he was ruining it all before it started. Why had he been picked? Ben had chosen four, and he could have chosen any four...but why Carlos de Vil? He wasn't good for anything, not even villainy, really.

And Mal...somehow she expected him to play a part in the plan, but what part? How could she expect anything of him? But maybe that was it...maybe Jay was right. She didn't expect anything of him, he was just the cover. The face of 'normal' compared to all of them. He was just there to be there, and he couldn't even get that right! That's what that had been...why she had been there for his latest attack. Trying to see if he was still stable enough for his job of just being there.

'Hate to break it to you Mal,' he murmurs inwardly. 'But I ruin everything I touch. I was ruining things even before I was born.'

But that was going too far. He couldn't think about...no, and it hadn't really been his fault...He hadn't known, he didn't mean...

Carlos blinks hard, drawing a sharp breath that didn't seem to end. He glances back down at his project and tries to fit the second gear into it. The metal snaps and jolts sideways, pinching his fingers sharply. He drops the project and begins to bang his head against the wall behind him in a rhythm, gritting his teeth against what he can feel is a scream.

"I'm fine," he whispers to himself. "I-I'm ook. I'm ok. I'm f-f-f..."

Evie, his brain interjects. He wants Evie. He winces, banging his head against the wall again and trying to ignore the buzzing in his ears. He doesn't need Evie. He can take care of himself. It's only as he wraps the towel further around his body that he realizes he isn't breathing. He gasps soundlessly, burying his head between his knees and trying to remember how his lungs worked.

'Useless.'

'Pathetic.'

'Freak.'

'Worthless.'

'Runt.'

'Screw up.'

"I'm fine," Carlos begins to chant once more, his fingers trembling as he clutches the towel. "I'm…"

Not fine, his brain screams at him. Not fine not fine notnotnotnotnot!

Carlos groans against the voices, but his malfunctioning lungs won't let the sound escape, instead echoing as a heavy vibration in his skull. He can feel his face twisting, can tell from sick fluttering in his stomach that his body wants to run, but he's trapped…trapped and there's no…no air, no way out!

There is a way out, he tries to reason. There's an opening right there right there right there look! But he can't turn his head, can't move a muscle against the fear that grips him, far tighter than any grip his mother had ever held on him. The thought of his mother stabs a hot knife through his stomach, and he's just about to release that scream in his chest when a voice murmurs from somewhere beyond his walls.

Evie

"That went well," Evie says stiffly, watching out the window as Jay drops off the dorm roof and disappears.

"Fucking asshole," Mal snarls, and Evie turns back to see her pacing with all the grace and danger of an enraged dragon. "Who the fuck does he think he is with this?"

All that's missing is the flames, Evie thinks. She shakes her head, pressing her lips together and trying to decide how best to breach this.

"Is he right, though?" Evie finally asks, and she prides herself on her level tone. Mal turns on her, eyes blazing with green.

"What?" the other girl's voice is a low and hard growl, and Evie rolls her eyes, placing a hand on her hip.

"Honestly Mal, you really are overdramatic sometimes," she sighs, refusing to be affected by the display.

"How…?" Mal begins, but Evie shakes her head sharply, cutting her off.

"This thing with Carlos," she insists sternly. "What is it really? Is Jay right?"

She's trying to be tactful, she really is, but Mal glowers at her, her lip curling.

"You think I don't care?"

"I think," Evie says slowly, then starts over. "I know you, Mal. And I know you're worried, but..."

"Fuck yeah, I'm worried!" Mal snaps, pacing again. "You think I'm not? That I don't care? This was supposed to be simple, a way to make things work for us...for once in our fucked up, miserable lives. This place was supposed to be better!"

Evie pauses at that, caught off guard. Mal draws a breath that shakes a bit, the green fire in her eyes flickering as she frowns at the floor.

"I...I wanted it to be better," the girl admits quietly, and Evie feels a pang in her chest, a pricking behind her eyes at the sudden vulnerability.

"For Carlos?" Evie manages to whisper out, attempting to return to her original intentions.

"For all of us," Mal says firmly, her eyes lifting and locking on Evie's.

Evie feels her breath catch, and covers it up with a slight cough. She raises a brow and tries for a teasingly skeptical look. "All of us?"

Mal scoffs, rolling her eyes as some of her remaining anger melts away. "Yes, even Jay, the bastard."

Evie smiles a little, a hint of relief flowing through her. She starts to move forward but something in Mal's body is still tense, and the other shifts away subconsciously at Evie's approach.

"I didn't want to say it," Mal says. "Didn't want to hope for it because things like that..." She shakes her head, grimacing. "Forget it," she says abruptly. "It doesn't matter."

Evie draws a breath to interject, but Mal flinches suddenly, her head snapping up sharply.

"Shit," she hisses, her eyes widening. "Fuck!"

"What?" Evie questions, but Mal is shaking her head slowly, turning to glance towards the fireplace.

"Fucking shit," Mal mutters, and Evie exhales impatiently.

"What, Mal?" She demands, and the other girl finally turns back, her expression still a bit stunned.

"That's what Carlos said," Mal says slowly. "He was upset about all of this...everything that's been happening, but he was angry at me especially because he thought that...I thought it didn't matter because of the wand."

Evie draws a sharp breath of realization, and Mal grimaces. "Yeah," Mal mutters.

"But you don't," Evie protests. "I mean, you do care…in your own way."

"And I've said that," Mal says, her voice raising slightly.

"But I think you need to show it," Evie presses gently.

Mal scoffs, and she's pacing again, but slower this time. "I haven't shown it enough?"

"You know that's not what I meant, M," Evie replies with a soft sigh.

"And you know I don't do all of that...feely stuff," Mal retorts. "You know that, E."

"I know," Evie agrees quietly. "But they need to know -Jay and Carlos- they need you to show them somehow that you care."

"I was terrified in that bathroom with Carlos," Mal snaps. "Not because of his panic attack, but because I didn't know how to handle getting emotional like that, and I didn't want to make it worse with my pathetic attempt at comfort."

"You're not pathetic at comforting Mal," Evie tries to defend, but Mal snorts and shoots her a pointed look.

"That right there is exactly what I mean," Mal says. "Being sympathetic and having feelings is your department. I show that I care by doing what I do best: keeping us all alive."

Mal

It takes Evie the better part of an hour to finally convince Carlos to leave the fireplace. While the other girl works in the 'bedroom' part of the dorm; getting Carlos properly dried and dressed in warmer clothes, Mal busies herself in the bathroom, gathering up Carlos' previous outfit and mopping up the water that remained on the floor. She tries not to think about her confrontation with Jay, or worry about Carlos, or classes or…anything, instead focusing on the task at hand.

It works until she finally finishes and returns to the other room. Evie is rubbing a towel vigorously through Carlos' hair, talking animatedly about something to do with genetic inheritance. The boy is entirely silent, but his expression is interested, his eyes slowly regaining a bit of light as he absorbs whatever it is Evie is telling him. Then he spots Mal, and his expression falters, his brow furrowing with worry as he seems to shrink on the bed.

Mal feels that guilt twist in her gut again, and she grits her jaw against the apology that wants to escape. He was worried because of her, her brain reminds her sternly. She had to do something about it. Evie's visually reminds her with an encouraging nod, and Mal would have scowled at her if it wouldn't upset Carlos. She settles instead for a subtle narrowing of her eyes, but she moves towards the bed anyway, holding up her hand and dangling a small chain from her fingers.

"I found this," she says casually to Carlos. "Thought you might want it back." She extends the red dog tail, and Carlos straightens and accepts the tail from her, clipping it to the belt of his softer pants. He makes a humming sound that Mal thinks might be 'thank you,' but she isn't entirely sure.

She raises a brow at Evie, who shakes her head, signing quickly; she makes the sign for the letter 'A'- a fist hand shape, with her thumb against the side of her hand; and with her palm back, she brings her hand up and touches it to her lips.

[Mute.]

Fucking great, Mal thinks, but she tries not to let her frustration show on her face. Worse than when he simply resorted to one word answers, there were rare moments where Carlos just refused to talk at all; whether out of self-preservation, or else in the aftermath of a fit like this, he'd play 'mute' until he decided to talk again. Mal sighs, deciding it would be better not to mention it, and sits on the opposite bed, turning her head to stare out the window. The sky was still the dark blue of night, but there was a soft line of lighter blue along the horizon, and Mal started, straightening on the edge of bed.

"Shit, guys," she says, turning back to Evie and Carlos. "It's almost 2 and we have class tomorrow!"

She glances at the clock on the table beside her and throws up her hands. "It is 2," she sighs.

Carlos frowns, straightening slowly and looking around the room. He turns back to Mal and furrows his brows at her, bringing up a hand and signing; he extended a pinkie and with a twist of his wrist, made a 'J' in the air- his simplified sign for [Jay], since he insisted he didn't need a fancy sign name and it was easier to just fingerspell his name.

But Mal understood Carlos' silent question, and she can't help the scowl that slips across her face. "He left," Mal says, none too gently.

Carlos stiffens and then tries to hide it by pretending to roll his shoulders in a stretch. Evie gives Mal a glare of disapproval and clarifies in a much gentler tone than Mal had used.

"He was being a bit of a disruptive influence," she says. "So we told him to leave and calm down while we got things settled in here."

Carlos nods his understanding, but brings his hands up to sign again; he raises his left hand with fingers spread and palm facing sideways, he makes and exaggerated forward motion; then he points to Mal and Evie before bringing his left hand up off to the side of his body; he opens his hand with fingers slightly spread in a sort of 'mouth' before closing it again; then he brings his left hand up again; palm down with his thumb and pinkie fingers in a 'Y' shape, he moves his hand in a short back and forth motion; lifting his brows in question.

[You'll leave too?]

Evie lifts her head and gives Mal a worried look, like 'how do you want to answer this,' but Mal doesn't hesitate, giving Carlos what she hopes is a reassuring smile.

"Like I said, it's 2 am; I'm not climbing out along window ledges to get back to our room now."

Evie smiles knowingly at Mal, and relief melts across Carlos' face as he relaxes completely. Nodding his head and standing, he drags a pillow and the top blanket off of the bed that would have been Jay's. He tosses the pillow to the floor between the two beds, and pads over, spreading the blanket down beneath it.

"Don't you want to sleep in the bed?" Evie asks quickly, realizing his intentions, and Mal is grateful that the other girl had voiced her thoughts. She'd had enough of being concerned and caring for one day.

Carlos shakes his head, making a face and signing; bringing his hands up in front of him; both hands facing each other, he spreads them further out and away from each other in a slightly exaggerated motion.

[Too much.]

"Too much?" Evie repeats, frowning, and even Mal feels her own brow furrowing.

But Carlos doesn't clarify, just signs again; pointing to himself before touching his thumb to his chest, his hand in a 'five' shape; before pointing down at the space where he is.

[I'm fine here.]

"It's his room," Mal cuts in, shrugging carefully. "We're all here; we're safe…if he wants to sleep on the floor, then he can sleep on the floor."

Evie glares at her, but Carlos smiles gratefully, settling down between the blanket and the floor easily. Evie sighs, but settles back without comment, switching off the bedside lamp before pulling the sheets over herself.

It doesn't take Mal long to realize that she's not going to sleep. She shifts her weight a few times against the soft mattress, and even adjusts the pillows so she's lying on the cooler side, but even that does nothing to help. She huffs a sigh and rolls back over, noticing that Evie is sounds asleep already, curled up on her side with a pillow wrapped firmly in her arms. Mal growls softly in displeasure, envious of the other girl's ability. She flops onto her back and tried counting her breaths for all of two seconds before she's fed up.

"Screw this," she mutters, sitting up and flinging the covers off of her. She slips from the bed and crosses to the section of floor just at the foot of the sickeningly luxurious piece of furniture, and throws herself down on her stomach with little ceremony.

"Joining you," she grumbles to Carlos, who lies on his back perpendicular to her position and tilts his head to grin upside down at her.

'Told you,' he mouths silently, and Mal flips him off with a scowl.

"Go to sleep," she snaps at him, and he giggles under his breath, but obediently closes his eyes.

The floor is significantly easier to settle on than the bed, but it's only when she hears Carlos' soft snoring that Mal allows herself to fully relax. She closes her own eyes and rolls onto her side, the solid feel of the bed against her back reminding her of her corner pallet back at home.

Home. The thought of the Isle brings a strange flurry of emotions that Mal isn't sure if she wants to examine. They needed to do this job…she needed to do this. It was her chance to make a name for herself, and not just as 'Maleficent's daughter.' To have recognition as her own person, to come into her own evil, and maybe…just maybe…create a better life for her group.

Ben

Ben adjusts his uniform jacket a final time and draws a steadying breath before knocking on the dorm room door. There's no sound from behind the wood, and Ben frowns, lifting his eyes to double check the number. 13…this was Mal and Evie's room. He knocks again, a little louder, but still no one answers.

"Huh," he mutters to himself, before glancing down the hall. It's empty, most of the other students on this floor already up for breakfast and early classes. He shakes his head, mystified, before walking down to the boy's room at 17. He tries again, running a hand through his hair before knocking on the door.

This time he gets a response, the clear sounds of shuffling footsteps before a voice calls out, "Who is it?"

The voice is low with suspicion, but Ben is surprised to recognize it as Mal's. He clears his throat and calls back through the door.

"It's Ben."

There's a soft whisper of voices behind the door, and then the latch clicks dully. "It's open," a new voice calls out. This time, it's Evie's, and Ben isn't entirely sure what to expect when he opens the door.

He lifts his brow as he surveys the room, everything still relatively intact, but clothes and random pieces of metal were strewn about the room. Mal stands just to the side of the door, and Evie is straightening the covers on one of the beds when he walks in. He spies Carlos shoving something into the closet, but the boy straightens when Ben clears his throat and greets them.

"Good morning," Ben says in what he hopes is a cheerful voice and not suspicious or concerned.

"Morning," Evie murmurs, and the blue haired girl almost meets his eyes as she smiles at him.

Carlos sort of nods, looking at the wall just past him and quickly dropping his eyes again, his hands fiddling with something attached to his belt. Ben turns to Mal and his smile widens a bit when he notices that she's actually looking him straight in the eyes. It falters, however, when he realizes that her eyes are narrowed, and a bit of a brighter green than he remembered.

"Good morning Ben," Mal says shortly, and Ben has the sudden feeling like he's a little kid again; guilty and ashamed as his mother scolds him. "Or would 'Your Highness,' be better?"

"Mal!" Evie hisses sharply, worry lighting in her expression. Carlos has frozen completely, his body tense like he wants to run but isn't sure where to run to.

Ben winces at her tone, sharp with something like sarcasm, but that he recognizes by her expression as bitterness and maybe, even, a sense of betrayal. He sighs as he realizes that maybe he shouldn't have tried to play things so casually after yesterday's events; especially since he's been the one to pass judgement on all of them.

"I knew I shouldn't have..."

"Kept your true identity hidden in an attempt to get close to us?" Mal finishes for him, her voice cold.

"Mal!" Evie hisses again, the fear and shock a little stronger this time.

Carlos flinches, shuffling away from Ben and Mal in a way that makes Ben feel like he's trying to avoid being grouped into whatever the girl is saying.

"Yeah, about that," Ben says slowly, his voice all too awkward and apologetic for his liking. "I wasn't trying to trick you, or anything, I promise. I just didn't want your first impression of me...of this place, to be as 'Prince Ben.'"

"Is that why you keep checking up on us, then?" Mal asks sharply, a hard suspicion creeping over the bitterness in her voice. "You want to make sure we're staying in line; see if we're passing all your tests?"

"No, of course not!" Ben quickly defends. "I just wanted to make sure you were all doing ok."

Evie and Carlos both frown at that; Evie looking thoughtful while Carlos looks confused. Mal however, scoffs at his words, her lips twitching in sardonic amusement.

"Yeah, right," she says with another short laugh. "There's no such thing."

Ben blinks at that, confused and caught off guard. "No such thing as what?"

"'Just making sure you're ok...'" Mal repeats sarcastically, shaking her head.

"You...you really think that?" Ben questions lowly, strangely hurt amidst his confusion. "That I can't check on you unless there's some ulterior motive?"

There's silence from Mal and the others, though the slight narrowing of Mal's eyes is answer enough. Ben can feel his face twisting, and he lowers his had to keep his feelings from showing. What had things been like on the Isle if even his natural generosity was something to be suspicious of? He blinks hard and forces himself to meet Mal's gaze, sincerity in his voice as he answers.

"It's not like that here," he promises.

Mal purses her lips but doesn't say anything more, instead turning her gaze pointedly away from his and striding towards the door. Carlos gives a startled yelp and scrambles after her, while Evie follows slower and gives Ben an apologetic look as she passes him. Ben sighs, and exits the room behind them, closing the door as he goes. Things would be harder than he thought, and he'd already anticipated some complications. But with the strange bruises and injuries, then the fight, and now this...

"Hey, um, where's Jay?" Ben asks, noting the tallest boy's absence.

Carlos ducks his head and cringes, and both Mal and Evie flinch at his question, though none of them make any move to answer him. He thinks he hears Mal muttering an insult of some kind under her breath, but he can't be sure. He shakes his head, and decides to try for the positive route.

"Maybe he beat you guys to breakfast," he offers.

Carlos makes a half-hearted noise of agreement, but that's all he gets out of them. Ben sighs and resigns himself to a rough day as they finally reach the dining hall. Mal jerks to a stop at the head of the line, and both Evie and Carlos tense behind her. Ben quickly slips towards the front of the group and raises a hand in a reassuring gesture.

"It's ok guys," he says quickly. "Breakfast is a little different than the other meal times. We've set it up like a buffet, and it's served from 6:30am to 9:00am for anyone to grab as they need to on the way to class." He chuckles sheepishly and grins at them. "It's a bit of a free for all, sorry."

Mal and Evie exchange a look, and Ben swears he sees Mal's eyes flash green as a slow smile spreads across the girl's face. "It's ok," Mal says lowly, and Ben feels a pang of worry at her amused tone. "Free for all's we can handle."

The villain kids rearrange their position, and with Carlos in front and both girls just behind him on either side, they stride confidently into the chaos of the dining hall.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Ben groans to himself as he follows them.

Carlos

Carlos has to employ every ounce of his skills to keep his 'callous' mask in place as he waits in line with Mal and Evie. He's not so much nervous as thrilled, and they aren't waiting, really. Stalking would be better. He clears his throat to disguise a laugh and revels in the way the students closest to them flinch, darting anxious glances over their shoulders at the 'dangerous villains.' Evie stays by his side while Mal moves forward in the line and grabs things off the buffet, piercing anyone who dared get too close with a vicious, green eyed glare.

"Damn, I've missed this," Mal mutters under her breath to him as he slides down a place in line and snatches a roll from another student's fingers.

"Nothing like making people cower in fear of you to start the day," Evie agrees with a giggle as she smiles sweetly at a tanned, brunette boy with curly hair. The boy blinks, then quickly runs a hand through his curly locks and grins back, completely unaware as Mal slides up behind him and relieves his tray from the table where he'd set it down.

Carlos snickers as Mal dumps the tray's contents onto his own plate, subtly shifting his body out of view and flashing a challenging grin of his own at the other boy. The boy falters, glancing over at Evie and then back at Carlos, a hesitation in his gaze. Carlos decides to play along and straightens his back, lifting a brow as he nods sharply. Strangely, instead of flinching away, the other boy grins again, nodding at Carlos in a way that's almost like respect before he turns to grab his tray from the table.

Watching the boy stare in confusion at his now empty tray is enough to distract Carlos from the strange reaction, and he can't help but laugh a bit as the other boy whirls around again with a mystified expression on his face as he meets Carlos' gaze. Mal and Evie tense beside him, ready for a negative reaction, but Carlos simply plasters an innocent expression on his face and shrugs his shoulders at the other boy. The boy shakes his own head, but he's laughing too, and is about to make his way over to them when someone shouts across the dining hall.

"Aziz, let's go, we're late!"

The boy turns to see who's calling him, and Carlos follows his gaze to see another tanned-skinned youth hovering in the doorway. The other boy's hair is straighter and hangs half in his face, and the boy jerks his head to clear his view, causing a few of the girls nearby to swoon.

"Just a sec, Nikki!" Aziz calls back, and the other boy jerks his hair out of his eyes again before exiting the hall.

Aziz turns back to them, smile still in place. He nods at Evie and Mal, then winks knowingly at Carlos before turning and dashing across the dining hall and out the door.

"Ok then," Mal drawls slowly, clearly unsure how to handle the encounter.

Carlos chuckles a bit more, shaking his head as he takes a bite out of his roll. Except, his teeth close on empty air, and Carlos frowns as he stares down at his empty hand.

"B-but I…" he blinks, then looks back up to the door Aziz had left out of, the wood just beginning to swing shut.

"Oh, he's good," Evie says with a laugh, handing Carlos her spare roll.

"I don't think even Jay could have pulled that off so flawlessly," Mal adds, but then she frowns suddenly, her eyes narrowing as she stares at the now closed door.

"What?" Evie asks what Carlos is thinking, but can't say with everyone else around to hear.

"I thought his name sounded familiar and now I remember why," Mal mutters, her frown deepening. "He was that guy I overheard with Ben the other night; when we were in the lab."

"What?" Evie hisses, so sharply that the remaining students hovering nearby decide to flee for their safety.

"He said you were a genius, Carlos," Mal says to him with a slight smile. "Apparently he was very impressed with your lock picking skills."

Carlos chuckles smugly, pleased that someone else recognized his gifts. But at the same time, he couldn't help but feel a little worried. If Aziz was able to pick out a broken lock, would he be able to tell who had done it? He seemed like an ok guy, but if he knew that they had broken into the lab, would they be safe?

"Let's find a table and worry about it then," Evie suggests, and Carlos nods hastily. Suddenly, the breakfast buffet didn't seem as fun, and was now dangerous territory with so many eyes on them.

They turn to their regular table in the corner by the door, but Mal stiffens as they approach, a soft growl slipping past her lips. Carlos braces himself for an attack or an enemy appearance, but it's only Jay, an empty tray in front of him as he rocks on the back legs of his chair and surveys the crowds.

"You have some nerve," Mal snarls lowly, and Jay glances up with a sarcastic grin.

"Good morning to you too," he chirps back, and Mal looks all set to slam her tray of food into his face, but Evie places a hand on her arm, frowning she intercedes.

"Can we not do this right now?" she asks, glaring at both Jay and Mal.

Mal glares murderously at Jay, but says nothing as she sits down at the opposite end of the table. Carlos shares an anxious look with Evie and quickly decides to sit with the other girl, just in case things got violent.

"Where were you?" Mal gets right to the chase, and Evie places her fork back down on her plate.

"So much for leaving things be," she mutters, and Carlos nervously chews at his biscuits and gravy, eyes darting back and forth between the two older teens.

"I was around," Jay answers easily, still rocking in his chair as though he weren't receiving death threats from Mal's eyes.

"But not where you needed to be," Mal snaps. "Though I guess I should have known better than to expect more from you."

Jay's chair slams to the floor, and Carlos flinches, ducking his head and waiting for the bullets to start flying.

"You want to go there Mal?" Jay rumbles. "Really?"

"Well for someone who's always questioning my leadership, I would have thought you'd at least have some sense of responsibility." Mal shrugs a shoulder, her eyes like daggers. "But again, I should have known."

"Go suck a-"

A shrill ringing cuts off Jay's retort, and it takes Carlos a moment to realize that the ringing was not in his head. The bell chimes above them and all the students scramble up, a few running for the buffet line to grab a last minute treat to take on the way to class. Carlos leaps to his feet with Evie, never more grateful to go to class. He doesn't look behind him as he races after the blue haired girl in front of him, and so he doesn't see the continued, silent exchange between Mal and Jay. He doesn't notice Jay split off from the group and disappear out the opposite door, or see Mal's crude hand gesture at his retreating back.

It's only when they reach Remedial Goodness 101 that he notices anything amiss, as the Fairy Godmother pauses as she spots them enter, and asks in an all too concerned voice:

"Oh my, where's Jay?"

Ok, guys, here's my Poll/Question to you. As I mentioned, I'm debating whether or not to include pairings in this fic. What I want to know is what pairings would you guys like to see? But I'm not just asking for your favorite ships, I want to know why you think that particular pairing works, what makes those characters/that relationship good for each other.

Canon pairings, or otherwise, I want to hear from you! (I may be open to same sex relationships, but the same rules apply; tell me why you think it works) Note that I'm not just looking for VKs relationships, AKs relationships are great too! Though bear in mind that any relationships involving the VKs will be slow burn, but the relationship will still be there. (Though I don't think I'll include any romantic relationships amongst the VKs, as I see them as more of a 'family' unit, and so that would be weird. Sorry to disappoint.)

Thanks for your help with this guys! The amount of response I've gotten on this story, from reviews to follows and favorites, really means a lot to me, so thank you for that!

- Raven