It's Only True in the Stories

by RvnsDsks

When the Villain Kids arrive at Auradon Prep, Ben and his friends noticed there was something definitely wrong. When they go to Fairy Godmother with their fears, she decides to help them figure out the truth- but no one is quite prepared for just what truths their search uncovers. - Full Summary Inside! Story adopted from Lightning-Lex372. Rated M for later content.

27. Go get your shovel we'll dig a deep hole

*turns on wipers to wipe away the angst from the windshield of the car that is this chapter*

Hey guys!

If you couldn't tell from my little intro, I did a thing. I did an angsty, shitty thing and you are going to want to put on your rubber boots for this one.

But first, the reviews, then the forecast for the evening.

As always, feel free to skip the reviews, but tune in for the *Warnings* like you tune in for the weather.

(Don't ask me where the puns come from, I have no idea.)

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tradingtruthsforlies: Thank you for the review! I'm glad you enjoyed the update, and I hope you'll enjoy this one as well.

FlatFox: I hope this is soon enough, although I'm sorry for making you cry. If it's any consolation, I cried too while writing it, so we're even, haha. I hope you'll continue to read and enjoy!

Ari loves all 2k14: You thanked me, but I'm still sorry if the chapter hit close to home for you. I always try to be careful to avoid that so I'm sorry. Hopefully this chapter will be better though it most likely won't be, so I'm sorry in advance!

Nyehhhh: I know exactly what you mean, haha. What is it about those types of stories that draws us to them? I don't know, but I'm really glad you chose mine to follow, and that you'll continue to read and enjoy. :)

Yasssyisthebest: Thank you for the review and the kind words! I hope you have a good year as well, and that you'll continue to enjoy my story.

Gogogirl: Aw, thank you for the kind words! I'm glad you like my story so much and I hope you'll continue to enjoy!

Guest 1: I'm glad I was able to make your day, lol. Thank you for the review and I hope you'll continue to read and enjoy.

Homegurl: I'm sorry, I know, it was very much a feels trip. This one is as well so the most I can do is with you luck and say be prepared, lol. :)

Hazminelol: Thank you for the review! I'm glad you're so invested in the story, lol. Regarding answers, you're just going to have to wait and see, really, but I'll say for relationships I'm doing 'mostly' canon, but with some twists for reality's sake.

Fire and Ice 01: Thank you for the kind words! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter so much and I hope you'll enjoy this one as well.

Smootsmokey: Continuing ;)

BlueMoon007: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter so much! Yes, it's definitely one emotional ride after another, but I hope you'll continue to read and enjoy regardless.

Kry Chi: I agree, the comfort is always the best part, and there is definitely some more of that to come, and I will definitely be exploring the different sides to their relationship. Also yes, haha, it's always fulfilling to have a good cry, even if it doesn't always feel like it at the time. The four have a lot to learn about that…

Guest 2: Thank you for the kind (and wise) words, lol. I'm glad you're enjoying my approach/portrayal of these topics. It's definitely important to me to showcase all sides, and I'm glad you think I'm doing a good job. :) I hope you'll continue to read and enjoy!

Descendants5HLM: I think the excited must be mutual since I got so excited when I saw you reviewed, lol.

Carlos is definitely the most trusting of the four, which is ironic, since he's also one of the most fearful. I'd say (at least how I perceive them/going with my headcanons here) that Carlos and Mal are the more fearful, and Evie and Jay are the more open, given that for the most part, there wasn't too much that they needed to fear (until later ahahaha *chokes on evil laughter*)

As for their trust of the Fairy Godmother; I'll be explaining it a bit more from their pov, but it basically just stems from her being the only source of constant 'safety.' Despite everything going on and the various dangers that they're perceiving they're in, the Fairy Godmother is the only one who has consistently not hurt them, and is therefore 'safe.' Regarding Kropp; yes, he knows that things like stuttering and other disabilities exist, but he's one of those people that thinks that short of being a wheelchair or being born with a certain condition (blind/deaf, etc.) most disabilities are just things that are being made up or exaggerated for 'attention' or some other ignorant sh*t like that. (So yes, your hatred of him is fully justified, lol)

There's a lot that the movie does that wouldn't be the case in reality *glares* but yes, I definitely don't think they four would just forget the other kids on the Isle who are still going through all the crap that they just escaped from. And yep, Evie was alone, and you definitely hit some more nails on the head, lol. You don't leave Evie alone, not because they're afraid she'll be in danger or can't defend herself when things go wrong (she totally can) but with nothing there to fill that space, it's just Evie and her thoughts…

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this next chapter. And keep sending those long reviews, I enjoy every word of them! ;)

StoryWriting1414: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter so much! We will definitely be seeing the aftermath of Jay's fight with Nikki, as well as the revelation/reactions of what Kropp did to Carlos soon, and in the mean time I hope you'll continue to read and enjoy!

Angsty Draggy: Welcome to the story and thank you so much for leaving a review! I'm really glad you're enjoying my story so much and that you think I'm doing a good job handling everything. I definitely don't plan on stopping writing any time soon, so no worries there! I hope you'll continue to follow along and enjoy!

EvietoyourMal: Backstreet's back, alright! Lol, sorry, couldn't resist. Yes I am back and I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. Was also really relieved to hear you thought my research was paying off, I wasn't too sure how to go about it all to be honest, but I'm glad you think it came across well. :) And don't you worry, there will be more of all the VKs, and you'll get a bit more of Evie in this chapter as well, so I hope you'll continue to read and enjoy.

Tiredandlazy: *cracks knuckles in anticipation* You thought that was angst? You clearly haven't read me at my evilest and most angsty, muwahahaha!

Just you wait, my lazy friend, the angst is strong with this one. Ok, I'll knock of the silliness and get down to it.

Yes, the therapist is Jiminy Cricket's nephew, though he was originally going to be someone else entirely, but I wasn't quite sure how I was handling certain aspects of the world and the characters yet, so I just played it safe with some Classic Disney references. But I'm glad you liked him anyway, lol.

And yes, Kropp is certainly a pure and honest soul isn't he? ;) As I mentioned in an earlier review, he's one of those people, who are ignorant/otherwise uneducated and think that 'invisible' disabilities (like mental health/speech impediments/ptsd, etc) are just made up or exaggerated for the sake of 'attention,' which is why, despite being a biology teacher, he is so incredibly ignorant/abusive towards Carlos, who has a stutter. (Also, I'll PM you regarding mystery daddo so keep an eye out for that. ;))

And hey, no worries, I am all for weird euphemisms, lol. I realize what you were trying to say, and again I say, I see your declaration of angst and I raise…even more angst.

And you're not the only one who gets excited for fanfiction even before the fandom has been created. I remember doing the same thing with Descendants, because I knew that Disney wouldn't do it the way it should have been, and the fanfiction has not disappointed me yet, lol.

Anyway, I'll let you enjoy the chapter, and I look forward to hearing what you think! :)

ilovetowrite4156: Welcome to the story and thank you so much for your kind words! I'm really glad you're enjoying the story and that you think I'm doing such a good job handling everything and portraying everyone. It's definitely been a journey writing this story, and I hope you'll continue to follow along and enjoy it!

Gracfully: Thank you, I'm glad you liked it and I hope you'll keep reading and enjoying.

astrovagant: I really like your username! Welcome to the story and thank you so much for leaving a review! I'm glad you're enjoying the story, despite the angst, hahah, and I hope that continue to read and enjoy!

Jewelz1642: It's good to hear from you again and thank you for the kind words! I'm glad you think I'm doing a good job and portraying everything and handling it well, and I hope you will continue to follow along and enjoy. :)

Guest 3: Thank you for the suggestion. I'm still working through the pairings for this story, but I appreciate the idea and I hope you'll continue to read and enjoy!

MakeItShineDiamondKat31111: Hey, it's good to hear from you again! It has been a while, but that's ok because it's been a while on my end too, haha. In answer to your question, Amelia (Amy) and Richard are Rodger and Anita Radcliffe's kids; the Radcliffe's are the family that Cruella stole the dogs from in 101 Dalmatians, she and Anita used to be best friends. (And believe me, I am going to have so much fun unpacking that history, lol)

And don't you worry, Kropp will get his due, and there will be some resolution with Jay and Nikhil- and yes, it was mostly just because they'd never really met each other so Jay never bothered to remember his name.

I hope you're doing well and that you'll continue to read and enjoy, even if you can't always review. :)

Yasameme: Thank you for the review, I'm glad you're enjoying the story so much. I'm working through the relationships for this story and I am always open to suggestions, haha, but for the most part all I can tell you is you'll have to wait and see. ;)

NickNopeDNS: Thank you for the review and the kind words! I'm glad you're enjoying this story so much and I hope you'll continue to read and enjoy!

Hungrygirl101: Thank you for the review, I'm really glad you're enjoying the story so much. I'm working my way through all the pairings for this story, but they're not the main focus, so they probably won't get mentioned much until later on. But I hope you'll continue to enjoy the story in the meantime regardless.

narutogirl103: Thank you so much for the review and the kind words! I'm glad you're enjoying the story and I hope you'll continue to read and enjoy!

Random Reader: Thank you for the kind words. I'm glad you liked the chapter, even if it was pretty sad. I hope you'll keep reading and enjoying!

Guest 4: You definitely nailed some things on the head there! The VKs will definitely be having a time of it sorting through where to go from here, and one of those issues will definitely be with Carlos moving off and doing his own thing. They're not going to let go of each other so easily, but there will be some resolutions, so we'll see how it all plays out. And yes, Mal definitely has everyone's number, lol, and there will certainly be hell to pay when she gets hold of Kropp, lol. I hope you'll continue to follow along and enjoy!

Guest 5: Thank you for the kind words! I'm glad you're enjoying my story so much and I hope you'll continue to read and enjoy. :)

ceara1888: Aw, thank you for the review and the kind words. Things will start to settle down son for the VKs, they just have to get through this admittedly rough patch, haha. But there will definitely be some fluff and resolutions, and I hope you'll continue to read and enjoy.

tigerladygamer: *pries Kropp carefully out of your jaws* No, tiger, you can't eat him! I haven't made him suffer for hurting Carlos, yet! You can maul him after I'm through with him…if I leave anything left, hahaha! ;)

Time Turner: How the tables turn, isn't it? Haha, it was nice to have Carlos being the one to comfort for once, even if the circumstances weren't so nice. And no worries, he's not so suspicious, but they'll all be keeping their guard up around him for the moment anyway. ;) I hope you continue to follow along and enjoy!

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Ok guys, note time!

Author's Note 1: So, as you may have picked up, this chapter is intense. It deals with the aftermath of the breakdown from last chapter, and sparks a couple more in the fallout. Not only that, but the 'good folks' of Auradon are going to be forced to confront some of their own actions as they realize that things aren't so black/white as they seem.

So, with that in mind, the *WARNINGS* for this chapter are as follows:

Angst. Like, a shit ton of angst, seriously, wear some boots. Language, and brief mentions of homophobia/homophobic behavior. Mentions and references to child abuse/neglect; flashbacks/nightmares; panic/anxiety attacks; brief mentions/descriptions of self-harm and the aftermath of self-harm (nothing graphic, but it's there); implications and references of assault/child molestation, as well as dealing with mental health issues like dissociation disorders, depression, suicidal thoughts (implied only), as well as just the overall realistic depictions of trauma and consequences of what happens when you leave a bunch of kids on an island inhabited by villains.

It seems like a lot, and it definitely is, but there is also a bit of fluff and comfort to balance out all the hurt, but I just want to make sure I'm giving you all fair warning/preparation for what you're diving into.

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Note 2: If anyone is interested, the songs that inspired this chapter are: Twisted by MISSIO, I don't even care about you by MISSIO, Brick by Boring Brick by Paramore (title), Acid Rain by Lorn, Easy by Son Lux, Zombie by the Cranberries (specifically the MISSIO cover), and Drop the Game by Flume & Chet Faker. There's others that I listened to while writing this chapter, but these are the ones that directly influenced it.

Alright enough words from me. Enjoy the chapter and I look forward to hearing what you think!

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Mal

Jay woke up screaming in the hideout that night.

Or rather, Jay was screaming, and Mal woke up as a result.

She fumbled in the darkness for a moment, cursing when her fingers couldn't find the light fast enough. But finally, her hand bumped into the tiny lamp, and she snapped the switch on the side. The hideout wasn't exactly flooded with light, given that the lamp was so small, and missing the shade, and that the bulb was dying and therefore, too dim. But it was light enough that she could make out Jay, flat on his back in the opposite corner of the room and screaming bloody murder. Which, if he didn't stop soon, just might end up a reality.

"Jay!" Mal hissed sharply, inching across the room slowly and eyeing the windows of the hideout. "Jay shut up!"

Jay whimpered instead, a low, keening sound that Mal cringed to hear. If anyone else heard….

"For fucks sake, Jay," she muttered, then froze as something clanged in the street beyond. Mal threw herself towards the lamp, knocking it over in her haste to reach it, and burning her fingers on the bulb in a desperate attempt to hide the light further before finally snuffing it out.

The hideout was instantly plunged in darkness again, but that did nothing as Jay was still screaming, and he was going to get them killed! The thing in the street went clang again, and Mal's next move was to throw herself at Jay, her small body colliding with his and forcefully shoving him over and onto his side, pressing them both against the wall.

Jay jerked beside her, and Mal's fingers might have pressed too hard into his skin, pinching and pulling as they travelled to find his face, before digging her palm against his mouth.

"Shut. Up," she whispered, not quite sure if her mouth was by his ear, and not quite caring. He was entirely still, but his body shook hard against hers and Mal would have grimaced at the horrifying display of weakness if her stomach weren't already churning.

"D'you hear that?" Came a voice from the street, dark and curious.

"Probably just a cat," another voice answered, not quite as deep, but still just as dark. "If we find it, we could eat it."

"Wa'n't a cat," the first voice insisted, and Mal stiffened when she realized that the voices were too close to be coming from the street below, and that whoever it is was lurking just on the other side of the metal divide. "Too human."

"A kid?" the second voice replied, a higher lilt at the end that sounded too excited for Mal's liking. "We could still eat it."

Jay shivered hard, and Mal dug her fingers a little tighter around him. Not for anything comforting, of course, but in case he decided to freak out.

"I'm not that hungry," the first voice grumbled back, a little farther away.

"Yet," the second voice muttered, but it was definitely farther away now. Mal slowly turned her head and listened a moment just to be sure, but the slow shuffling of footsteps were nearly impossible to discern. She could hear the sound they made, but with the way they were moving she couldn't tell if they were still close.

After another moment, she decided to risk it, and slowly…slowly…let herself relax. Jay was still quiet, his whole body stiff and unmoving, and Mal had to poke him a few times to get his attention.

"You almost got us killed," she breathed, her words barely a whisper in the dark of the room. "The fuck, Jay!?"

"Fuck you," Jay mumbled back, but his voice was even softer than hers, something in his tone still shaky and uncertain.

"I agreed to let you stay in the hideout because I thought you'd be more useful to me if you weren't being beaten all the time by Jafar," Mal snapped lowly, and Jay made a low noise in his throat, a sharp shift of movement telling her he'd just flinched. "You constantly putting us in danger kind of defeats the point of being helpful."

"I didn't agree to helping you," Jay said, a little more forceful. "I didn't ask for…." he trailed off harshly, another tight shifting movement of his body.

"For what, Jay?" Mal replied, a little harsher. "You know it's not easy lying to him and my mother when they're both master manipulators, and both asking where the fuck you are."

'Asking' being the polite term. Mal bit back a grimace and tried to ignore the scars itching under her too-small shirt.

"Well excuse me for being so needy," Jay shot back hotly, and Mal nearly sighed with relief.

There he was. That was Jay; hot and angry and vicious, not…whatever it was he'd been a second ago when he'd been too still. Too quiet.

"You kinda are, though," Mal continued, letting her voice return to a more decent, but still low, volume. If the people outside had been in any dangerous proximity, they'd have known it by now. "Have me acting like a freaking Auradonian, running around and trying to do nice things for you."

"That's on you," Jay retorted, and if Mal was happy to hear the laugh in his voice, she didn't let it come across in her own.

"On me? Why is it on me? You're the one who went missing for two weeks!"

Jay stiffened, and Mal cursed.

"Change the subject," Jay said, his tone blank, but urgent.

He did this, now. Every now and then, if she said something as a joke, or if she brushed against his arm while fighting, or if she mentioned anything to do with his father or where he'd been for those two weeks. 'Change the subject,' or 'move your hand,' or 'stop talking.' Or, sometimes, he'd just freeze entirely.

And Mal was sick of it.

Sick of the strange feeling of worry that coiled in her gut every time she saw that look on his face; all tiny and vulnerable. Every time she changed the subject but he shivered through the rest of the conversation. Every time she'd go and steal for him, so he'd have something to bring back to Jafar so the vizier didn't kill him when he finally returned; and he'd criticize her for what she'd stolen and she'd say well why doesn't he go out and do it himself if he's such an expert? And he'd stiffen and his eyes would go dark, and she'd hurl curses at him until he blinked again.

"No," she said, and Jay squirmed.

"What?"

"I said, no," Mal repeated, glaring into the space where his voice came from. "I'm not changing the subject this time, Jayden. You owe me an explanation."

"Like hell," he growled, but it was all through his teeth, his voice oddly muffled.

"My thieving, murdering, piece of shit partner goes missing for two weeks and I don't get to know why?"

"No, you don't," Jay mumbled, and he was trying to be fierce but he was mumbling, and it made Mal furious. "You don't get to know because you don't deserve to know. It's got nothing to do with you."

"Bull. Shit," Mal growled, and hers was an actual growl not whatever the fuck he'd been trying to do. "After what, almost three months of raiding together, it's got nothing to do with me?"

"You act so offended after literally calling me a piece of shit a second ago," he said, and his voice is hoarse and full of bitter amusement.

"Because you fucking are a piece of shit," Mal all but shouted at him, her voice high and furious. "You think I'm supposed to just, what, pretend like nothing happened when something clearly did?"

"Mal," Jay croaked, his voice weak and pained.

"To just ignore all the beatings I've been taking just to cover your sorry ass?" she continued fiercely, trying to ignore the way her own voice shook. "To act like it doesn't kill me to come here and see you like this every day…like I don't-"

Shit. Too much…she'd said way too much and there was no saving it now because Jay had already picked up on it if the intense shuffling she heard was any indication.

"What?" Jay said, his voice an odd squeak of disbelief. "What did you…?"

"Nothing," Mal snapped, too quickly and too hard to hope to be believed. "I didn't say anything."

"You what?!" Jay repeated, his voice cracking over the syllable, and Mal flinched back in shock as she realized just what it was he was thinking.

"Oh fuck, no!" She yelped, scrambling backwards just a bit, and grateful for the lack of light to illuminate her burning face. "Hades, no, Jay…son of a mother."

The thrill of using her mother as a curse was dulled by the horror of the implication her words had taken on. Everyone on the Isle used Maleficent's name in some form of curse or slur, though always outside of ear shot, and always with caution. But Mal couldn't even take the time to enjoy her own small rebellion because Jay was still shuffling forward, and she had to stop him before things got worse.

"Then what the fuck were you going to say?" he hissed, and he was close enough that when Mal reached out and pushed him, it sent him back into the wall.

"Shit, nothing," she insisted, though she was more furious with herself for thinking it than with him for noticing it.

"Like you don't…what…care?" Jay guessed, grumbling as he shifted against the wall.

A beat of silence.

"Oh. fuck."

"Shut up."

"No fucking way…."

"Jayden, I swear to-"

"You actually care, don't you?" Jay whispered, and she couldn't decide what his tone of voice was, or if she hated it or not. "That's what you were gonna say…that you…holy shit."

"I don't know why," Mal blurted, unable to stand whatever conclusion he was jumping to. "It's not like you're important or that you actually have anything valuable to care about."

"But…," he trailed off a moment, his voice small again. "But you didn't leave me on the ship when Uma had me like you should have. You…you are hiding me from…and he's been beating you and that's not-"

"Fair?" Mal finished, when Jay trailed off.

"Ew," Jay hissed, and Mal wished the light was on so she could actually see what expression was on his face.

"I know," she agreed instead, forcing her own features to twist in disgust to help, ignoring the strange pang of disappointment and pain in her chest.

"What do you mean you know, you said it!" Jay protested. "You actually…fuck, that's weird."

She didn't trust herself to say anything more, didn't trust the emotions that had already betrayed her once.

"It's weird," Jay continued slowly, his voice still small, but not quite weak. "Because now I have to think of what else to call you, cuz we're not exactly 'allies' anymore."

"What?" Mal said, panicked and hating that she felt so. "What do you mean?"

"Well cuz 'ally' was what we were when it was just our parents forcing us to work together," he said, his voice a low drawl of thought, like he was working it all out as he said it. "And we became 'partners' when we decided to work together on our own; like, it was our thing and not theirs anymore."

She wasn't panicking anymore, but there was a nervous energy flickering through her body, and she squirmed slightly in a brief attempt to get rid of it.

"So," she prompted carefully, when he didn't immediately finish his thought.

"I don't know," Jay answered, his voice pitching higher, helplessly. "I've never really had a friend before, so I don't know how this works!"

"Friend," Mal repeated blankly, not quite sure how the word made her feel. It was an Auradon word; a concept that didn't exist on the Isle.

"Well, yeah…" Jay mumbled, and Mal would have placed money on the fact that if she turned on the light right now, he'd be blushing. "I'm pretty sure that's what they call it. Someone you treat ok and who treats you ok…and who you like spending time with and stuff."

"You…like spending time with me?" Mal repeated, suddenly unsure for an entirely different reason.

"Shut up, I didn't say that," Jay stumbled out quickly, shuffling forward as if to physically stop her from thinking it. "But if...if…we lived in Auradon…I think I'd call you my friend."

"I…yeah," Mal said, blinking hard against the sudden surge of something that wells up at his stupid, stupid words. "I think so too."

Jay made a noise in his throat that might have been a laugh, or might have been a cry, and Mal cleared her throat to keep the same noise from coming out of her own mouth.

"Still think you're a piece of shit, though," she muttered, grinning into the darkness.

His laugh was definitely loud enough to be heard in the street, but Mal was too busy joining him to worry.

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Evie

Despite the ever looming threat of the Isle, Evie's day had been going rather…well. That is, as well as could be considering the constant attention she got every time she entered a room. Normally, attention wouldn't be something she'd worry about; it was what she lived for, and what had helped her stay alive each day back on the Isle. But this kind of attention: all sharp stares and anxious eyes; as if she were seconds away from cursing them or something. It made Evie more uncomfortable than she already was; too much like she was on display, and not in an approving way.

Which is why she's nearly on the verge of panic when she reaches the lockers, and Jay and Carlos are nowhere to be seen. It hadn't so much been established as a rule, but more as a need. They needed to be able to be close to each other as often as possible; needed to watch each other's backs and with Mal still recovering in the infirmary, the boys had been Evie's only shield.

Not that she needed protecting…but it was easier to blend in with the other's solid presence around her. Now- especially now, the lack of familiarity made Evie feel more and more closed in; less solid and real and…trapped. Isolated again on the other side of an island, with nothing in between but death and danger and she couldn't go back to that!

Evie clenches her jaw tightly, trying to ignore the eyes that flicker her way- what are they seeing when they look? is her hair undone? is her makeup smudged?- ignore the frantic pounding of her heart and try to regain control. She was in control, not them, not anyone else. She didn't need anyone to hide behind because was not weak, True Princesses never cowered, never begged, never hid.

She flinches as a locker slams too close to her, and she nearly loses her grip on her textbooks. High pitched laughter bubbles out from nearby, and Evie snaps her head up sharply, cheeks burning with humiliation. The crowd is too thick, but the voices reach her anyway; harsh and vicious and cruel.

"Freak."

"Did you see the way she jumped?"

"I know! So pathetic."

"To think, she was almost one of us."

"As if! A villain could never be one of us!"

"They'll all be back where they belong soon enough."

"And thank Goodness for that!"

The voices move off, but the words still linger, and Evie knows that she needs to move too, but what if they're right? There really was no 'what if,' in Evie's mind; if she were truly like an Auradon Princess, she wouldn't have to fear the Isle. A True Princess would belong, would be good enough to marry a Prince. A True Princess would have enough control over herself and her stupid, useless emotions to not to resort to-

She's shaking…and the only way she knows is because her books jostle in her arms, the edges chafing against her sleeve…her skin…and…and….

"Evie!"

An impossible blur of purple.

A hot, violent flash of green.

A vague impression of warmth and solid and safe before:

"E?"

Evie blinks, and she feels the tears that had been blurring her vision slide a hot trail down her cheeks.

"Mal?"

It takes a moment for the other girl to register, but she does, and Evie ignores the rational and lets her emotion act for her, pressing herself into Mal in as close a proximity of a hug as the Isle allowed. Mal doesn't move for a moment, and the rational snaps back into Evie's head and she's all set to back off and start apologizing because damn she just couldn't do anything right! And then Mal relaxes, threading her fingers subtly through Evie's and pressing just a bit closer, and Evie all but breaks down then and there.

It's only the knowledge that they're still out in an open space that makes her pull away when she does, but Mal's hands stay in hers, and she can breathe, and Mal is here…which is…strange…now that she's thinking about it.

"How…how are you here?" Evie blurts, pulling back a bit more and hiding the way her voice shakes with a subtle flip of her hair.

"They let me out of the infirmary early," Mal says, and Evie knows she's noticed the shake because her eyes light with green. "I think they felt guilty…I mean, it'd suck to spend my last few days in Auradon stuck in the infirmary."

Mal chuckles wryly, and Evie's lips twitch, but there's still that lingering heaviness that won't let her fully laugh. Mal's eyes narrow, and her head snaps up sharply to scan the hallway, her lips pulling down sharply with suspicion. Evie knows exactly what she's checking for, and she grabs for the other girl's hand again and tugs to get her attention.

"Mal, stop," she murmurs quickly, her own eyes flickering anxiously about the scarcely populated are. "It's fine. I'm fine."

"Bull," Mal snaps right back, her head still turned so Evie can only see half of the snarl that pulls her lips back from her teeth.

"Mal," Evie insists, tugging a bit harder at her hand, hating that she can still feel the tremble in her body; hates how she can't let go; hates how weak she is…how weak she is and she can still feel the…. "I'm fine."

Mal turns to look at her then, that dark suspicion coloring every inch of her face.

"Now," Evie adds, trying to soften her eyes, her voice. Tries to emphasize Mal's presence over the presence of her thoughts.

Mal softens as well, and it's only a testament to how close they've grown that she can even tell that; in the loosening of Mal's jaw; in the barely-there crinkle in the corner of her eye. And then it's gone again, in typical Mal fashion, but it had been there, and Evie manages that last bit of effort to smile, the shreds of darkness creeping back from her mind.

"I was going to find the boys," Mal says, and her voice is short and determined, her eyes hard. "Found you instead…I guess you'll do."

Evie lets out a sharp bark of laughter at that in spite of herself, and Mal smirks with the corner of her mouth and the light of her eyes.

"There she is," she mutters lowly, relaxing completely from her earlier guardedness. "Now we can go find Jay and Carlos."

Evie shakes her head once in disbelief, jogging after Mal and catching up within a few strides.

"How many times are you going to do that?" she asks, when she's close enough that she can see the left side of Mal's face.

Somehow Mal makes shrugging while running look graceful, and Evie envies the other girl's ability.

"I don't know," Mal replies dismissively. "I only have a limited amount of space dedicated to stupid jokes and a pitiful sense of humor, so…probably not too many more."

Evie splutters wordlessly in response, trying to muster some kind of offense, but she's blushing too hard to make it effective.

Mal smirks a bit wider, her eyes flickering to meet Evie's knowingly before stopping suddenly in the middle of the hallway. Evie trips to make the same stop, and her cheeks flush with embarrassment as she hastily straightens out her dress, hoping no one else saw her blunder.

"Shut up, you look fine," Mal deadpans quickly beside her, and then, "There's a knight we can ask right there."

And she's crossed the hall and approached the knight in question before Evie can begin to process how or why.

"Hey, knight," Mal snaps, all bold and bluster and Evie just can't keep up. "Where are Jay and Carlos?"

"Together would be the most likely, if I had to guess," Evie finally manages, stepping up next to Mal and trying to figure out where the other girl's thoughts are leading.

"Unless they've been fighting again," is the short reply, and Evie lapses into silence because, really, there's not much she can do.

"What?" Mal says, and Evie blinks at the confused expression on the other girl's face.

"What?" Evie repeats, her own brow furrowing before she quickly corrects and smoothens out her expression.

"You…," Mal trails off with a frown, her eyes darkening with something Evie can't define. "Never mind," she finishes, and turns back to the knight. "Hey! Where can I find Jay and Carlos?"

The knight creaks then, and Evie leans in as the visor lifts, waiting for the response. There is none, however, and Mal growls a curse under her breath, a faint tinge of green lighting in her hands. Evie debates a moment between defusing Mal and backing away for her own safety, and is just about to tug the other girl back from scorching the metal figure when something crackles above them, and the Fairy Godmother's voice rings out.

"Would Mal and Evie please come to my office? Mal and Evie, would you please come to my office?"

Evie freezes, but Mal moves, already halfway down the hall and cursing under her breath, and Evie doesn't know if it's her distance that makes the words sound strange, or the fear.

"E, let's go!"

It's definitely the fear.

She moves anyway, sprinting to catch up to Mal and they've been doing a lot of this lately, she muses numbly as she matches her stride to Mal's. For something that's supposed to be better than their previous life, Auradon certainly has them slipping into it more and more. Mal seems to be thinking something similar, if the hard set of her jaw is any indication, but she says nothing, and so Evie forces herself to do the same.

At least, until they reach the Fairy Godmother's office, and Mal stops dead just outside the door, and all the color drains from her face and eyes.

"Mal?" Evie questions, and she doesn't bother trying to hide the worry in her voice here.

The other girl opens her mouth, then closes it again, her expression pinching so tightly that it looks as if she's about to be sick.

"Jay," she mumbles, though with how tight her face is, the word is almost a groan. "Fuck, Jay…what'd you do?"

"What?" Evie demands, panic cutting through her at the darkness of Mal's tone, at the look in her eyes. "Mal, what?"

Mal shakes her head once and opens the door instead of answering, and Evie doesn't know what to do with the scene behind it except stare.

Stare- at the strange man with strange glasses and strange hair, who, apparently, is not so strange to Mal; who gives him a cursory growl of warning but pays him no further attention than that.

Stare- at the Fairy Godmother; who looks caught between fury and sorrow, hover or protect, scold or reassure, and who herself is also just staring…staring…

At Jay.

Jay, who is not fighting, or yelling, or anything even remotely like he should be.

Jay, who is on the floor of the Fairy Godmother's office. Too quiet and yet, so very loud, his body shaking and a strange, muffled sound echoing from his chest.

Crying.

Evie registers it distantly. It's crying...that's the noise yes, ok, crying is a thing that people do sometimes.

But not Jay. Not…Jay.

Staring is all she can do, and so she does. Even as Carlos looks up from his place on the floor beside them; even as he moves his hands in two simple signs- a 'J' in midair with his pinky finger; followed by taking both hands in fists and bending them away from each other, like snapping something in half- it takes her a moment to fully process it.

Jay.

Broken.

She blinks, but the scene is still there before her, laying it out in terrifying detail. And beside him, Carlos makes the sign again, helpless, as if it's all he can do.

Jay. Broken.

Jay's broken.

Jay is broken.

---

Mal

[Jay is broken.]

That's what Carlos signs, over and over again, his eyes wide and terrified. Mal wonders how long they'd been in the Fairy Godmother's office alone; wonders what could have possibly triggered an explosion this big. More specifically, for Jay to explode this big.

Damn it Jay, what have you done? She says. Or, thinks she says. It's hard to focus on any one thing with the tightness buzzing in her chest; a heavy pressure like a scream in the back of her throat; the overall sensation of hands and wrong that definitely aren't her own feelings. Definitely not—

"M," Evie whispers beside her, the other girl's voice making her jump in spite of herself. "You're shaking."

"So is Jay," she raps hoarsely, gritting her jaw against the pain that slams a wave of dizziness through her. "I'm fine," she continues, forcing herself to step forward into the wave, to ignore the way Evie was looking at her. "It's not…it's not me…"

She's not entirely sure how, and she doesn't really care, honestly. Only that right now, one of her crew needs her and shit it was so much worse up close!

"We called you here because there didn't seem to be any other choice," the Fairy Godmother says quietly, and Mal blinks to refocus. "Nothing was calming him down."

"You wouldn't," Mal murmurs, swallowing hard despite the sickening instinct that is not her own that tells her she really shouldn' .that.

"I take it then, that you're familiar with what is happening?" a gratingly calm voice says. "This isn't unusual to-"

"Yeah, no," Mal cuts across him sharply, eyes flashing as she turns to glare in his general direction. "Don't think I didn't notice that you're here and near my crew when I clearly said that I didn't want you to be."

Evie and Carlos both cringe back hard, and Mal would regret making them worry if she weren't already so pissed and worried herself.

"I called him here," the Fairy Godmother says, a bit louder in her firmness. "Because I thought he might be able to help."

"That's not a decision you get to make!" Mal snaps, then flinches at the sudden surge of fear that radiates off of Jay's prone form. "Shit, alright, sorry. Fuck, everyone shut up."

She sounds crazy. She thinks she is crazy; her magic is reacting too strongly and trying to do too many things at once, to protect and attack but also defend and heal and she can't think she can't think she can't think!

"You," she growls, blindly indicating where the cricket stands. "Don't. Move."

He says nothing, and she can only assume that he's actually doing what she asks this time.

"E," she says lowly, and the other girl is all too eager to scurry closer, fear and panic furrowing her brow and lighting up her eyes.

Ok, good everyone was close now, and her magic calmed slightly, satisfied that no one needed protecting now that they were all this close.

"Mal, I-"

"Stop," she interrupts, wincing at how sharp she sounds and quickly adds, "Please," and the Fairy Godmother pauses, then goes silent.

The last bit of anxious magic fades then, leaving only the odd urge to defend and heal, and she turns to Jay, crouching down slowly by his other side.

"Ok, you can chill now, asshole," she mutters to him, focusing on that tickling sensation of her magic and trying to let it spread outwards instead of in. "You got everyone around you. Figured that's what you want?"

Jay mumbles something into his knees, and although Mal doesn't hear it, she senses the horror, the guilt, the pain behind it.

"Gonna have to be loud Jay," she says, her magic reacting finally and reaching out like she wants it to. "Never thought I'd have to ask you to be loud, honestly."

He cringes, and a wave of revulsion hits her so strongly it makes her stomach twist.

"Shit, ok," she drawls, blinking at the nausea, not sure if it's hers or Jay's. "Or maybe not. That's fine. It's all fine, Jay. We're all here- all four of us."

Evie and Carlos shuffle forward as if to physically reinforce her words, and her magic finally curls out- just enough to brush against the edges of Jay, and Mal flinches at the sudden onslaught of i'm sorry i'm sorry i didn't mean it didn't want it it's my fault i did it it's my fault they made me it's my fault!

It takes all of Mal's admittedly shaky self-control to not pull away, and to continue to connect her magic with the strange, flickering fire that was Jay. But she manages it, and whispers a command into the subtle, green glow.

"Dawelwch."

For a terrifying moment, she's afraid that it doesn't work, but then Jay relaxes, and she feels her own body echo the shift in tension; stilling the tremors that had wracked both of their bodies.

"Easy," Mal murmurs, as Jay twitches suddenly before going still again. "It's just us. Nobody but us, Jay."

He doesn't come out of it easily, and she knows that each breath, each small shifting of muscle is killing him inside, but another whispered command and a nudge from her magic draws him up enough to finally make out his face.

"Hey," she says, when his eyes flicker blindly, focusing on nothing in particular. "You finally done causing a scene, asshole?"

Someone moves behind her, and instantly Jay's eyes are focusing, the tension and the fear screaming back into his body, his teeth flashing in a petrified grimace.

"No," Mal snaps firmly, shifting herself forward so her knee nudges his side. "Ignore it. Jay? Ignore it. With me." She lets her knee dig into his rib. "With me, asshole."

"Sh-" he groans, his face twisting with too many emotions for her to interpret; too much to feel. "Shut…Shut up."

"Oh good, you do still have an attitude," she quips, as lightly as she can. As lightly as she dares. "Had me worried for a second, and you know how much I hate worrying."

"Shut." Jay mumbles again, but that's all he gets out before his face twists sharply.

"Ah shit…Trashcan," Mal says, and it's in her hand and in front of Jay, who pitches forward and retches violently.

Someone gasps softly, and Mal grimaces, but not at Jay.

"Yeah well. Happens sometimes." She doesn't bother to dignify a further response, her magic finally still now that Jay was more or less ok.

"Apparently," Jay pants, still bent over the trashcan, but not quite so traumatized. "Stupid…Auradon food, I guess…."

Mal stiffens so sharply she almost hisses, and she feels the flare of her magic like a sharp spark snapping inside.

"Jay," she says, and she knows it's in her voice too because he looks up at her almost immediately. "What just happened?"

"Hu-I…what do you mean?"

"Just now," she clarifies, trying to be calm but the spark keeps snapping and they can't be dealing with this now, no one was ever supposed to know!

"I threw up," Jay says bluntly, a brow lifting to give her a look and damnit why did he have to…

"Yeah," she says instead, ignoring the way Evie presses against her side, ignores how Carlos was trying to do the same despite his distance. "It was pretty fucking awesome. I meant before that, doofus."

He scowls at her then, about to defend against the taunt with one of his own. But then she watches the realization hit him, and he freezes.

"I…don't know."

"How'd you and Carlos end up in the Fairy Godmother's office?" she insists. "What happened, Jay?"

---

Jay

Something happened.

He only knows this because of the way everyone was staring at him, and he doesn't like what he sees in their eyes.

"What happened, Jay?" Mal asks, and the way she says it has him feeling like she's done it a thousand times before.

He shakes his head, because it's all he can do, because he doesn't know. And Mal looks like she's smiling, but the set of her jaw is all wrong, and he feels more than sees the movement in the room that indicates the other's presence.

"If I might hazard a guess…," a man's voice says, and shit if that wasn't the most unexpected thing to hear.

Jay tries to get up, that deep instinct of anger and fear and needing to protect surging up inside, but Mal gets there first, her eyes ablaze with fury as he whirls to face the threat.

"Please do," she snarls, all teeth and flame and danger. "After all that I've done to keep you from interfering…I'd just love to hear what you have to say now."

Evie cries out softly in terror, and beside him, Carlos whimpers, but the man laughs. And Jay flinches hard in spite of himself because laughter like that had never meant anything good on the Isle and he needed to find a way up because damn it he wasn't going to let Mal take another beating for him!

"Shut up, Jay," Mal says lowly, and he realizes he's said it out loud, that he's already on his feet.

"Like hell," he bites back, but his skin still feels itchy and raw, and he's not entirely sure of anything at the moment.

"Let's all just calm down."

"No." That's Mal…why is she so angry? "No, you don't get to…you don't."

"Mal," he says, and she turns, and the look in her eyes makes him feel small and he doesn't like it. "You're shouting."

"Oh, am I?" she says, and her teeth flash and her voice is a growl, but her eyes pass right through him and he wonders if it's because that's just the way she glares, or if he's simply gone up in smoke.

Her teeth stop flashing and her eyes flicker like she's looking for him, and he shivers so hard it's like he's shaking himself from his body.

"Shit," he mumbles. "M…Mal…"

"Yeah" she says, and her eyes are water and his body is smoke. "Yeah, I know. I'm working on it, ok?"

"Yeah, ok," he says, but he tries biting lip and his lip isn't there.

"Fuck," Mal hisses, and he wants to flinch but he can't because…

"Shit," he says again, and Mal loses color except for her eyes, which are still a strange watery green.

"Ok," she says, fast and as breathless as he is. "Ok, one thing Jay. One thing."

He knows this. He's done this before. He can do this…he could…but…

"Smoke," he forces out through lips that aren't there. "I'm smoke."

Mal is nothing more than watery green eyes and a thin press of a mouth, but her mouth twists into a strange smile at his words and he's not sure how to feel about it. She comes closer, and her mouth purses and he realizes too late what she's planning and no no don't don't….

"Mal!" he tries to warn.

But she lets out her breath of air and he flinches as he's blown apart…her breath hot on…his face. He…has a face.

"E," Mal murmurs, and it takes a moment, but then he realizes that something's pressed itself against his arm…and he can feel his arm…he can feel himself and everything is pins and needles pins and needles and smoke.

"Shit," he says, and Mal's eye flicker again but she's looking at him and not through him.

"Too much?"

"No." Jay blinks, forcing his mind to ignore the pins and needles. "I'm here."

Mal nods once, but her eyes aren't as watery, and she turns them sharply to the strange man by the door.

"Cricket," she says, and Jay stiffens against Evie, who threads her arm through his and squeezes loosely.

The man stares back, but he looks somewhat cowed facing Mal's anger. Mal stares a moment more before turning, and her eyes flicker as they survey the group before landing on Carlos.

"Carlos," she continues finally, and her voice is tight, but firm as her head indicates the other boy.

The man, or, 'cricket' as he'd been dubbed, blinks a moment before understanding lights across his features, and he adopts a more solemn air as Mal turns to Jay and Evie next.

"Evie. And Jay- but Jay's not really here right now so you'll have to leave a message," she says, then nods her head back towards the man. "That's the cricket. He's…not...dangerous."

"But he's still a threat," Evie snaps, instantly picking up on the other girl's words. "Or you wouldn't have snapped the way you did."

Jay's eyes flicker to take in the man, who meets his gaze evenly, and Jay flinches in spite of himself, averting his eyes quickly and sucking a sharp breath.

"I said he's not dangerous," Mal repeats lowly, and her eyes flash violent green. "I don't know what else he is, but for now..."

"For now what?" Evie cuts across, her voice thick with challenge and fear.

"For now," Mal replies, her lip curling with the force of her growl. "The Fairy Godmother says he can help. So that's what."

"You can't be serious," Evie hisses, and Mal's expression goes deathly blank.

"Hey," Jay says, registering the danger of being seen as divided and also, the danger of a furious Mal, "Chill, E. Questioning Mal's decisions is my job."

Evie opens her mouth to protest, but Jay leans into her a bit more and she closes it tightly, her eyes the only thing reflecting her turmoil.

"One thing, Jay," Mal says, when everything is silent once more. "Do you think you can actually tell me this time?"

Her tone is mocking, but her eyes are serious, and Jay responds in kind; twisting his mouth in a sneer, while simultaneously gripping Evie a little tighter.

"I already told you I don't really know," he grumbles defiantly. "What more do you want from me?"

"Damn it," Mal mutters, and he thinks he wasn't supposed to catch that, given the guilt that flashes across her face when she meets his eyes.

"I believe I can provide some clarity," the Fairy Godmother says then, her voice shaking, but severe. "At least, in that regard."

Carlos stiffens, and Jay instinctively follows suit, unease curling in his stomach.

"Wait," he says, and he's startled at how raspy he sounds. "Is this something that I…did I do something?"

"What do you mean by that, Jay?" the Fairy Godmother replies, something guarded mixing with the severity of her tone.

"I mean," he snarls, moving to step forward but hindered by Evie's grip on his arm. "Are we all here because I…I'm in trouble? Got in a fight?"

He's just guessing, but the sudden way Carlos dodges his gaze, and the Fairy Godmother's eyes harden slightly makes him pause.

"Oh," he mumbles, shrugging his way out of Evie's arm and pretending it doesn't make him feel suddenly off balance. "Well that's…um…."

"My fault!" Carlos chokes out, so suddenly and so violently it's as if even his stutter didn't have time to catch up. "The ffight…it was my fault my fault my fault."

He jerks his head sharply and grimaces, the stutter finally catching on to the fact that he was talking.

"What do you mean, 'Los?" Jay says, but the boy was refusing to look at him.

"J-j-jay was looking for me," Carlos continues lowly, his voice barely there. "If I had-had-hadn't been…if I had just…."

"What happened? What did he do?" Mal says, and the steel cutting her words makes Jay's skin itch.

"He violently attacked another student and sent them to the infirmary with severe injuries." The Fairy Godmother's own steel clashes hard enough against Mal's to send sparks into the air.

"Ok, and what did the other kid do?" Mal counters, the sparks still suspended but not yet igniting. "Cuz fights don't 'just happen' on the Isle, especially not with Jay. You don't go around looking for a fight without reason; not unless you want to be killed…and Cricket, I know you're taking notes and I would kindly like you to burn them."

There's a pause, and a shuffle of movement that doesn't quite finish before the sound of ripping paper pierces the room.

"That may be the case," the Fairy Godmother finally says, and Jay catches his breath as the sparks dissipate slowly. "But given that those nearby who witnessed the fight said that they heard Jay clearly state his intentions to kill the other student, I would say that the severity of the situation is quite valid."

Jay watches the thoughts race across Mal's face- watches her piece together what he can't. He knows she does when her expression goes blank, her jaw tight even as she deadpans:

"It was the queer kid, wasn't it?"

"His name is Nikhil," the Fairy Godmother's expression is equally tight and pained, and Jay staggers against the wall in an attempt to sit because wait he hadn't he didn't remember- "and his boyfriend is Aziz, and I am honestly at quite a loss with you children and the level of…."

"On the Isle there's two types of people," Mal interrupts, and the harried, anxious sound in her voice is strong enough to spill into her face, her hands shaking at her sides. "The villains…and the ones that even the villains tend to avoid."

Jay can see the 'I don't understand' working its way onto the Fairy Godmother's tongue, but Mal is continuing before she can express it.

"You know how the heroes all use the villains as the 'monster under the bed,' that thing to warn against to scare them into behaving?"

There's a smile on her face, but it's strange and cold and without feeling.

"For us it's the monster right down the street. Entirely unassuming and nowhere near as blatant as you'd think for being so horrifically evil."

"While I understand and accept that there are aspects of the Isle that I just can't understand, how you could possibly equate…."

The Fairy Godmother freezes suddenly, going so pale so fast that Jay feels dizzy just watching her. Or maybe that was just him.

"Is there a fancy, Auradon word for it?" Mal whispers heavily. "That difference? Or is it actually the same and one of us is just too blind to see it?"

The Fairy Godmother is crying, or at least, her face is wet, but she's not making any sound. Mal looks vindictive and tortured in her own right, but she turns and joins the rest of the group in spite of it, pressing close in between Evie and Jay, who all but climb over each other to return the closeness.

"Sorry," she breathes, green eyes locked on Jay. "If I just made it worse. Are you…?"

"No." He chokes, then tries again, blinking to ease the burn of her gaze. "I mean, yeah. I'm fine…I'm here."

She lifts a brow at that, but doesn't question, just presses closer, and Jay tries to let himself just breathe for a bit, but he can't get her words out of his mind.

"Did I really…?"

"We're not worrying about it right now," Mal says, and her voice that's final, but her eyes flicker, and the Fairy Godmother is still crying.

"Cricket," Mal continues after a moment, her voice cautious and laden thick with warning. "The Fairy Godmother says you're supposed to be helpful?"

The man clears his throat, and a ripple of flinching goes through all but Mal, though she does tense minutely before relaxing.

"That…that is my job, yes."

"How would you go about doing that?"

"Would you like me to-"

"I'm not requesting," Mal says quickly, pressing tighter against Jay's side. "I'm just asking. How would you help?"

"Well, first I'd need to establish-"

"No."

Jay hisses, but the sound barely make it out if his throat and instead just echoes hollowly inside. Mal is calm, however, her body still even as she shifts it closer to his.

"No?"

"No history. No 'establishing.' I mean for right now," Mal clarifies, the edge back in her voice. "For right now, how would you help with…this."

There's a pause, and Jay feels Evie shuffle closer nervously, her movement causing a ripple through the group.

"Well from what I've seen so far, it seems that you're doing a fine job grounding everyone on your own…although I've never seen a panic-"

"Jay doesn't panic." Mal's words tighten the feeling in his chest; in his throat. "He just kind of…goes away for a bit."

"You did mention that," the man agrees, "'Jay's not here right now, leave a message…'"

"I thought I asked you to burn those notes."

"And as soon as I have access to a fireplace, I promise I will."

"Um, hey," Jay interjects, not sure how he feels about any of this. "Are you talking about me? Cuz if you are, could you maybe…not?"

"Oh, so you're actually going to participate?" Mal quips, but he can hear the relief that softens the edge of her tone.

"I've been participating," he protests, shoving her with his shoulder and smirking when she snarls at him. "Maybe you just weren't paying attention."

"Dissociation," the man- Cricket- says, and Mal straightens instantly, eyes alert.

"What's that?" she says, and Cricket blinks before replying, taking a step forward.

"Dissociation," he repeats. "I believe that's an accurate description for what just occurred."

"That's the fancy word?" Mal replies, cocking her heads slightly, and Jay allows himself to be shifted backwards with the rest of the group at her signal. "For the thing that Jay does?"

"What do you mean, what I do?" he repeats, but he's ignored, again.

"You don't seem surprised," Cricket murmurs, and Mal clenches her jaw tightly before answering.

"Like I said, it happens. Details don't matter."

"I'm afraid that that's where you're wrong," Cricket says, and Jay bares his teeth at him in warning. No one crossed Mal like that.

"Explain," Mal demands, and Jay shifts himself in a weak attempt to cover Evie and Carlos as the man steps forward again.

"Dissociation is a kind of…defense mechanism for the mind," Cricket obligingly states. "Just like with a panic attack, it's typically triggered when a situation is just so overwhelming it's too much to handle."

"Circles," Mal mutters darkly, eyes sharp and tense. "There's something you're not saying."

"The difference," Cricket responds, nodding his head slowly, his eyes heavy behind his glasses. "Is that dissociation typically is a response to trauma; at such a severity that the only response the brain can think of is to just…shut itself off, or 'go away,' for the moment.

"It can be a useful survival mechanism, but it becomes a problem when it's the only defense mechanism; because then the brain will start to use it to cover even mildly uncomfortable situations…or, situations that seem reminiscent to the trauma-"

"Stop," Jay says, at the same time Mal does.

He's shaking again, and there's a tickling sensation at the back of his neck that makes him feel like he's going to throw up again, and he feels too big for his body, too big for the room.

---

Carlos

They're back in the dorms again, this time in the girl's room. He's not entirely sure how they'd wound up there; the Fairy Godmother had barely been able to compose herself enough to dismiss them, let alone make any sort of statement regarding the fight. He chalks it up to Mal and her ability to effortlessly take charge, and he watches anxiously from the shelter of Evie's closet as the other girl paces a furious hole in the carpet.

Evie had locked herself in the bathroom, and Jay sat blankly on Mal's bed, unaware and unfocused.

"Evie," Mal snarls, and Carlos flinches at her tone. "I will break down that door if you don't get out of there right now."

"Just leave-I'm fine, Mal," Evie snaps back, but even through the door Carlos can hear the quiver in her voice. "Just…"

"No," Mal hisses, and she turns another round on the carpet. "None of us are fine, E, and we need to regroup, and I am not leaving you alone so get. the fuck. out."

Silence from the bathroom, then Carlos hears a stifled sob through the wall of the closet, and he tenses as the latch clicks.

"Shit," Mal says, and Carlos stiffens, trying to tuck himself as deep amongst leather clothes as he can. If he was lucky, he could just disappear entirely and not have to face the reality where everyone was suddenly losing control. Breaking was his job; he didn't know how to handle something like this.

"Shit, E," Mal says again, a sigh heavy in her voice. "Ok…hey no, it's fine. It's fine, ok? I'm not…damn…I'm not…I'm not mad…I'm not, I promise…just…we need to regroup…we need to regroup, E…'Los…fuck…Carlos!"

He jumps, biting the inside of his cheek hard to keep himself from crying out.

"Carlos, I need you to check on Jay."

No, Carlos thinks, shaking his head and burrowing deeper into Evie's jackets. No he couldn't…he'd screw it up again and Jay would hate him…more than he already did.

"Carlos, I'm not shitting around," Mal growls, and Evie echoes his whimper. "I need you to check on Jay. Now."

He tries to growl back, but the sound doesn't come out right and he doesn't want to do this!

"Carlos!"

"Do-ing it!" he snaps back, and he thinks he hears Mal mutter something about his tone, but he's too shaken to really care.

Jay hadn't moved from the bed, his eyes fixed on nothing in particular, and Carlos bristles as he passes the open bathroom door, trying to ignore the sound of Evie's sobs; Mal's voice whispering meaningless comfort; the morbid acknowledgment that they really weren't ok, if this is what Auradon had reduced them to…what the Isle had made them into.

"Jay?" Carlos croaks, after he decides that his position on the other side was close enough.

"Hey Carlos," Jay says, and the sound of his voice is enough to set off all of Carlos' anxieties at once.

"Mmal wanted me to check-check-check on you," he mutters, hating how it sounds like a retreat.

"Tell Mal that she can shove it," Jay replies. "I'm fine."

"You're not," Carlos blurts, angry, and not sure why he's angry. "None-none-none of us are! Evie just…."

He stops, but Jay starts, his head jerking like he wants to turn it but he can't.

"What? Evie…?"

"Sshe's upset," Carlos manages, his face twisting with the horrific understatement. "Mal-mal-mal's taking care…it's ok."

"But I'm not?" Jay protests, but he's still not moving and Carlos considers that proof enough.

"Do…do you know wh-where…?"

"Auradon," Jay snaps before he can finish, his jaw tight and lips curled in a scowl. "The girl's room. I'm not fucking stupid, I know what's going on."

"Now," Carlos can't help but point out, a little too harshly.

"What's that supposed to fucking mean?" Jay hisses, and Carlos bristles, frustration building as a growl in his throat.

"It-it-it-it means-"

"Carlos," Mal's voice cuts across like a shot. "I said check on him, not fucking argue!"

"He's fine!" Carlos calls back, but as he turns to face Jay again he realizes that that's not entirely true, as the other boy still hadn't made any sign of actually moving.

"Jay," Carlos says slowly, inching around the bed until he can see the other boy's face. "Wh-why aren't you mo-mo-moving?"

"Hm?" Jay hums, but he'd stiffened further at Carlos' words.

"You havvven't moved," Carlos repeats lowly, his anger fading as fear starts to well up again.

"I can't move," Jay mutters back. "Not allowed to move."

"Ma-al!" Carlos yelps, not caring if it sounds like he's whining.

"Fucking hell…I can't…."

Mal's voice sounds just as broken as he feels, but she appears by his side in an instant, a tearful and shaken Evie in tow. Carlos pointedly tries to ignore the hastily made bandages criss- crossing around her arms (Mal's handiwork for sure; Evie always tried keep things as neat as possible; keep it controlled, keep it hidden); ignores the way it forces awareness back to some of his own scars….

"Jay," Mal says, and though her voice is firm, her eyes are pained.

"I know," Jay growls, and his voice says he's angry, but he's still not looking at anyone. "I know. I'm in Auradon, I know…I'm just…I can't move."

"Why?" Mal says, in that 'I'm not buying your bullshit' tone, and Carlos gently presses himself closer to Evie, carefully maneuvering her to sit on the opposite bed. She sinks without protest, and Carlos casually reaches to fix the bandages because he knows it's bothering her- because it's bothering him- how out of control they all are. But this is something he can at least fix. His fingers brush the edge of a wrap and she flinches, trying to shoot him a glare, but it's too weak…too broken.

"Jay," Mal snaps, and Jay cringes, ducking his head.

"He said…," Jay whimpers, and Carlos pauses mid-tie to glance over anxiously.

Mal grimaces, the pain in her eyes a bit brighter. "Where are you, Jay?"

"Auradon," Jay replies dutifully, but he's still too small. Too quiet.

"And where is he?" Mal continues, a snarl twisting her lips but not her voice.

"Here…not here…. The Isle…."

"Dead, Jay," Mal says viciously. "He's dead."

Jay shakes his head slowly, like he doesn't believe it.

"I killed him myself," Mal says, and Carlos wouldn't have believed it as quickly as he does if it weren't for how vindictive she sounds in that moment. "And I'd do it a thousand times over if I could but…he is dead, Jay."

"I know," Jay chokes out, but he's still shaking his head. "He's not here…but he is…he is because I can still…I can't move."

"Fine then don't move," Mal says quickly, and Carlos startles to see that she's crying, tears streaming down her face despite the steadiness of her voice. "That's fine, Jay. You don't have to move. Just talk."

"Talk," Jay repeats blankly, and Mal nods, swallowing hard.

"Yeah," she says, a watery smile that looks too painful to last making its way across her face. "Name five things you're going to steal tomorrow."

"There's this really cool watch I saw one of the princes wearing yesterday," Jay blurts instantly, and there's a glimmer in his eyes that hadn't been there before. "It was silver; like, actual silver, not paint or anything."

"That sounds awesome," Mal murmurs, and Carlos shifts over to make room, and she slumps wearily between him and Evie on the bed. "What else?"

"I found a knife," Jay babbles eagerly, and they all stiffen slightly at that. "A paper knife…opener? Letter opener," he concludes, nodding to himself. "It's not sharp, but it could be useful for a serious fight."

"That's true, knives are always useful," Mal concurs, though she rests her head almost pointedly on Evie's shoulder, threading her fingers tightly through hers and Carlos'.

"The kitchen is still open," Jay mumbles, shifting his weight slowly. "If I get up early enough, we can get some of the bread when it's still hot and oh…"

Carlos blinks, then straightens as Jay suddenly turns around to face them.

"All the teachers put their cups out in the morning so the cooks can fill them with their drinks and stuff right away, so if I time it right…."

"We could get the Biology teacher," Mal finishes, lifting her head from Evie's shoulder. "That sounds like a plan…but first…we need to regroup. Figure out how to play…all of this."

"All of…what?" Jay groans, but then his eyes actually focus, and Carlos feels Evie cringe into his side as Jay takes in her bandaged arms (they're neat now, but not quite hidden). "Fucking hell…"

"Oh don't you even try to give her shit, Jay!" Mal says, eyes flashing briefly with green. "Not after everything you just put us through."

"What I put you through?" Jay splutters, and Carlos growls as Evie shivers hard against him.

"Well let's fucking lay it out, shall we?" Mal snarls. "You got in another fight; this time with enough witnesses that they could actually pin it on you. Not only that, but you fucking up and disappeared again, in front of the Fairy Godmother of all people…so now they're all going to start sticking their faces into everything and asking questions, which we'd been trying to avoid, remember?"

"What are you even…"

"And that's not even taking into account the fact that you and Carlos weren't anywhere near where you were supposed to be in the first place!"

Mal is practically shouting now, though it's dampened by the raw emotion spilling out into her expression, in the tears in her eyes.

"You left Evie alone," she continues hoarsely. "And that's honestly the one thing that I can not forget right now."

"Mal."

Evie's voice is a barely whispered plea that cuts off too soon as the other girl whips her head around sharply; and Carlos grits his jaw against the guilt that threatens to tear out of him in words that he can't say.

"And don't you think I'm letting you off the hook, E," she snaps thinly. "You don't get to scare me like that. You don't get to just…quit…you do not get to do that."

"Hey, whoa, that is not fair, Mal" Jay growls as Evie starts to sob again, but he's just as hoarse, just as raw.

"Ha ha, fucking try again, asshole," Mal deadpans, lips curling. "Start with where you were."

"Me," Carlos chokes out, cringing back from Mal's anger, from Evie's brokenness, wishing he could hide from his own brokenness as well. "It wwwas my fault. I was go-go-go-gone. It was all m-me…all of iit."

"What do you mean, 'Los?" Mal says, and her voice lowers minutely from her fury. "What happened?"

"Oh of course," Jay says snidely, his voice bitter and betrayed. "Be soft with him, why don't you?"

Carlos jerks at Jay's words, but Mal growls, her eyes hard.

"Fuck off Jay! I talked you down twice, I can kick your ass now if I want to."

"Yeah, but I bet you won't get half as pissed at Carlos, even if it was only because of him that I was in the library in the first place!"

"Hades below, you sound like a fucking child right now," Mal says, and Carlos can't even begin to interpret the emotion in her voice. He can barely hang onto his own.

"I don't give a shit about whose fault it was or wasn't, dumbass! I care about knowing whether or not you were safe! I was locked in that damned infirmary for days not able to check in unless you came to me; not knowing what was going on or where you all were, having to trust that everything was fine even though I wasn't there to make it that way. I just…I just want to know if you were safe."

She's not angry, Carlos realizes with some surprise. Or at least, not like that, not with them. Scared. They were all scared, and it's such a weird thing to realize because he's usually the one….

"We're safe now, M," Evie murmurs, squeezing her fingers tightly in her own, and Carlos nods, copying the gesture and squeezing her hand.

"Here," he whispers. "We-we're here."

"But you weren't," Mal insists, shaking her head despite the fierce way she clings to them. "You weren't safe and it's my fault because I wasn't there to-"

"Wow, overachieve much?" Jay chimes in, and Carlos shoots his head up as the other boy shuffles over to hover near the edge of the bed.

"It's not all on you, Mal. You're not all powerful, for one- and we're not helpless, for another." His eyes shift down, but not before Carlos can see all the guilt and horror reflected there. "Even if we're screwed up sometimes."

"Jay, just…shut the fuck up and get over here," Mal says, and Jay's eyes flicker before he does just that- shifting around to press himself securely against Mal's back, taking Evie's opposite hand in his own.

"So, to regroup," Mal says as they sink into each other. "We're all fucked up in our own unique ways, and now there's a good chance that everyone in Auradon will learn exactly what ways. Any thoughts?"

"Sleep first, ask deep probing questions later?" Jay suggests lazily, and Evie makes a sound that's not quite a laugh, but is at least not a cry.

"I think I second that," she whispers, and Carlos nods into Mal's shoulder, holding up three fingers.

[Third.]

"Damn," Mal mutters, leaning her head back until it rests against Jay's collar. "Out voted by own crew…what world we live in."

"Shut up and stop moving," Jay complains, shifting his weight to accommodate Mal's intrusion, and pressing himself further against Carlos in the process.

"There is not enough room on this bed to make this work," Mal snipes back, and there's a weary smile in her voice that hadn't been there before. "But you wanted to sleep so you're going to make it work."

They're a sort of half-hazard mess, Carlos muses, as he lets Jay carefully lean against him. But at least they were all a mess together, though he wasn't really sure how long that would last.

---

It lasts, as far as he can tell, until about halfway through the night.

He wakes up to the feel of voices, more than the sound. He's still tucked under Mal's shoulder, so her voice vibrates through him before the actual words register.

"We're going to have to talk about the disappearing thing, Jay."

Carlos doesn't know if her voice is heavy because it is, or if that's just how he's hearing it, but he forces himself to keep still and level out his breathing to continue to illusion of sleep.

"No we don't." Jay's voice comes out normally, or at least, it's sound. His voice is actually broken up whispers of emotion, and Carlos doesn't like how it makes the room seem darker than it already is.

"They already know." Mal's hiss is a strange puff of air in her chest. "Us. The Fairy Godmother…the Cricket."

A pause.

"He said-"

"I heard what he said," Jay snarls, then calms. "We don't have to talk about it."

"What happened to you w-"

"No don't you do that," Jay rasps, and Carlos feels him press tighter against his side and has to fight to remain still. "You don't get to treat me like shit and then act like you care."

"I treat you like shit because I care, asshole. And keep your voice down."

"It's not an issue," Jay insists, but he's definitely quieter now. "It doesn't need to be talked about."

"Apparently it is an issue…they've got a fancy word for it and everything."

"Yeah, and do they have fancy words for Carlos? For Evie? For you?"

"I bet they do. But we can be subtle about it."

"Bull shit," Jay scoffs, but the sound is tight, like he'd choked more than laughed.

"Subtler," Mal corrects pointedly, and Carlos feels her weight shift underneath him. "You just went full scale insane…and I need to know why."

"So you can properly give me shit about it?"

"So I can properly maneuver around it and give shit- and hell- to whoever caused it," Mal says, and Carlos almost holds his breath to hear Jay's response before remembering that he's supposed to be asleep and adjusts again.

"You'd have to do some dark magic shit and bring him back to life, then," Jay mutters sourly, and Carlos feels Mal stiffen sharply.

"How much do you actually…"

"Enough," Jay cuts across, his voice equally stiff. "I remember enough…it's not exactly something I can just forget."

"Except for when you black out," Mal counters lowly. "Then it's hell putting your head back together again."

"Yeah," Jay says shortly, and Carlos can hear the curl of his lip in his voice. "On both ends."

There's silence for a moment, and then:

"So?"

"What 'so?'" Jay argues, and Mal sighs sharply in place of an answer.

"What happened?"

Jay is quiet, for so long that Carlos is forces to be aware of the way that his arm tingles, wedged between Jay and Mal as he is, and he starts to wonder if the risk of 'waking up' to shift positions would be worth it.

"Nothing happened, "Jay finally says. "At least, that's what I keep being told. The only reason I was even in that library was because that's where the knight told me Carlos was."

"And what was he doing there?"

"Something to do with trying to keep us here in Auradon and not get sent back," Jay replies, a bit too sharply, and across from Carlos, Evie shifts with a soft groan in her sleep, causing the remaining three of them to stiffen nervously.

"And after that?" Mal whispers, once Evie settles again.

"I don't know," Jay mumbles quickly, like he's trying to avoid it. "That's kind of where I…you'd have to ask Carlos."

"Oh I plan to." Mal's voice rumbles darkly in her chest. "'Los, what the fuck were you doing in the library and don't you try and fake your way out of this, I heard your breathing change you little shit."

Carlos cringes, but sits up obediently, moving slowly to avoid jostling the group more than he had to.

"What," Jay mutters blankly, before he sucks in a sharp breath and stiffens. "How much did you...?"

He tries to shake his head, to explain or defend, but the words stick somewhere between his brain and his mouth.

"Everything," Mal answers for him, her voice hard. "He heard everything the little fucker."

Not everything, Carlos tries to protest, withering under the unseen glares he knows he's getting. I didn't hear everything, I don't know... But the most he can do is shake his head and this is what he'd been trying to avoid!

"I can only assume you're shaking your head, Los," Mal growls close to his ear. "But I'm going to need you try to answer."

"Did-did-did-didn't hear," he forces out, too quickly, still shaking because that's all he can do. "Only...only..."

"When I was trying to find out why you were in the library?" She finishes, and Carlos slumps weakly in relief, nodding his head against her shoulder.

"Ok," she mutters, and he can feel her relax with him, though Jay is still painfully tense. "That's fine then, we can go from there. What happened, Los? Why weren't you where you were supposed to be?"

"I can fill in that much," Jay chimes in before he can even start to find a way to dodge around it. "Kropp had him. I don't know what for or why, but the fucker did something because when I found him, Carlos couldn't talk again."

"How-how-how?" Carlos mutters dazedly, the only thing he can really get out given the way Jay's words drive his own right out of his reach.

"A little bird told me," Jay deadpans viciously.

"Carlos, explain. now," Mal snaps, and he half wishes that Evie would wake up, just to provide some kind of distraction.

"It's nnnothing," he whispers into Mal's collar in a vain attempt to hide. "Making a big d-deal..."

"It is a big deal," Mal says, and Carlos feels her arm shift, a hand coming up…and instinct drives rational thought out of his mind and he flinches away from Mal's brushing fingers, pain springing up from his imagination and causing him to whimper softly.

He realizes what he's done when Mal freezes, and he shivers slightly, trying to curl up as small as he can on the bed.

"Ssorry," he whines, cursing himself for his fear…for his tongue…for the lack of ability to form an actual sentence and shit that was what he had said and….

"Carlos," Mal's voice is deadly calm, that slow drawl she did when she was going to hurt someone but was trying not to show it. "I'm going to need you to be honest with me for a second because I know what you just did…what that was."

He whimpers again, ducking his head and wishing he were anywhere else but here, or wishing that Mal was just a little less knowledgeable, wishing that Jay would say something, even…anything to detract from his screw up.

"You know I would never hit you, 'Los," Mal continues, vehement even in a whisper. "Which means that someone did and I need you yes or no if it was that teacher."

NO, Carlos' mind screams. No, because yes means that he'll be caught, that he'll know it was Carlos who told, that he'll just hurt him worse.

YES, he wants to say. Yes, but still no because no means that he won't be caught, that he'll never be caught and he'll just keep hurting and Carlos will just keep failing and he doesn't want to go back to where to talk is to hurt, where to slip up is to scream, where staying silent is to die, suffocating in all the things he is not. allowed. to. say.

---

Ben

Ben had long since lost track of the amount of times something involving the villain kids had come up to cause him further anxiety. He almost doesn't want to know what it is; doesn't want to know why his parents had been called to the school in the ridiculous dark of early morning where no human should be awake. Doesn't want to know why he's awake, sitting outside of the infirmary doors while they argue with the Fairy Godmother inside, their voices soft enough to keep the words anonymous, but the general muffled impression of rage and shock still make it through.

His fingers hover idly over the touchpad of his phone, scrolling numbly through the various articles that had already sprung up regarding the 'alleged scandal' the VKs had brought to Auradon; of the gathering of the Council to re-exile them after 'a mere nine days.' He wants to call Audrey and have her wait with him, but not only was it unbearably early, he'd been sworn to silence by a stricken Fairy Godmother, and so he was on his own to wait. Wait and deal with the consequences of his actions.

Something slams inside the infirmary, and Ben sits up sharply as his father's voice booms out with a sudden surge of volume before quieting again. His mother's voice follows soon after, a high pitched wail of sound that has Ben abandoning his bid for calm and scrambling up from his seat, shoving the door open and tumbling inside.

"Ben," the various adults gasp and murmur at his arrival, but he doesn't care about his admitted rudeness.

"What's wrong?" he pants, his heart slamming painful beats of unease throughout his body.

His father stands, his hands hallway through his hair and a twisted look of fury on his face. The gesture familiar as it's the very same that Ben mimics when he's frustrated beyond words. The Fairy Godmother was at the end of the table, her gaze on a small stack of papers resting on the surface; and his mother had been sitting at the table, though she stands when he enters the room, her eyes anxious and pained.

"Ben," she says evenly, not quite looking at him. "Go back and wait in the hall. We'll…we'll come get you when we're ready to-"

"Just tell me what's going on," he cuts across her, not quite sure if he's pleading or demanding. "I already know it's something to do with the VKs, so just tell me what they've done and how it's my fault for bringing them here and how it's all just further proof to send them back-"

"Benjamin!" his mother cries, stern and tearful at the same time and he knows he'd crossed a bit of a line but he's just so tired of all of this.

"We are not sending them back." His father growls vehemence, and Ben snaps his head up so sharply it hurts.

"We're…not…," he repeats, his stomach clenching at the ferocity in his father's voice.

"Sit down, Ben," comes the reply, and he moves sluggishly forward to grip the back of the chair nearest the Fairy Godmother.

"What…what happened?" he asks, trying to catch someone's eye to search for answers there.

The room feels very small all of a sudden, and he has to fight to pull out the chair and actually sit in it. Slowly, the adults do the same, and the Fairy Godmother maneuvers a page around so he can see it.

"A fight," she says, as he pulls the paper, dread twisting his body so tightly it feels like each beat of his heart will shatter him. "At least, to all appearances that was what it seemed."

Ben blinks, his eyes still not quite focusing on the paper before him, the Fairy Godmother's words forcing him to think back to the day before.

"Oh," he finally manages, as he quickly remembers. "Yeah, that…the fight in the library."

He stops there because he senses that that's all he's really required to say. No defense or explanations needed; it's already known and been judged. And yet….

"Everyone is ok now," he tries anyway. "I mean," he winces, wishing he could think clearer about this. "I mean it was horrible that it happened but-"

"Ben," his mother says, and he stops, his jaw shutting tightly as he drops his head back to the paper.

"I called Jeremiah Cricket to come and evaluate the children," the Fairy Godmother says, and Ben idly thinks he's going to make himself sick with the way he keeps snapping his head up and down.

"You…why?" Ben croaks out, then clears his throat. "They're not…they're not crazy."

The Fairy Godmother shakes her head slightly, mystified, but then she sighs and motions to the pages on the table.

"He watched from a distance before stepping in to meet with Mal and the others in person," she says. "These are only some of his earlier observations as the actual notes he took are…being disposed of."

Ben furrows his brow in silent question at her hesitation, but when he receives no response, he obediently returns to the sheet of paper before him. Jeremiah's handwriting is a tiny and barely legible scrawl, but after a moment, certain letters click in his brain, and he's able to piece it together. Nothing too horrific…just simple observations…the closeness of the four…a few stray descriptions of an impression of personalities…

Ben pauses, frowning over the next words. 'Suspected a-' Abuse is the only words he can think of to fill in…the only word he wants to fill in…doesn't want to think about the alternatives. 'Trauma'

He stops, then rereads, his thoughts racing. 'Suspected trauma.' It's all over the pages, now that he's actively searching for them. A small description of some kind and then 'indicates abuse,' or 'indicates trauma.'

"What," he chokes, then tries again, his eyes flickering up to take in the reactions of the adults, who he can only assume have already read the same things he has. "What is this? What is he saying?"

Aside from what you're only just discovering yourself, a part of him chides snidely.

"Specifically, or in general?"

"Um," he says, startled at the strange edge in his father's voice. "Yes?"

"In general," his father continues, that strange edge spilling into his eyes. "He lists a few characterizations of various forms of abuse, and points out where he sees the similarities in the villain children. Specifically," he snarls, then stops, his voice tightening into something barely audible.

"Specifically," the Fairy Godmother takes over, and though her tone is composed in comparison, it is no less horrified. "He refers to something that occurred in my office after the fight…what at first was thought to be a panic attack turned out to be a severe form of dissociation, and the implications the nature of the attack…."

She trails off with a broken sound for a moment, and Ben takes the opportunity to surface for air while he can, his head reeling as he struggles not to drown.

"Well, it led to a bit of digging," she continues finally, her eyes bright as they flicker back to one of the pages, and Ben starts as he realizes that this one is in her hand, and had not been one of those offered to him.

"Digging?" he prompts, and across from him, his father growls, but it's a grieved sound, and his mother reaches over to squeeze his hand.

"Adam, you couldn't have known," she murmurs, but she too is in pain. "You couldn't have known…it was out of your control."

"I put that bastard there," his father all but roars, his fury only tempered by the self-loathing reflecting in his eyes. "I put them all there, so I'd say it was damn well in my control!"

"Who?" Ben asks weakly, the fact that his father had just cursed not quite registering so much as the other things that had been said. "What did…?"

"A dangerous individual," his mother supplies, when it's clear his father isn't about to answer. "Among others, that we relocated to the Isle with the assumption that…given the fact that the Isle was only inhabited by villains, it would be suitable to…children never needed to be taken into account because they were villains, but…."

Ben was suddenly grateful for his twisting stomach, because he is almost certain that if he'd been any less tense in that moment, he would have been sick.

"The files we have are sparse, but they indicated that at some point…"

"No," Ben says, and his mother sobs, while his father growls his self-hatred from behind her. "No…that's…no."

Because things like that didn't happen. People like that didn't actually exist…couldn't possibly exist outside the realm of monsters in fairytales. But the words continued to mock him from the pages, the Cricket's neat scrawl doing nothing to disguise the facts of 'repeated trauma…repeated trauma…repeated trauma.'

He barely makes it out of the room before he starts heaving.