Okay... After one quite eventful chapter, here's another one! (Don't worry, nothing will explode this time) It'll be relatively calm, though you never know what can happen. Either way, someone will have to rethink what they thought was right. Before I spoil too much, here are my replies to your reviews and then the chapter:

CaptainMansBabyGirl: Thanks for reviewing! Here's the next chapter.

germanyswarrior: Yes, it will attract a lot of attention, though that was more of a mistake Carlos made. He accidentally picked the same day they were visiting and Henry was caught in the crossfire. We'll see what happens to Carlos today. Thanks for reviewing!

PurpleNicole531: Thanks for reviewing! Well, Hadrian did say two people would die (chapter: the lessons) and apparently, one of them was Henry. It just had to happen, unfortunately. Yes, it is a sweet moment. Ben would comfort her instead of standing around, so that's what I've done.

Kingson24601: Who said he wanted to kill? He just wanted to blow something up, not necessarily Henry. Carlos is still alive (for now), don't worry. Thanks for reviewing!

Enjoy!

-Writer207

It wasn't pleasant waking up. He'd been having such a good day. The day was special, for it was the day when he'd take the Fairy Godmother's wand and keep it to himself. He'd planned everything to the smallest detail and made the necessary arrangements, such as informing (ordering) the villagers to stay indoors. All he had to do was detonate the bomb and go get the wand. Maleficent wouldn't care – it was just an explosion in the village, anyway. Things just exploded. There even had been an explosion three weeks ago, but that's completely irrelevant. Either way, everything was going incredibly well.

And then Mal showed up. Carlos was about to press the button when he noticed Mal coming out of the house, along with the rescued prisoner and an older couple. Then, she went out of view for a while when the others had left her. Not much later, she ran back into view and out of the village. He detonated the bomb while she watched it happen through the binoculars. "You killed him." It wasn't the words she chose to say, but the way she said them that had scared him. He knew her long enough to know running away was his only option. He could remember her screaming and he lost consciousness while running.

The next thing he knew, he was waking up in a dark room with just one door and one lightbulb on the ceiling. Carlos himself, he soon realized, was sitting on a very uncomfortable chair. Not just any uncomfortable chair, but one with arms. They tied him up to those arms and he couldn't even move his legs. He was trapped in the room, on a chair, at the mercy of whoever brought him here. He did have an idea as to who it might've been.

The door swung open and his suspicions were confirmed. It was the purple-haired girl he once counted as a friend. After those two months, he didn't know whether she was still a friend or an enemy.

"Good morning," she said, folding her arms. He stared at her and decided to keep doing that the entire time.

"Hey, Mal," he replied, "How are you?"

"I'm fine. You?" Really, they were going to start with small talk? Couldn't she come up with something better to say?

"Couldn't be better," he said, then feigned to reconsider his answer. "Or wait... Yes, it could. You know, I can tolerate this, no problem. But you've got to tell me why I'm here and why you knocked me out!"

Mal didn't flinch, didn't even react to what he had said. She was being emotionless, he realized. At least she can still do that.

"You set off a bomb," she said. Carlos nodded.

"Yeah, duh," he said, "I sure did, you were there. Tell me something I don't know."

"People died." Carlos' facial expression changed a little. There was shock and surprise, but recovered quickly. Don't let them see your true intentions and emotions. Smile less, talk more to cover your feelings. It always worked.

"Okay, that wasn't my goal," he admitted. When they were inside, there was a bigger chance of survival than when they were out in the street, which is why he warned them. Of course he never said there'd be a bomb. "I just wanted to destroy that house and grab the wand from the ruins. Couldn't get in there without blowing it up, even if I wanted to. Lots of traps. But, yes, that risk was there. They should've known better than to stick their noses in my business." He added that last part without giving it too much thought. Nobody should stick their noses in his business. He'd never allow it.

Mal apparently didn't like what he'd said. Especially that last comment caught her attention. Her facial expression changed. Carlos couldn't say he's seen it before – at least, not on her face. She was… sad. And distraught. And that last part might have to do with him.

"How can you say that?" Mal said, sounding rather shocked. He couldn't understand why she said that, though the environment had changed her. He leaned closer to her.

"Why can't you?" he asked, "No two months ago, you would've shrugged and forgotten. Did you suddenly became compassionate with those peasants?" Silence fell between them. He waited for her answer, while she did not want to answer that question. Instead, she decided to confront him with his actions.

"You killed Henry," she told him. He leaned back in his chair.

"So there was Henry there? Bad for him," he said, keeping up the act of indifference and stoicism. Mal shook her head in disapproval.

"Henry Westergaard," she said, fighting back her tears. Fortunately, that's one of the things she could do well, "He was Henry Westergaard, not just a Henry, and you killed him!" The weight of the words now became clear to him. Henry Westergaard wasn't a name he'd forget soon, since he was Hans' son and would be the one to marry Evie and nobody else. Carlos dropped the stoic face in favor of one of shock and surprise.

"Oh…"

"Oh? That's all you have to say? Oh?!" Mal exclaimed and Carlos nodded in response. It was his only response. Mal put her hands at her head, as if she'd pull out her hair from frustration, but didn't. She briefly turned her back to him, too, before facing him again.

"You changed a lot," she told him. Carlos frowned – what was Mal trying to do now? It did matter, for it might just mean his survival or freedom. Both were rather important. He told himself to ask Mal later why exactly he was here, and where 'here' is.

"I never changed, you have," he told her.

"You were a sweet kid," Mal said – he knew she was referring to their childhood, "A nice kid. I remember you almost fainted once when you saw a half-eaten rat."

Carlos sighed loudly. "What's your point?"

"You have changed," Mal said, looking at him with some disgust. "What I see before me is not the sweet kid I remember from my childhood. All I can see now is a cruel, merciless hunter."

"You've changed, too," Carlos said in response. It wasn't good to dwell on past and rather unimportant times. It was the now that mattered, and not what has been. "I don't know what they did to you, but you've gone soft."

Silence fell again. Mal used the time to think about Carlos' words and about how they didn't make her soft, but more of a human being. Carlos, on the other hand, stubbornly continued to watch her, thinking about other ways to potentially get her back to her roots.

"What happened in the village?" he eventually asked.

Mal folded her arms. "As if I'm going to tell you."

"But you were there," he said, leaning closer again, "You were close. I bet it was within reach, too. Why didn't you grab it?" Mal didn't even get the chance to answer. Carlos sat back in his seat. "Never mind. You won't tell me either, right? But I don't understand why you just let it be. You'd be powerful. You'd have more power than before. All you'd have to do, is speak those nonsense words and do as you please! Why did you ignore such power?" Because power isn't always good. Because too much power can corrupt your mind.

"I can already do magic," Mal answered, hoping he'd be satisfied with the answer.

"That's not a reason to ignore the wand," he said.

"Shut up," she told him. She was trying to tell him to drop the subject, but Carlos interpreted it in a different way. He leaned forward again.

"Do you want me to?" he asked, "Because I can go on like this for a long time. I'm not gonna stop. So, you could've been powerful. Good and evil magic combined. Take the wand, rule the land." He thought about those last words and nodded. "That sounds good. Can you write that down?" he then asked her. Mal groaned. He was annoying her. Good. She'd be leaving soon, which meant some alone time. Carlos could use his alone time.

"You're no better than the others," Mal said.

"Good," Carlos said, a smile finally appearing on his face, "That means I've still got it. Unlike you."

"Carlos…" she said, but he wouldn't let her finish.

"No, now you shut up," Carlos told her, "Which one of us is the better villain? Well, clearly, that's me. And that's saying something, since that question compares me to you, the daughter of one of the cruelest people in the world. What if we change that question, huh? Which one of us is the better hero? That'd be you. Or no, neither of us are. You're not a hero. Not even a good guy. Two months isn't going to change that. It takes one moment for a hero to become a villain, but years before a villain can finally be seen as a hero. Why settle trying to look like a hero when you can turn your back now and come back and be what you're always meant to be: a bad guy. Or, in your case, a bad girl."

The silence came back again, resulting in a glaring contest between the two. Eventually Mal looked away.

"This is pointless," she said as she turned away from him and walked away.

"Hey!" Carlos called out for her, "Where are you going? I'm not done with you yet!" But she didn't turn back around. She closed the door behind her and Carlos slumped back into the chair, for as far as that was possible. Finally there was some time for himself.

Oh Mal, he thought as he shook his head, what have they done to you?

She's no lost yet, he immediately added. There still was a small chance that she could be saved. But what did he have to do to get her to be evil again?

After Mal had closed the door, she sighed deeply. She knew Carlos could be cruel, though not as cruel as he had acted today. He may have just been doing that to annoy her, but he just was exceptionally cruel.

"And?" Ben asked. He had been waiting in this small room. Outside, two people were waiting for them. They were there for protection, both from threats in- and outside the prison cell.

"He's hopeless," Mal said, "He acts so… well, he acts like he usually would. An idiot, stupid and stubborn."

"Why did you drag him here again?" Ben asked her. She never really stated a reason for taking him back to Neverland. She refused to leave without the Hunter. They had to take him with them if they wanted Mal to come along.

Mal shook her head and shrugged. "I don't know, I just…" she sighed, "I guess I just wanted to hear him confess." She had to hear him say he did it, and had hoped for an apology. Yet, all she got was an 'oh' when he realized it was Evie's fiancé he killed. Saying that killing people wasn't one of his goals was not an apology.

Ben looked at her. "We have two options now," he said, "We either drop him off in the middle of nowhere without any memory of what happened here, or we kill him."

"We are not going to kill him," Mal said resolutely. Ben sighed. It was always nicer when they were on the same page.

"He's in our camp and killed one of our own," he said, "The rules say we should—"

"I don't care about the rules," she said, interrupting him. "He's my friend."

"Even after what he did?" Ben asked her. "Even then, you still call him a friend?" After a short period of silence, Mal nodded.

"He's different," she said. Ben just had to disagree with her on this, shaking his head.

"He's a villain," he said, "He doesn't belong here."

"Neither did I," Mal told him. The two stared at one another, hoping the other would soon see they were right. Hoping to agree with each other again. Hoping they wouldn't have to fight over this. "You and the council gave me a chance," she eventually said, "Why?"

"Because I…" he paused, searching for the right words, "I saw the good in you. I still do."

"And I see the good in him," Mal said, "He's only the way he is because of our parents. They all are. Our parents aren't the best teachers. We would be better without them." Ben nodded in response. At least they could agree about something.

Then, Mal's face lit up. "That's it!" she said. Ben frowned.

"What?"

"I think know how we can show Carlos his mother is wrong," she said, looking at him expectantly, as if he'd know what she was talking about. Yet, all he could do was shrug.

"How?" he wondered out loud.

"Let's find Dude," Mal said with a suggestive smile. Even with Carlos safely tied up and unable to do what he could do best, Ben was horrified when he thought about the alliance's mascot joining the Hunter in his cell.

After only ten minutes of solitude, Mal came back inside the room. Carlos nodded at her.

"So, you've come back," he said, "How hard do I have to convince you to release me?" Mal shook her head, as to tell him he couldn't convince her. Instead of verbally answering his question, she asked him a question he couldn't ignore.

"What do you think about dogs?" Mal asked him. There was a small, suggestive smile on her face, but Carlos didn't pay much attention to it. He just responded to the question, telling her the anticipated answer.

"Dogs are vicious, merciless, ferocious creatures whose only goal in existence is to terrorize and be utterly annoying and attached to normal people. Al dogs are evil, but are also against us. All dogs, however small, should be killed," he said with enough anger, "They do make great rugs, among other things." He added soon after he said the first thing. Mal nodded.

"Okay," she said, "Now, I'd like to hear your opinion." Carlos frowned.

"I just told you my opinion," he said. Mal shook her head – she'd expected he'd say that.

"No," she said, "You just told me what your mother thinks about them."

"So?" Carlos said, "Our opinions are the same. We're allowed to share beliefs, you know."

"True," Mal said, "But I don't share your opinion. I think they are not vicious, merciless and ferocious. Not at all. They don't terrorize people and they certainly should not be killed." Carlos glared at her in confusion. She had never really cared about the fate of dogs. She could never care less whether they lived or were murdered. And now, she suddenly thought they shouldn't die.

"Since when do you think that?" he wondered out loud.

"Since I've met a dog here," Mal said and the suggestive smile appeared on her face again. He suddenly knew what she was planning to do. "I'm sure you'll like him, too."

"Are you going to do what I think you're gonna do?" he said, a hint of fear audible in his voice. Mal nodded.

"Probably," she said, "You won't mind, right?" Carlos shrugged.

"Even if I did, I can't leave," he said. "I'm at your mercy."

"Exactly!" Mal said, with a smile on her face. Evil or not, she still had it in her, "So now is a perfect time for you to meet Dude." Carlos clenched his hands while Mal walked to the door and opened it. When the she turned back to Carlos, she held a dog in her arms and someone closed the door behind her. Carlos leaned back as far as he possibly could as Mal came closer to him. "Dude, this is Carlos," she said, "Carlos, this—"

"Get that thing away from me!" Carlos yelled when Mal was about three feet away from him. His eyes were fixated on the dog, who seemed to be enthusiastic to meet a new person and smell a scent he hadn't smelled before. He was breathing faster than usual, but didn't really notice it.

"There," Mal said, looking at one of her friends, "That's what I was waiting for. That exact face."

"This is not funny, Mal," Carlos said, not looking away from Dude, "I thought you were too old to play games."

"This is not a game," Mal said. Carlos turned his head and saw her smile had disappeared. She meant business. "I just want you to get to know Dude. I'm just wondering if you're going to change your beliefs."

Carlos shook his head. "Fat chance."

Mal shrugged. "I can always try. Here you go," she added as she placed Dude on the ground. Carlos was getting more anxious with every passing minute.

"What are you doing?" Carlos asked her.

"Well, you can't properly meet when I'm holding him," she said. Carlos glared at her. There had been times when he was glad they were friends, there had been times he regretted spending time with her. Today was one of those times where he downright hated her for the situations she placed him into.

"Get that beast out of here," he said coldly, as to mask his fear. Mal looked at him.

"He's not a beast," she defended Dude," He's just a dog." Just a dog? Carlos thought. Well, there had been more of those who turned out to be beasts, little monsters who liked to kill.

"Just get rid of it," he said, "I'll do whatever you want, I'll tell you what you wanna know. I'll do anything." Mal folded her arms. The way he looked at the dog, the way he reacted… it just proved what she and some others already knew.

"So, it is true, then," she said.

"What's true?" Carlos asked her, a little confused about that sentence.

"You don't kill dogs for fun, but you're afraid of them," she said. His eyes widened, and this reaction proved it was true. "I'm not really surprised – if I had to hear your mother's stories daily, I'd be terrified, too."

Carlos leaned closer to Mal, though not too close – the dog was still around, "I'm not terrified." He said. Over the years, he'd mastered the act of lying, like everyone else who grew up as a villain.

Mal nodded. "Okay," she said, "Then you don't mind me leaving…" she walked to the door, slowly, and only when she touched the doorknob, Carlos stopped her.

"Mal!" she turned back to him, "If you're going to go, take that thing with you. Do you really want me to take care of him?"

"How?" she asked him, knowing well what Carlos meant with those words, "You have no weapons. Nothing in this room is lethal for him. Good luck!" she added before leaving him all alone in the room with Dude.

"Mal!" Carlos yelled as Mal pulled the door closed behind her, "You can't leave it here! Mal?!" He didn't yell her name again, knowing she wouldn't come back in for a long time.

Then, he looked from the door at the creature Mal had left behind. The dog looks at him with a titled head. Carlos shakes his head.

"You're lucky I'm not armed," he said. If so, the dog would already be dead. He did not take his eyes off of it. At one point, the dog would realize Carlos was unarmed and it would take its chance. It would do what it would always do: kill. Carlos was not ready to die, but accepted it. It would've come anyway, maybe fifty or sixty years from now, but it would have happened eventually. Oh, the irony! One of the beasts he had been hunting for a long time would kill him. Was there ever any other way?

But the dog didn't do anything else than sniff at Carlos' feet. The dog stayed close, but not too close. He was looking at the boy expectantly, waiting for something to happen.

"You're not gonna kill me?" Carlos asked him. The dog, off course, didn't answer, but to Carlos it was obvious this dog had chosen not to kill. He leaned closer to it, stepping over his fear. It could be a trick, though. To play nice and then bite his face off. But the dog only came closer.

"You're not that bad, are you?" the harsh tone of his voice had disappeared. He would've tried to caress Dude, if his hands weren't tied up to the chair. Even without that small motion, he had just expanded his horizon and opened up his mind.

No, he changed his mind. Nothing more, nothing less. Dogs are not vicious killers. Okay, some could be, but definitely not all of them. There were some dogs, like Dude, who weren't evil at all. They were sweet, kind and enthusiastic. Dogs are not evil at all, he thought.

Mother is wrong, he added, an expression of realization on his face. All those stories his mother had told him suddenly lost all the value she had tried to give them. The point she tried to get across with those stories was no longer one her son believes. Cruella De Vil's stories were only meant to make sure her son would hate and fear dogs, so he could hunt them down and make beautiful garments out of them.

Carlos realized Cruella'd gotten what she wanted. A son who killed innocent dogs just so she could make fashionable clothes. He had fallen for her lies. And if she lied about dogs, what else did she lie about? Could she be lying about other things, too? Yes, probably. He remembered the questions he used to ask her as a kid, and questioned all of those answers now.

Yes, just do it. They don't deserve any better!

Don't worry, I'll make some for you, too.

It's only termporary, my dear. I can't seem to find a good butler, but I promise you won't have to do this anymore when I've found the perfect servant.

Yes, of course I love you more than my clothes. Why would you ask such a silly question?

Because you have always lied to me. Because I was stupid enough to believe that.

And that attitude shaped him into the person he is. It made sure he was able to build a bomb, which eventually had killed Henry. He had taken an actual life. One single tear rolled down his cheek and fell onto the ground. The dog looked at him, as if he understood what Carlos was going through.

Not much later, Mal stepped back inside. She had expected a lot, but never had she thought to find Carlos sitting in the chair, bowing his head and looking so defeated.

"Carlos?" Mal asked carefully. Carlos lifted his head. He had red eyes and there were tear stains on his cheeks.

"I'm sorry," he said, "For everything. I am so, so sorry." She took a step closer in his direction.

"Are you apologizing?" she wondered out loud. Carlos nodded.

"For everything," he repeated, "For a lot of innocent dogs. For that bomb. For Henry. I'm a killer."

"Yes," Mal said, more so because she was glad Carlos had confessed right now. "But you're much more than that. You're better than that," she added. Carlos nodded in agreement.

"Right," he said, "I'm the Hunter. I'm the murderer of dogs, only because mother wanted more stupid coats." She wanted to tell him not to beat himself up for everything his mother made him do. She wanted to tell him it was only his doing, and that his mother was just the bad example. But she couldn't. Maleficent had pushed Mal in the wrong direction, but Cruella held his hand for as long as possible and still influenced him after he'd let go.

"And?" he continued, looking directly at her. "Do you have what you wanted? Have you reached your goal? Are you going to let me go? Or will you kill me?"

"We won't kill you," Mal told him. Carlos shook his head.

"Are you sure about that?" he asked her and Mal nodded. He knew it couldn't be a guarantee. It never was a guarantee.

"Ben's gathering the council," she said, "They'll decide over your fate." Just like they decided over mine, she added in thoughts. If they had given her a chance, they sure would do the same for Carlos.

"What are the options?" Carlos asked.

"You can be set free, outside the camp. You can stay under strict conditions. You can die."

"I bet they're gonna kill me," Carlos said.

"Not if I have something to say," Mal said resolutely, looking rather determined. Carlos tilted his head.

"Do you?" he asked, "Two months isn't enough to join anyone's council."

Mal shrugged. "I can always try to convince them." Again, silence fell, but this time it wasn't an uncomfortable one. This time, neither of them knew what to say to the other in this situation. Then, Ben called out for Mal. Both turned their heads to the door. Mal looked back at Carlos.

"Is there anything you want me to tell them?" she asked him. He nodded.

"Tell them I'll never kill again," he said, "Not people, not animals. Never. I may not be an ally nor a friend, but I will no longer kill. I will no longer be cruel to animals and people alike. That's a promise."

Mal nodded. "I'll tell them."

"Thanks." Carlos sighed in relief. Mal then left him all alone again, though he still had Dude to keep him company. To think one little dog could make him completely change his mind. The minutes slowly ticked away and each second seemed to take an eternity. He tried to pass his time talking to the dog, counted all planks and tried to hear what was going on. Mal and Ben were talking to each other, though he couldn't really hear it through the thick door. Something had to be going on and since there wasn't anything else to do, he listened to what they were saying. It was to no use – he could not understand a word they said.

Eventually, after a long time – too long, according to Carlos – Mal came back inside the room. Carlos leaned closer to her.

"And?" Carlos asked, "What did they say?"

"They didn't say anything," Mal said. Carlos frowned and before Mal could expllain, Carlos asked the question.

"Why not?"

"There weren't enough available council members to vote, so Ben had to decide all by himself." He looked at her for a while, then hung his head, sighing heavily. He then looked back at Mal with a sad smile on his face.

"You were a great friend, Mal. I totally accept my fate," he said. Mal crossed her arms.

"He's not gonna kill you," she told him. He frowned again, this time in confusion.

"He's not?" Mal shook her head.

"No," she said, "You're allowed to stay, under strict conditions." Carlos sighed again, this time in relief. Then, he looked back at Mal.

"Meaning…?" he asked her, wondering what those conditions were.

"You have a guide – that's me. It means I cannot let you get out of my sight for a month. If you behave well, you'll be rid of me in a month and then you'll be a full-fledged member." Carlos nodded. He liked that. He'd just wanted to stay alive and leave – no, not leave. He thought he wanted to leave. He needed the time to think about going back to his mother or not. A month would do.

"Great!" he said, "When do we start?"

"Right now," Ben said. He was standing in the doorway, looking inside. Mal untied Carlos, who was very glad to be able to choose how to sit. Dude took his chance and ran out of the room, back to outside. Ben did manage to caress him once before the dog could run away. Carlos rubbed his wrists when the ropes there were loosened. It had hurt more there than anywhere else.

"Welcome to the alliance," Ben told him.