Someone slammed the door open to his bedroom and stood in a seething storm for several seconds before stepping inside and seizing the footboard of his bed. They slammed the door closed with their foot and then Ben slowly got to his feet. "You're angry," he observed. It was pretty obvious. "Did you meeting with your mom not go well?"
Mal slowly broke her hands off the footboard and crossed her arms. "You went to town?" She demanded. "Why?"
"Carlos asked me to," Ben shrugged. "I wasn't aware I wasn't allowed to leave."
"You aren't allowed to do anything without at least asking me!" Mal snapped, shoving a finger underneath his nose. "How dare you leave! And to Jafar's shop!"
"It was just a cord, Mal," Ben snapped and then caught her hand when she drew it back to hit him. "Why can't you just talk to me? Quit hitting me all the time and just tell me what's going on!"
"Talk to the prisoner!" Mal snapped. "No, don't touch me!" She shoved him back onto the bed. "Benjamin, how dare you! What were you doing there? Sightseeing? Jay already told me you were talking with your… your… your fling!"
"Is that what this is?" Ben demanded. He wrestled back to his feet. "You're mad I was talking to Audrey?"
"You don't get to talk to anyone who I deem unsafe!" Mal snapped. "It's for your safety, you idiot! What if someone had seen you and put two and two together? How can I keep you safe if you keep waltzing away?"
"You don't get to tell me what to do!"
"Yes, I do! I own you!"
"You can't own people! This is… twisted! You live in a barbaric society!"
"Like it or not, this is the way it is!"
"Oh my gosh! You're acting just like your mother!" He shoved her this time and she hit the wall and stopped herself from falling by grabbing the wall-mounted light. Immediately, guilt filled him. But he couldn't even reach to help her up before she'd collapsed onto the ground and hid her face from him. She pulled the collar of her jacket up over her hair, shaking, and clutched her head.
Ben bent down. "Mal?" he whispered and carefully set a hand on her knee. Mal twisted her body away from him. "Mal, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean… I mean…"
"I don't want you to talk to me," Mal cut him off. When she unveiled her face again, she was white, her eyes were unfocused, and she looked past him without any emotion in her expression.
Ben sat down beside her, leaning against the wall, and put his hand on the carpet between them as some sort of odd peace offering. She didn't even look his way. Her blank stare focused on the doorknob but somehow saw right through it as if nothing was capturing her vision.
Ben traced a pattern in the carpet. "When you want me to stay silent," he whispered, and Mal stirred. "But you start being violent. I can't find where you went in this mess. Stand still without movement; poised, dangerous, and poignant. And still, I remember you at your best."
Mal exhaled. "Did you write that one down?" she whispered.
"Not yet," Ben shook his head. "I kind of just spat it out."
Mal bit her lip. "Jay said he saw you talking to Audrey," she mumbled. "Why did you leave? I thought you'd be here."
Ben leaned back into the wall. "You told me to listen to them," he shrugged. "Carlos wanted me to get a cord. A purple one. He said he couldn't be seen-"
"Don't tell me the rest," Mal shook her head. She pressed her fingertips to her brow. "It's better I don't know. I'm obligated to turn him in. He's forbidden to get his hands on anything that charges too strong of a voltage."
"Oh," Ben exhaled. It seemed rather anticlimactic. "Well, Audrey was helping me. Except we started talking. And the Jay came and slapped her and threw me out."
Mal tugged her legs closer to her chest and examined the carpet on the ground. "He told me," she nodded and sighed. "I… got scared. When I came back and you weren't here… I thought one of the other villains might have taken you."
"Carlos said you wouldn't be back until late."
"I had to fetch something for my mom and you had my bag," Mal replied. She buried her face in her knees again. "Can you… let me know when you leave? Please? Or just leave a note if I'm with my mom?"
"It probably won't happen again," Ben sighed, closing his eyes. "Still, it was nice. I didn't know we were so close to the ocean. And the sky-" he spread his arms out as if he could still see the blue.
"You saw it?" Mal hummed, sitting up with the tiniest traces of a smile decorating her mouth.
"Yeah," Ben set his hands down again. Immediately, something small and warm covered the back of his hand and squeezed.
"I'm glad," Mal whispered, avoiding his gaze. "And… I'm sorry for panicking."
Ben tilted his head at her distant expression. His heart was thumping inside his ears as he turned his hand over and squeezed Mal's back. "You know," he began with a coy tone playing in his voice, "There are other ways to tell someone that you love them."
Immediately, Mal ripped her hand out of his. "What are you talking about?" She sputtered. "I-I don't care about you."
Ben hummed and said nothing else. Mal slowly got to her feet. Her face was even paler now. "Are you leaving?" he asked.
"Yes," she agreed.
Ben traced her body with his eyes. She was still shaking. She looked almost… weak. Not weak as in easily-defeatable, but weak as in she looked like she hadn't been eating in a while. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yes," Mal choked, snatching around on the door for the handle.
"Mal?" Ben asked, getting to his feet, "Before you go, I need you to tell me something."
"Ben, I don't want to answer any questions about us or-"
"The Bubble," Ben cut her off. "What's happening in the bubble?"
Mal stared. It took her a long time to respond. Then she shook her head. "I don't want you to know," she responded. "Don't ask me."
She twisted the knob and left before he could scare her anymore.
He knocked on the door to Mal's bedroom and ignored the spray paint clouds as he wandered past Jay and Carlos's legs and around where Evie was sitting on the bed, working on something in a book. He set down food for them all and then grabbed Mal's arm as she was spraying something up above her headboard. She jumped when he touched her.
"Someone left these for you," he told her, sliding a stack of papers into her hands. Mal's gaze hovered on him and then she took them and began glancing through them.
"Did you read these?" She demanded after reaching the fourth envelope in the stack.
"I assume that's code for 'this is stuff about the Bubble that I don't want you knowing," Ben said, giving her a pointed look. "It's not nice to keep secrets, Mal."
Carlos looked up. "You haven't told him, Mal?"
"No," Mal snapped, glaring at her friend. "He doesn't need to know."
"My parents are still in there, Mal," Ben whispered. "What you do affects them."
"Doesn't matter," Mal snapped. She turned to cough over her shoulder. The windows were open, but paint fumes still filled the air. She took the file and tossed the rest onto her bed. "No one touch those," she demanded. "I need to go talk to my mother and then I'll be right back." She waved her hand to clear the air a little bit before heading to the hall with the file and snapping it closed.
Ben sat down with a huff. "She's been stuck with Maleficent a lot lately," he said aloud to no one in particular. "Are they doing something important?"
Evie, Jay, and Carlos all exchanged looks. Then Carlos pulled a phone out of his pocket and focused on it as he began to talk.
"I don't know why she's so secretive with you," he began. "She gets… weird sometimes. But… you should probably know that Maleficent has been… struggling with the bubble for a while. People are sympathetic. She doesn't like having it around."
"It's a threat," Jay supplied from the ground. "And now that no one wants to have children, she's kinda angry with it."
Ben drummed his fingers on his knees and waited for the blow.
"They'll be cutting rations that are sent to the bubble next week," Carlos admitted. "The Bubble will lose about thirty percent of its import."
"What?" Ben demanded, hair rising on end. "But… it's already thin! If they do that, people will begin to starve!"
Carlos nodded and said nothing. Ben balled his fists up as angry tears pricked his eyes. But that was before the second blow came.
"Maleficent's not in her right mind," Evie consoled him. "She's sick. Mal's hoping she'll come around soon." Something in her voice conveyed the real gravity of the situation. Whatever was happening to Maleficent, it wasn't normal.
"Do you still dream about me?" Mal asked while dropping her backpack, sensitive items removed, beside his doorframe. Ben grit his teeth.
"Well, you're not sleeping much right now, so no." He gave her a stern look. "Don't think I don't notice you choose to sleep when you know I can't and then stay up all night. Don't think I'm blind to how you're not taking care of yourself."
Mal looked surprised at his venomous attitude. "I wasn't trying to, like, ghost you or anything," she claimed, taking a seat on the edge of his bed. "It's just been hectic. My mom has lots going on."
"Yes, considering she's planning on starving everyone inside the Bubble."
Mal's expression darkened. "They told you," she hissed. "Oh, the fools…"
"Why don't you go blow up at them like you do me? Prove you're even more like your mom than you claim to be."
Mal's eyes narrowed into slits, but she still calmed down. Slowly, she reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. Ben jerked away. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm still working with her, but she's being… stubborn."
"I get it," Ben whispered. "Thank you for trying." He peered up at her through his bangs. "What's your place in the courts?" He asked. "You've never told me."
Mal swallowed. "I'm her daughter," she began, putting her hand on his shoulder and tracing his collarbone with her thumb. "I'm the successor. For one day."
Ben put his hand over her hand. "And when one day comes," he prodded, carefully watching for her reaction, "What will happen to the people in the bubble? What will happen to me?"
Mal didn't seem to have an answer as she pulled her hand back. "You seem to think I know everything," she whispered. "That I have all the answers. What if I'm just as lost and trapped as you are?"
"You'd be in charge. You told me yourself that you're more powerful than Maleficent. I believe you're more compassionate. Would you protect us?" He tried to throw all the earnestness he could conjure behind his gaze.
"Ben," Mal stopped him by taking her hand and pressing a finger to his lips. She wouldn't look at him, but her fingers knew where all the features on his face were. "Please don't ask me something that dangerous." She kept her fingertip against his lips and then shifted her hand to the side so she was suddenly cupping his cheek instead.
He stood up. She backed away. He leaned past her and shut the door and stared at her with fire in his eyes. "Mal," he murmured, and she shook. "Tell me now, please. Tell me the truth."
"The truth?" A question flicked through her eyes. Real and scary and something he didn't want to consider. "The truth of what?"
"You know me," he begged. "I know you know me. Please."
Then there was the realization. She backed away. "I'm sorry, Ben," she whispered. "But I don't know you the way you know me. And this is dangerous enough without me finding out."
She twisted the knob. The door opened. She left. He let her. And when he finally felt his heart break, it both hurt worse and less than he expected.
The castle shook with Maleficent's screams. Insane, maniacal, and close enough to make Ben's skin chill over. The door to his room burst open. It wasn't her, or anyone he recognized. A man seized him by the neck and hauled him to his feet, scattering papers everywhere. Ben's vision blurred, but he quickly cooperated.
Chains were shackled to his hands and then a group of three guards forced him to march down through the now-familiar corridors. They threw him into the courtroom without a backward glance and Ben shuffled forward into the center.
Maleficent was sat on her throne, apparently unable to stand. Her face was blue as she laughed, but she couldn't seem to stop to breathe. The chair beside her was empty.
Ben looked around the room. The first time he'd been in here, everyone had been laughing and jeering at him. There was none of that now. Everyone avoided his gaze and Ben even caught some putting hands to their ears to block out the maniacal laughter.
No one said anything.
Maleficent had noticed he was there but continued laughing as if she hadn't. Ben wanted to ask if Mal was around, but had enough sense to realize why that would be a horrible idea. This was not Mal, who was soft and gentle with him. This was her mother, and she did not care if he lived or died. Still, his only chance of survival was if Mal somehow appeared.
Part of him still wanted to believe that his soul was linked to Mal's and that she was still lying and that she knew perfectly well who he was. He wanted to believe that if he called for her enough in his thoughts, she'd appear. But it had been weeks of her insisting she didn't know him and her friends rolling their eyes when he brought it up. It was forcing the bitter question into his head: what if she didn't know him on the same level he knew her?
Maleficent's laughter ceased abruptly and she slumped over in her chair with glass eyes. Had she died? Right there? But no, she stirred and pointed to a position three feet to Ben's left side. "Release him!" She commanded in a voice that sounded like she'd been in the sun for years.
A familiar face stepped forward. Chad, still here. He looked so weak he could barely drag himself forward. If Ben had had the opportunity to, he probably could have wrapped a single hand around Chad's biceps. Skin that had once been supple and tanned now hung from his face. The muscles had wasted away.
The shackles clattered to the ground. Ben didn't dare move. He exhaled as Chad stepped away. Then, tongue wetting his lips briefly, he found the courage to speak up. "Your majesty," he called, giving her the same title he would have had if she didn't exist, "Might I enquire for the presence of your daughter?"
The crowd stirred. Ben wasn't sure if they were unused to prisoners speaking or if they were simply scornful of his audacity. Maleficent, too, licked her lips as she continued to stare to the far left of where Ben stood. Her gaze was crossed. "Who?" She asked, and then slumped dangerously to the right as if her vision had tilted. She was now looking at the immediate left of Ben's face.
"Mal," he stated. "Your daughter. I expected to be called by her, though I will, of course, render you the respect you deserve."
It took a long time for Maleficent to process that he'd spoken, what he'd said, and what she wanted to say in return. Then she let out a bark of a laugh. "She is mine!" she declared. "And you? You are mine as well."
She waved her hand and pain crashed down on his skin, so intense that his world whited out and he crashed to the ground with a guttural yell. His head slammed against the ground and suddenly, he couldn't get up. The far-right side of his vision was gone. The pain continued though, and so Ben continued writhing and yelling on the ground as Maleficent cackled. Her laughs were so quiet they could barely be heard over his screams.
He ate a mouthful of pebbles that probably had someone else's blood on them as his cheek was raked against the ground.
His fingernails were pried off his hands as he clawed them through the crack of the ground.
The door was flung open.
"Mom?" Mal demanded, stepping inside and then jumping back in horror when she discovered the scene in front of her. The pain ceased, though Ben twitched uncontrollably. No relief filled his senses as he watched Mal mask her shock. "What's he doing down here?" She demanded.
Maleficent began to laugh, curse, and choke all at the same time. She threw her hand out to the side. "Fools!" She screamed. "Ignorant, belligerent fools! The lots of them! The audacity!"
"Mom!" Mal yelled, crossing the room, walking around him, and then taking Maleficent's shoulders to help prop her up. "You can't be down here like this! You need to be resting!"
"They'll die!" Maleficent screamed, trying to point at him and pointing more at the people in the stands, who shrank back and began to shake in fear. "They'll all die! Every last one of them!"
"Mom, calm down," Mal commanded, and her mother took a steadying breath. "Why are you being like this? You're just going to over-exert yourself. Let's go back to your room and I'll take care of you. This prisoner still has to finish a few things I told him to do anyways."
"No," Maleficent's voice seemed strangely steady as she sat up straight. "No, no. He's been here long enough. It's time."
"Time?" Mal asked, but Ben's ears stopped working after that. It was as if a shell had been wrapped around his body, and now it was forcing him to move. He got to his feet, head swaying and every muscle trembling. And then his own fist crashed into the side of his head.
Maleficent was laughing. Mal was shouting.
He threw himself to the ground against his shoulder and felt it pop out of joint. The pain sent fireworks across his vision. He didn't have any nails left but he dragged his forearms against the rough earth to try and cut them open. His head arched back towards his legs as his entire body flailed out of his control.
When it ended, he was aware of Mal shaking her unresponsive mother with tears falling down her face. Maleficent was hyper-focused on him, laughing as he trembled from the aftershocks.
A knife was tossed onto the floor by Chad, who was also crying. Ben reached out to pick it up. His brain was screaming at his hand to obey him, but he could do nothing – not even scream – as he splayed his left hand out on the ground and used his right hand to cut off the first two centimeters of his middle finger.
People in the stands were turning away and looking green.
Another two centimeters. Ben was fading in and out of consciousness now. He raised the knife to do a third, and then a green barrier appeared in front of his hand, forbidding him. The hold on his body was relinquished, and Ben became aware of Maleficent and Mal screaming at each other.
"I will not allow the spawn of fools to grace my castle any longer!"
"He's mine, Mom! He's mine and you're ruining him!"
"You are mine! What he is is nothing!"
"He's something to me!"
"You are weak for having such a connection! How can you ever expect to be the queen I am if you protect servants?"
"Mom, I like him! I like having him! I don't want you to kill him because he's my favorite!"
"Then pick someone else!"
Ben pulled his hand to his chest. Blood dripped in a steady stream. Red. He knew red. Red was the color of the rocks at home. Red was roses that bloomed in the crevices. He looked over at Mal, fist balled and frame shaking, and Maleficent. What was going on?
Maleficent nodded to Ben. "Pick someone else," She commanded. "To take it for him. Go on."
Mal gave the room a cursory, pained glance. It was clear that she knew most of the people in the stands herself. She singled out someone over Ben's shoulder. "Him," she decided. There was a strangled gasp. Someone picked up Ben's bloodied knife. Ben turned to see who it was and watched Chad, with green light covering him, force the knife through his own chest.
"Chad!" Ben yelled. Maleficent released his friend and Chad hit his knees, clawing at his chest. Ben rolled as Chad collapsed into the rock. Tear scorched his eyes. He couldn't move his hands enough to even touch Chad as the two friends locked eyes and then Chad stilled and stopped breathing.
Death was such an odd thing. It did nothing and everything. Chad's body seemed, at the same time, everything Ben had ever seen before and yet so small he could barely look at him. He didn't move at all yet Ben couldn't stop re-seeing the motion of his breaths. His frame was here, lying against Ben's, but Chad was gone.
Someone took Ben's shoulders and rolled him over, away from the body. "Hand," Mal demanded, trying to pry his bleeding finger away from where he clutched it to his chest. "Now."
"Get off me!" Ben pushed her back with such force that she tripped over his chains and fell into the ground. "You've killed him! You killed him! You… you cruel and… you heartless… you monster!"
His voice cut off as Mal silenced him with a wave of her hand. She got back up, ignoring his struggling, and somehow managed to press her fingertips to his forehead. Ben felt his vision go black immediately, but the rage and heartbreak remained boiling in his stomach long after he went unconscious.
Jay sat beside him, reading through the poetry on the desk while Ben stared at the wall, shaking occasionally. Mal wouldn't allow him to be left alone for long, but he refused to look at her and his rejection was painful for her. So she sent others to do her bidding while he slowly recovered.
She'd healed most of him when he'd been asleep. He'd woken up blurry-eyed but recovered from the beating he'd given himself. Jay had whispered something about a concussion the first time he'd come around, but Ben didn't know the specifics. All he knew was that he was missing part of his finger, a friend, and a majority of his sanity.
Jay shuffled the pages around.
He didn't get much privacy when it came to Mal's friends. They rifled through his things and shared secrets amongst themselves. He wasn't sure how much talk got back to Mal herself.
Jay flipped a page over.
Maleficent had been silent ever since that day in the courtroom.
"You should write more of these."
Ben glanced at Jay. "Are those the ones about her?" he asked.
Jay shrugged one shoulder, which was answer enough. Ben turned back towards the wall. "Can't. Those feelings are all dead now."
"Well, that's fine. Romance is dead anyways." Ben felt the bed shift dramatically and then was forced to sit up as Jay hefted him up and propped him against the wall like a ragdoll. A pad of paper and a blue pen were worked into his grasp. Ben shook at the feel of the pad.
"Why do you care? They're words. They're nothing."
"Not to us."
"To who?"
Jay shook his head as he tucked the poems into his back pocket. "Just write, Ben. It'll make you feel better."
Ben drew a little swirl on the paper with a stubborn frown. "What are words that rhyme with traitor?" he asked sarcastically, and then wrote the word down. "Dictator, jailer…"
"Savior," Jay suggested. Ben hissed and an angry line went through the word. More boiling tears bubbled in his eyes. Jay said nothing.
Ben did write. He wasn't sure how he managed it, but he did. He wrote and clawed the pen through three pages at once and then tears blotted out the bad words and bad poems. The edges of the pages crinkled from the sweat in his hand until he flung the useless, expressionless papers at the bed and shook his head. "I can't," he declared. "The words won't work. She's… she's ruined them all!"
Jay didn't reach for the papers. Instead, he cleared his throat. "Chad got a bad job," he whispered. "Most people don't last there. They go insane. And he did. Mal picked him because she knew he wanted to go."
Ben exploded. He hurled the pen at Jay, then the sketchpad, then his pillow before he turned away and curled up to continue crying.
"Ben," the whisper came. "It would have been you."
"Then it's his blood on my hands!"
"No, it's Maleficent's."
Ben looked back up at him. "What would you know?" he croaked. "You live in the palace and your father is Jafar. Your parents aren't starving to death. You haven't been sold. Your friends aren't being killed off."
Jay swept all the crumpled pieces of paper onto the floor. "I know," he agreed.
Ben stared at him. "Aren't you going to argue with me?" he asked.
Jay shrugged. "Maleficent's been spiraling for a while. Mal thinks she's committed too much murder, and now she's being tormented by ghosts. She keeps lashing out. Mal's performed a few exorcisms, but it only helps for a little while."
"Don't say her name," Ben demanded, but Jay ignored him.
"The people of the courts and Maleficent have determined that Maleficent won't be able to rule much longer."
That made Ben stop. He uncurled his legs and stared at Jay. "What?" He asked.
Jay swallowed. "Maleficent has asked to be put down and for Mal to step up in her place," he explained. "She will rule for two more months and then one of two things will happen. Mal will cease protecting her mom from the spirits who are trying to attack her and she will be left alone until she starves or until the ghosts kill her, or Mal will be the one to put her mother out." He picked up the pen and twirled it in his fingers. "If Mal acts too far out of line, then she'll be removed from the line of succession and it'll go to the next in line. Whoever is closest to Maleficent and who had the most right to revenge. Right now, that's Gaston. After Gaston, Jafar."
"Why are you telling me this?" Ben asked. He'd managed to pull himself out of his rut long enough to consider what Jay was saying to him. He put his feet on the ground for what felt like the first time in ages and ignored his shorter finger as he set his hands on his knees.
"Because Mal almost cut herself out of succession last week," Jay admitted. "When she told Maleficent to let you live. I don't think you heard, but Maleficent basically said that if she didn't let her kill you, then she'd be disowned. Then you would have been handed over to Gaston, Mal would have had no political power, and she'd be hunted."
Jay pulled a ring off his finger. Ben realized with a start that it was the gold one from his dad's shop that the guard had bought him. "There are a few things you don't realize are at play. For example, I don't think you've realized what Maleficent is trying to do with the Bubble." He leveled his eyes at Ben and tossed the ring back to him. "You think your people are okay with sending their children away to die? Or being slowly starved and worked to death? The more details that get back, the fewer people want to cooperate. The more Maleficent is haunted by the people who've come from there, well, the less she wants to put up with resistance."
"Resistance?" Ben demanded, sitting up even straighter. "Are you saying that they're… rebelling?"
"Jafar is third in line," Jay whispered. "He wants to be second, but Gaston has a right of conquest. Through your dad. As long as your dad exists, Gaston has a right to rule over him. Because King Adam was going to be the high king and not Sultan Aladdin, Gaston is higher ranked than Jafar. Lady Tremaine is dead, so is Facilier. Jafar is third unless King Adam dies because then Gaston doesn't have that right to rule over him. And Jafar has always hated the people in the bubble while Gaston likes to play with them. If they were to suddenly go away…"
Ben's mouth dropped open. He suddenly realized what Jay was implying with Maleficent's plans for the bubble.
"Of course, none of that matters if Mal exists because she's more powerful than any of the other villains. Her mom is Maleficent and her dad is-" he paused, examining Ben. "Very powerful. They can't fight her on the throne now that she's finally sixteen. If she were younger, they'd just take over anyways. But now, she'll grow up and probably have a daughter of her own who'll take over. Which would be unfortunate for Jafar and Gaston and everyone else in line. But hey, if there's a boy who she risks her hide to protect and save from her mom in front of everyone else in the court, well…" Jay held his hands up in a sort of 'I give up' gesture before getting to his feet.
"Jafar and Gaston," Ben gasped. "Were they in the courtroom when Maleficent-"
"They're some of her most trusted advisors," Jay cut him off. "You think they were gone? No. They both watched Mal almost get cut out of her inheritance. And that's not even everything. You see, Jafar was pretty pissed to find out you existed. We didn't know Ol'King Adam had a son. We figured he'd be smart enough to not procreate after Maleficent's decree went through. Now there's an argument… even if your dad dies inside the barrier, you might be enough for Gaston to retain a right of conquest. Meaning my dad really, really doesn't like you at the moment."
"And if I die," Ben breathed, "Then Mal breaks down and loses everything. After that-"
"If you die, then Mal murders the person who did it. She made that pretty clear. This is why my dad hasn't ordered me to bring your head," Jay interrupted, kicking his feet up onto the bed. "But now you're open to assassins. You think we've been hanging around to make sure you're not alone after losing your friend? We're hanging around to make sure you don't die." Jay kicked the bed in annoyance. "You and your flowery poetry and your insistence that you know Mal have unintentionally made you a political bomb. And Maleficent hasn't even realized what's going on yet. Do you know what would happen if she heard, for example, that the servant-slave who's her daughter's favorite is claiming to have been dreaming about her since before he came to Auradon? That he thinks Mal knew him too, and that's why she singled him out in the marketplace?"
Ben's mouth was dry and his hands shook as he stared at Jay. Jay snorted. "Yeah. Exactly. But you keep being an idiot and walking around our shop without guards, shouting at her, looking straight at her with that look while you're being tortured…" He scoffed and leaned back in his chair. A knock came at the door and Jay caught the handle with his foot. It opened and Carlos slipped in. He gave Jay and Ben a cursory glance as Jay stood up and offered his seat to Carlos.
Before he left, he pointed at Ben. "You keep your head down," he commanded, and with that last command, Ben was left to dwell on everything.
The courts were temporarily adjourned while Maleficent's health continued to fade. Jay, Carlos, and Evie kept Ben updated on the happenstances of the government. Claude Frollo and Hans were trying to get close to Maleficent. Harry Hook had cornered Mal and tried to enamor her, but she'd had none of it. Gaston had caught an assassin that everyone was assuming had been intended for Ben.
Ben wasn't sure when his life had become a spy novel.
Mal never came around and he wasn't allowed out much anymore. They were trying to keep Ben in a contained area and distance the connection between him and Mal. The longer they tried, the more Ben wanted to see the purplette. He didn't even see her in his dreams anymore.
Two weeks went by and news leaked to the outside that the daughter of Maleficent would be taking over. Apparently, Mal's existence was a best-kept secret. Many people knew the purple-haired girl but didn't know how closely connected she was with the courts. They didn't know who she was. Mal dropped school and quit bringing him things. She spent all her time with her mom. According to Evie, Maleficent was only coherent for a few hours at a time. Most of the day she spent tethered to her bed and frothing at the mouth. Mal sat by her side, anxiously awaiting the end.
There would be no public coronation or change of power. Mal would be taking over as soon as Maleficent was unwell enough.
Then, one night, when Ben fell asleep, she was there.
They were in a room he didn't recognize. It was dark but warm. She sat on a chair in a corner beside a large, blood-red bed. All around the walls were huge and heavy tapestries of battles, dragons, and the former heroes and villains. Statues and busts also were lined against the walls, some with feathered headdresses hanging from them or helmets that were meant to be worn by someone with horns.
"You're here," he called. Mal jumped. She hadn't heard him appear. She felt up and down her body and then a forced smile stretched across her mouth.
"Hello," she whispered, voice cracking as she stood up and walked toward him. "I haven't seen you in a while. You went away."
"I haven't seen you either," Ben whispered. He glanced over at the bed. Mal had walked away from it, trying to split his attention, but he realized now that a sickly woman with long, mauve hair was laid back on it. Her head was tilted slightly back as if she had been prepped for CPR but no one had begun the process. It was probably to help her breathe as she slept. "How is she?" he asked.
"Who?" Mal asked, blinking tiredly and then turning to examine the woman. "Oh. I didn't see her. I don't know. Don't we usually go to your place?"
Ben shrugged. Mal continued smiling, then turned over her shoulder and coughed. She sounded like she was hacking up a lung as she tried to catch her breath, then turned and forced the dim smile to return. "Sorry," she apologized.
"You don't have to apologize," Ben assured her, skimming over her paler-than-normal colors. "And Mal? You don't have to smile if you don't want to."
Mal's smile faded and she nodded with a sigh as she glanced back over at Maleficent. "I never can fool you, huh?" She said.
"Is she still alive?" Ben asked, referring to Maleficent.
"She's breathing," Mal nodded, gesturing to the body. "Do you know her?"
Ben stilled and then shook his head. "No," he whispered, finally letting the last bit of hope in his soul die. "I don't. But her daughter will take over soon."
"Ah. So she's powerful?" Dream Mal asked.
Ben nodded. "Very," he agreed.
"Is her daughter powerful?" Dream Mal asked. She wandered over to the bed and pulled the covers up more. Ben felt something like needles stinging his eyes.
"Yes," He agreed. "She's very kind and beautiful too."
"This woman isn't very beautiful," Dream Mal observed, peering down at Maleficent. Ben watched her hands shake and sat down in the chair she'd been sitting in. "She… she does look like she's gone. She's barely breathing."
Ben sniffed and Dream Mal looked up at him. "You're sad," she whispered. "What happened?" She returned to his side and laid a hand on his shoulder. Immediately, Ben took both of her hands and began pressing kisses onto her palms. Dream Mal looked very confused.
"I was so sure," he croaked. "So sure. But lately, we're just so far apart… I miss you. I want to go back." Tears were burning his eyes. His hands shook as they held onto hers.
"Hey, it's okay," Dream Mal told him and pulled her hands out of his. She bent down and hugged him. A real hug. One that he almost flinched out of. "I'm sure I'll be back more often. It's okay."
Ben shook his head and buried his face into her shoulder. "That's not what I meant," he hiccupped. "I-I thought you were real. That my best friend was real. I wanted you to be real and part of my world because you mean… everything to me. I never thought to tell you before because I thought you were only a dream, but I love you. You're… you're my person. The person who gets along with my person. Whatever your soul is made of, my soul loves it."
Dream Mal's hands stilled. "What?" She asked, sounding startled. "You… you love me? Why?"
"Because of everything," Ben sniffed. "Because you talk to me and you protect me and you made jokes with me. You like my poetry and you like me. Because I felt like… like we were both halves. And when we were together, my world was just better."
"But…" Dream Mal looked astounded. "Well… I'm real, aren't I? Just tell me that there."
Ben shook his head. "You're a great person in real life," he spat out bitterly, wiping away his tears with one hand before hiding his face away again. "But I fell for you here. I fell for the girl who was so insulted I kissed her cheek that she fell off my front porch. Who couldn't figure out how to pick a rose with thorns. I fell for you and everything we had. And I guess I could have the same thing with the other Mal, but I… I wanted you. I wanted the Mal I grew up with."
Dream Mal tangled her hands into his hair and then sat down on his legs. She rubbed little circles into his scalp while he cried into her shoulder.
"Maybe…" she hummed. "Maybe there's still something to be done."
But Ben didn't have enough hope for that anymore. He just stayed with his arms trapping her against his body until he woke back up with tears staining his pillow. Evie was above him, shaking him. "Ben?" She called, and he rolled over. Her face was white as she sat back down. "Are you awake?" She asked.
"I am now," Ben replied.
Evie swallowed and twiddled her thumbs together in her lap. "Listen, we just got some bad news from Mal. Maleficent is almost gone, but she has one more thing she wants to do before she dies."
"What?" Ben asked, swinging his legs off the bed and standing up.
Evie closed her eyes. "Maleficent has decided to destroy the bubble. They're assembling an army to do it. Mal will lead it to prove she's ready to take on the throne. Everyone inside will die."
Ben had seen blue before. He knew the color was the sky; the ocean.
It was the same color that clouded his vision when he realized what that meant for him.
Ben remembered getting sick. For as quickly as he had succumbed to his illness, Mal fell slowly. First, her cough, which he heard occasionally when she walked down the hall, grew thicker. Evie and Carlos started whispering about how her eyes glazed over and about how she was swaying as she sat in meetings. She stumbled in the hallways, almost passed out during dinner, and then vanished from the courts entirely.
Ben waited until Evie needed to use the restroom on her watch, scribbled a note detailing where he'd be and then snuck out, even though he was very aware that he needed to not die right not. The hall was empty as he snuck down and twisted the knob to Mal's room. He found it locked. That wasn't a problem. He bent down, examined the larger, older keyhole and then quickly broke his pen to fish out the ink capsule. Then, using the back of it, he began to pick the inside of the lock.
As a child, Ben had read a book in which the main character was able to pick a lock with a hairpin. He'd been so impressed by the concept that he'd dismantled several dozen locks to discover how one might be picked before practicing for hours. Had Mal known the dream him, she might have magically reinforced her locks. As it was, the lock clicked back and he was able to enter without a problem. He locked it behind him afterward.
Mal was sprawled out on top of the covers of her bed, fast asleep and shivering. Both shoes on, hair sticking to her sweaty forehead, and moaning softly in her sleep.
He pulled off her jacket and hung it in the accustomed spot by the door before tugging her shoes off, pulling off her gloves and bracelets, and then carefully pulled back the covers of her bed. He pushed all of her pillows aside, sat down, and then laid her out on her stomach with her head on his legs so he could run his fingertips through her hair.
And there he sat.
Evie came in with tight lips after she picked the lock herself and then decided to say nothing as she pulled out her sketchbook and started drawing. Ben fished on the side table for the bible that he'd left there before he'd left. "Can I have some paper?" He asked Evie.
She handed him a few sheets with pursed lips.
Mal woke up later. She looked very confused to find a set of legs underneath her. "Hello," Ben whispered. She almost jumped out of her skin as he leaned over for a flask of broth that had been set on the nightstand. "Thirsty?" he asked.
"What are you doing here?" Mal moaned. She closed her eyes and covered them with her hands for good measure.
"I'm here to take care of you," Ben replied, knitting his hand into her hair. "I thought I should return the favor."
Mal squinted between her fingers at him and then curled up closer to his leg. "You should go," she mumbled. "I shouldn't be seen with you like this."
"Good thing no one's looking," Ben sighed. Mal didn't respond. She'd already gone back to sleep.
"Time has long since lectured; my contacts I should rend. But I'd be lost if I never learned; the gratification of a friend," Ben recited the moment he knew she was awake enough to hear him. She traced a fingertip up her leg and hummed. Ben let a corner of his mouth raise up. "I walked and found; a barrier in my road; so I turned and took a path; to a place I hadn't known. The way was bumpy and rough as I trod through grey; passing dust and bits of stuff as I trod on my way. I think you must have appeared - materializing before my face; Your presence I calmly considered when you took my side as your place."
"I like it," Mal managed to choke out before she dissolved into a coughing fit. Ben took the flask and handed it to her and she managed to take a long drink without any more coughs.
"You feeling better?" He whispered and Mal nodded a bit while continuing to snuggle into his side. "Good."
"Ben?" Mal whispered, balling his shirt up in her fists. "You know you don't have to stay here, right?"
"I know," Ben assured her.
"Then why do you?" She grumbled.
"Because," Ben pet her hair down. "I told you that there were better ways of telling people you loved them, and this is one of the best ways I know how."
He couldn't tell if the blush that followed his statement was fever-induced or not. She erupted into coughs and carefully struggled away from his side. "You-you're just teasing," she claimed when she began to regain herself. "Aren't you?"
Ben shook his head. Mal stared. "Well, you shouldn't love me," she told him. "I'm just like, well, her." She gestured to the floor.
Ben shook his head again. "You're going to do better than she did, aren't you?" He asked.
Mal's expression darkened with realization and hurt. "You heard," she whispered. "You heard and that's why you're here. You're hoping I'll turn against her."
Ben swallowed. He was on thin ice now. He could pretend not to know what she was talking about, or he could face it. "I'm here because you're special to me," he told her, and this was true. "And I'll be here to take care of you." He cupped her face in his hands. "And yes, you're breaking my heart. And I'm hoping you'll change your mind. But I'm here because you were the friend I needed growing up, and now I want to be the friend you need."
Mal squeezed his hands. "Ben," she whispered in the sick tone that people did when they were trying to think of important things and they didn't want to. "She's sick. She's dying. Do you expect me to turn against her? Now?"
Ben had to fight to keep tears from welling in his eyes. "Do you expect me to watch you murder my parents without a protest?"
Mal pushed him away. "I think you should leave," she hiccupped. "It's… it's not good for you to be here. We shouldn't be together – here."
"I think I should stay," Ben wiped his eyes. "Because if we're never able to look at each other in the eyes again then at least we'll have this."
He wasn't sure who started crying first. Him or Mal. She curled into his chest like a kitten and he snuggled with her under the covers with her fists balled into his blue shirt. Hiccupping apology after apology and trying not to let her nose run horribly. He held her to him like he'd wanted to for years and then together they sobbed with the lights on but buried so far underneath the sheets that it was as if the entire world had gone dark.
"I'm sorry," she hiccupped. "I'm sorry. Please, please don't ever forgive me."
Ben didn't even know how much pain a person had to be in to beg to not be forgiven.
"Mal," he croaked against her shoulder. Her hair was sticking to the tears on his face. "Please. Please don't let this all end like this." Though he knew there wasn't much even Mal could do. Until Maleficent died, she had to obey or risk Gaston obtaining Ben and the ensuing political chaos.
Her lips pressed against his cheek once, twice, and then hovered dangerously close to his mouth before moving away. He felt her pull his head down and press their foreheads together instead of kissing him, and that felt more fitting.
"Ben?" Mal asked through the still, heart-wrenching darkness.
"I'm here," Ben whispered back.
Mal pressed a finger to his lips, then her other hand traced the outline of his face. His brow line, his jaw, everything. It was dark, but she acted as if she had it memorized. "I've lied," she whispered.
"Lied?" Ben asked.
"I do know you."
The world was already dark and very heavy. But suddenly it was still as well. He reached for her cheeks. "You do?" he asked, feeling lighter as his doubts left him. "Really?"
"Benjamin Florian, yes," Mal hissed, sounding like she was either laughing or crying in the dark. "You… you sap! You weren't supposed to be real. Nothing like you is supposed to be real. How dare you exist!"
"You know my name…" Ben started crying again. "I knew… I knew it." He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "Why now?" He asked.
Mal's hand stilled. So did Ben's. Somehow, they found their way to each other and their fingers morphed into a mess of nails and knuckles. He didn't need her answer, but she gave it anyway. "Because this is it," she whispered.
The door to Mal's room closed. Ben looked up from his place on the bed. She stood in the doorway, in a black jumpsuit, with a crown of white atop her head. He stared. With her dark makeup, black outfit, and the crown covering up most of the purple, she barely looked like his Mal.
"So, it happened, then?" He asked.
She nodded.
"She's gone?" Ben asked.
Mal shook her head. "Almost," her voice cracked. "We all expect she'll be gone tomorrow."
She unzipped her jacket, revealing purple underneath, and then removed the crown from her head to set it down on the desk. Ben stared at it. It was white, gave off some sort of a glint, and gave off the very impression of evil. Mal scoffed without feeling at it. "It's made from bone," she told him, and he flinched back. "I think it was someone's skull. Somewhat fitting, don't you think?"
Ben looked away from it. Mal sat down on her bed adjacent to him and began prying off her shoes. Ben got up, circled around on unsteady feet, and took her heads. "I have a request," he whispered, getting to his knees.
Mal turned away. "I don't want to hear it," she told him. "I already told you that I can't go against my mother. Not now."
"Mal," Ben whispered, squeezing his fingers in a vice grip. "Please, don't hurt anyone in that bubble. Let them go. You're in charge now. What's the harm?"
Mal pulled her hands out of his and shoved him back. "Yes, and what of Gaston? And Jafar? They're on the front lines, ready to pull Aladdin and King Adam through the streets by their guts. Legions of soldiers are assembled and Maleficent will be watching the entire thing by my side. Jafar's assassins are already lining up for my head while everyone is looking sideways at you, knowing that you're… someone!" She threw her hands out. "I'm trying to protect you, Ben. What more can I do?"
Ben shook his head. "Mal, I can't watch them all die," he whispered. "Please, please, I beg of you. Stop this."
Mal turned away. "I think it's best if you leave now," she decided. "Go back to your room or go back to the cells. Either way."
"If you'll go through with it all then I beg you to kill me!" Ben snapped and Mal almost collapsed in shock. He reached for her hand, gave her face a quick caress, and held her gaze. "Don't put me through this. Don't make me listen for my mother and father screaming. Don't make me know my friends and their parents are dead. Don't turn the girl I love into a murderer while I'm still here to witness it all. Kill me."
Mal shoved him so he went sprawling across the floor, but then he kept skidding back as she used magic to force him out into the hall. "Out!" She shouted, and the door slammed.
Ben crouched down into the shadows. Did it matter if she was his Mal? If she'd grown up beside him and been his secret-keeper for years? No, apparently not. Not if she was exactly like the monster her mother was.
Daylight came and Jay and Carlos came to his door with shackles in hand. He wasn't sure what they were for since Maleficent had been dysfunctional for days, but he didn't complain when they snapped the cuffs onto his wrists and ankles and urged him forward.
Out in the courtyard, dozens were assembled. An army as wide as the eye could see, all moving out into the open. Jay and Carlos forced him into a car and then they drove ahead of the soldiers.
It had not been a long drive from the barrier and it was not a long march either. Ben could see people gathering inside, watching the amassing soldiers and crying out in fear and alarm as they came and surrounded them. Jay and Carlos pulled him past the front lines and towards a wooden platform where Mal, Maleficent, and a stone-faced Evie were. Maleficent was lying in a hospital bed, with white froth bubbling from her mouth as the occasional high-pitched laugh escaped her throat. As Ben walked, he saw a man in blood-red robes and another with bulging muscles appear. Jafar and Gaston.
Ben was taken up by the platform and made to stand beside Mal, who wouldn't look at him. His heart rent and burned within his chest as he looked at the people begging for mercy inside the barrier. Nothing to protect them. No warning given.
He'd always known Maleficent was a monster, but who knew her daughter would turn out to be just as ruthless?
"Is everything ready?" Mal asked Carlos. Carlos looked closely at Maleficent, then nodded.
"Wha?' Maleficent squawked, sounding a bit like a bird.
"Nothing, Mom," Mal assured her, stepping to her mom's side and stroking her matted hair. "Jay, where is everyone?"
Jay pointed to the back, behind the first wave of soldiers. Ben squinted and could make out a flamboyant red coat in the distance. Cruella De Evil. All of the villains had come out to cheer on the destruction of the heroes.
Ben collapsed to the ground, took the hem of Mal's jacket, and buried his face into her side. "Mal," he begged, in pain as if his body was being ripped and destroyed from the anguish. "Please, Mal!"
Jay and Carlos pulled him back. God, he was a mess.
"Is she gone?" Carlos asked, nodding to Maleficent.
Mal stroked the side of her mother's face, tracing down to her neck. Her fingers hovered there for several seconds, and then she shook her head. "No," she shook her head and then glanced at Jay. "Give it to me."
Jay reached into his sleeve and pulled out a knife. A knife he recognized. A knife that probably still had his blood on it.
Mal traced her fingertips across Maleficent's cheek. "You remember when I was young?" she asked in an angelic trill. "You used to tell me something important. Whenever I messed up. Do you remember?" She took the knife from Jay. Maleficent didn't respond, she was staring at the green barrier with thirst in her eyes. "You said the powerful get away with everything, while the weak perish," Mal hissed. "And I think it's high time we followed through with that."
Without a flinch, she dragged the knife across Maleficent's throat.
Carlos reached underneath the bed and withdrew a machine with a green lightbulb on top and many different wires looping around it. Ben recognized the purple cord – the one he'd brought him – attaching itself to the chair. "Long live evil," he announced to the group, flicking the switch on.
"We're rotten to the core," Mal hissed as some part of a mantra that Ben didn't understand. She put her finger over the lightbulb, and it was as if a supernova exploded. Once again, the sky was green. The air was green. And Mal was floating a few inches off the ground, eyes and skin and hair all vividly green as she seethed with uncontrollable power.
Carlos wasn't supposed to have things that used a lot of voltage.
Mal was more powerful than her mother, she'd said.
Carlos had super-charged Mal.
The crowd of soldiers all looked up towards the platforms and Ben saw that their eyes were green. Green that matched Mal's. Because they were all under her control.
Evie forced Ben to the ground. "Stay down!" she commanded.
"Soldiers," Mal announced in a voice that echoed off every particle in the air. Jafar and Gaston looked up along with the rest of the villains who were waiting to lead the front lines. "We have a new enemy. Destroy all of the villains."
Ben heard a cry of outrage from Gaston before the soldiers all moved as one. Ben heard screams and cries from the back of the crowd as they wave split and began to assassinate the villains who'd gathered to witness the destruction of the heroes. Evie covered Ben's eyes as shrapnel flew around them.
Mal had gathered all the villains together to get rid of them.
Her mother had unwittingly allowed for her own destruction and for the demise of all her allies.
And Ben was safe.
It had all happened so quickly… how could it be? Mal had only been sixteen for a couple of months… she was barely able to take over her mother's throne. And Maleficent had gotten sick so quickly… she had succumbed only weeks after Ben arrived, almost as if he'd… triggered something.
It all suddenly made so much sense, he wanted to laugh.
Mal, the primary caregiver of Maleficent. Mal, the teenager who was just barely able to take over the throne. Mal, who had known him from the first day. She'd gotten her revenge, attained her power, and saved Ben.
The carnage was over in minutes. The people stood on the other side of the barrier, shocked. Mal stretched forth her hand, and just as if it was made out of soap, the bubble popped. Mal took her hand off the bulb and Carlos shut off the machine, glancing sheepishly at the other two. Mal stretched out her hand, shaking a little on her feet, and brought Ben to his feet. The two stood in silence for a long few seconds.
"Prince Benjamin?" Mal offered, tilting her head to the left.
Ben reached out and fixed Mal's crown to be at a jaunty angle on her head. "Queen Maleficent?" he responded, laughing. He leaned forward to kiss her cheek. Mal's face morphed into shock and outrage. She tripped backward, looking disgusted, and tumbled right off the platform and into a group of dazed soldiers. Ben, Evie, Jay, and Carlos all burst into laughter as she scowled and climbed off the soldiers.
"How dare you!" She snapped. "I will- I will!"
"Kill my goldfish?" Ben spiked an eyebrow.
Mal's expression softened. She sighed and crossed her arms as she looked up at him. "Benjamin Florian, what am I going to do with you?" she sighed. Then, she crooked her finger. "Come down."
Ben quickly crossed to the stairs and hobbled down. He was still bound in his chains. Mal took his arm. "Come on," she scoffed and began to lead him past the scorched earth where the bubble had boiled for all those long years. They walked into the street and the crowd parted easily. Ben saw Peter Pan, Wendy, Cinderella and Henry, Tiana, Naveen, and Rapunzel. They gawked at him as he crossed their paths.
"I always thought you were my conscious," Mal whispered when no one could hear. "I thought you were… the manifestation of my guilt. I didn't think anyone as perfect as you could exist."
She kept a hold on his chains as she continued leading him. Mal knew where to go. Of course, she did. She had practically grown up here with him. She knew him. He knew her.
His parents were waiting on the doorstep for him. In their hands were the bunched-up pages of poetry that the four had stolen from him and the one letter that Ben had written. When he saw them, tears of joy sprang to his eyes even though he'd already done far too much crying for one lifetime. They came rushing down the steps, shouting for joy, and picked him up as they held on for dear life. Ben hugged back as best he could. Nothing could top this glee inside of him.
The shackles loosened and fell to the ground. Ben watched Mal tuck the key into her pocket. Jay must have passed it over with the knife. He hadn't even noticed her remove the ones on his feet. He rubbed his sore wrists and then threw his arms around her, too. She looked just as uncomfortable as she had up on the platform.
"I think you've had enough," Mal said slowly as he withdrew from her. "And… it's been a lot. You should be home now. You should be home with your parents, so you can properly heal." And she nodded to his mother and father, acknowledging that she was releasing him to them.
"And you?" Ben asking, taking her hands. "You've been through lots, too. Stay with us for a while. Please. I want my parents to get used to the girl I want to make my wife one day."
Mal's face erupted into red, which she promptly hid from sight. Ben's parents, to their credit, took this news with stride and Belle set a hand on Mal's shoulder to further invite her. "No, no," she declined. "But thank you. Unfortunately…" She glanced back to the way the soldiers had come, in the direction of Villeneuve, just past the mountains. "There are people who still need me, Ben. And we were toxic, and you know it." She squeezed his hands tightly. "If you want to try again, one day, I'd be happy too. But by God's, Ben, you were my slave! I owned you! We had everyone thinking I was assaulting you! You've lost your finger and your toes and you'll never sit up right again!"
She released his hands then, brushed off his shoulders, and then cupped his face briefly. "I did a number on you. And you shouldn't start relationships on those messes. Love shouldn't be made with swords. I want you to stay here, with them. Let them take care of you. Be a teenager for a little longer. Audrey and everyone will be back soon. You need time to get over me and heal. I have to go and be the queen. But… one day… if you can find it in you…"
"I'll call you up," Ben cut her off, smiling assuredly.
"I don't want you to forgive me…"
"I already have." He took her face then and pressed their foreheads together. She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Thank you, Mal, I should have known you'd pull through."
Mal smiled, despite everything that had happened. Then she pulled back and shook hands with Adam. She tried to shake Belle's hand, but Belle pulled her into a hug, dropping pages of poetry to the ground as she did. Mal looked extremely uncomfortable. Ben laughed and wasn't surprised to see the purple ink that had been scribbled on the edges of all his notes, dictating things like: "He's okay. He's walking again. Why is your son such a romantic sap?"
Mal finally managed to release herself from his mom's grasp(and Belle quickly replaced her body with his in a giant hug from behind) and Ben watched her stumble through the gravel as she began to walk away. "When will I see you again?" he called.
Mal blushed. That same bright red, rare blush that he was coming to associate with himself. "Probably tonight?" she shrugged. "After all, you're still the boy of my dreams."
And on that note, she left him safely with his parents.