Chapter Text
Carlos de Vil had always been the weakest of the bunch, the runt of the litter, so to speak. He may only have been a year younger than the rest of his grade, and the majority of the “first generation” of villain kids, but he was a lot smaller, and a lot more frail. He jumped at loud noises, his voice shook on the rare occasions he spoke, and he could never seem to look anyone in the eye. He was soft, and on the Isle, that's as good as dead.
It made sense that he was so much softer, in a way. He didn’t start going to school like the rest of them until last year, when he was nine and Mal was ten. He’d spent most of his life hidden away in Hell Hall, protected in a way the rest of them weren't. Sure, he could be seen around the Isle occasionally, but he wasn't like the rest of them, didn’t know how to fight or steal, didn’t understand how social interactions work, who’s territories were whose, and who he should fear. He was soft because his mother protected him, and the way he acted showed it. It made sense.
Until she looked a little deeper.
There was always something off about him, little things that didn't fit. Yen Sid would ask who stole chemicals from the lab, and his body would tense, ever so slightly, until someone else seemed to take the blame. There was the way he’d finish a test in seconds, ignoring it to sketch in his own notebook, then not turning it in until everyone else already had. (He always got a C, exactly 75%, never anything else.)
He may not have seemed like an isle kid at first glance, too small and weak, but there were things that gave it away. The way he’d look around a room, check it for weak points and exits like the rest of them. And the way he could run, faster and more graceful than even herself, maybe even faster than Jay, fleeing from others on the rare occasions people picked on him. (No one really bugged him, it was too easy, and an easy target was boring.)
And his eyes were the same as the rest of them, even though with all logic they should be different. They should be softer, like the rest of him seemed to be. But instead they were hardened, some sort of fire always burning in them, even though he’d always avert his gaze when she looked at him. When anyone looked at him, really. (It was the same fire that burned in her eyes. And Jay’s and Evie’s and any other Isle kid who saw more horrors than should exist. But he never had, so why did the fire burn in him too?)
The more she thought about him, the more Mal realized she knew hardly anything about him. These little things she’d only begun to pick up now, but she had too look close for them, and never learned anything about him in the months after he arrived. He always fell into the background, was underfoot if you looked close enough, but no one really noticed him. They didn’t pay attention to him, or anything he did. (He could do whatever he wanted, really, he could be doing anything and no one would notice unless he was caught in the act. But there was nothing for him to be caught doing, right?)
The closer you looked, the more Carlos de Vil became a bundle of contradictions. Always swaying on his feet, looking seconds from keeling over, then able to run and escape danger like it was what he was born to do. Answering every question with the wrong answer, yet sketching complex machinery in the margins of his papers. Getting the shit kicked out of him on those rare occasions he got caught, and hiding it like a pro, rather than acting like the crybaby everyone thought him to be.
He was a pretty good actor. Or more accurately, liar.
But liars weren't hated on the Isle, they were celebrated. They were useful.
So, Mal put herself closer to him. She’d sit with him at lunch and in classes, Jay and Evie following with little more than a raised eyebrow for question, and approach him when she saw him out of school. He seemed suspicious at first, not quite as terrified as one would expect him to be. (He only looked scared at certain things. Loud noises and people grabbing him and the smell of smoke. It started to make sense, at least a little, why he was the way he was.)
Eventually, they just kinda fell into something like an arrangement, but different. He’d fix things for them, and grab stuff and do deliveries and that kind of bullshit, and they’d protect him in return. But the lines started to blur as he began going on raids with them and laughing with them at lunch, joining in their fun. When Evie started going with him to help with menial tasks, and Jay would steal stuff because he thought Carlos would like it, and Mal would go a little too far defending him from some idiots.
He slowly became part of their group, worming his way into their hearts with bright laughs and brilliant rambling.
He became one of them.
-=+=-
Jay’s relationship with Carlos was somewhere between bumpy, and the easiest thing in the world. Bumpy because the first time they met, he robbed the younger boy. Not that there was that much of an age difference between them, it just felt like there was.
But it was so easy too. Because Carlos had chased him down the street, following him to the roof of a building, demanding his pin back with something wild in his eyes. And Jay had laughed, because this kid was at least three inches shorter than him and skinnier than the needle of his pin.
He laughed, and he tossed back the pin, running off again with a small salute. It was hard to give a good reason why he gave it back, maybe the blond had just been too easy of a hit, maybe it had just been so ridiculous that he looked ready to fight Jay with his stick-thin arms.
The closest thing he could pin down to a real answer was Carlos’s eyes. They burned with the same fire as everyone’s on the Isle’s, but they were so much brighter, burned so much stronger, Jay felt like he’d give the kid anything he asked for.
He didn’t end up seeing Carlos again for weeks, not for a lack of trying, until he walked into school one day, ignoring the board in favor of his notebook. And it wasn't even until months after that when they finally got to talk again, Mal deciding one day to sit with him on a whim.
From there, it developed naturally. He became part of their crew, Carlos turned to C, he slowly became more comfortable with Jay’s physical affection like girls, and it was great. They were four kids, all barely into double digits, and they ruled their world.
-=+=-
Evie first met Carlos when they were both rather small. Their mothers were as close to friends one got on the Isle, and they seemed to want the same for their children. Or, at least, for their children to have “decent” company, still masquerading as the higher class they weren't.
She didn’t remember much about their time together, it was so long ago, but she remembered his bright smile, and how he could read even before her.
She was glad to have that back in her life, caught somewhere between pleasant nostalgia and feelings for Carlos and the others that wouldn't be understood for a few more years.
But, for right now, she was eleven years old and had three friends that wouldn't call themselves that because of their own stupid pride, and she loved them all, both in a way she understood and one she didn’t.
So, like any loving friend, she’d check on her friends from time to time. That was normal, right?
Because Carlos hadn't been in school that day, and no matter what she did, she couldn't quell the fear pooling in her stomach. So, stopping by his house to check on him was normal, right? It was kind and polite and princess-like, just as her mother instructed her to be.
Evie pursed her lips, walking up to Hell Hall, attempting to dispel the anxiety of her mother’s expectations as she knocked on the door. There came the noise of stomping and shouting from inside, loud and angry, distant in the large house. Evie’s eyebrows furrowed. She supposed that villains weren't all that hospitable, many made it clear they wanted no company from their fellow prisoners, but Cruella had always at least seemed to be polite and sociable.
Then again, Evie, Mal, and Jay had a number of suspicions about Cruella's true nature, and that was likely another part of her facade. Evie didn't want to believe that their suspicions were true, not because she cared for Cruella or her character in any way, but because the thought of anyone hurting any of her friends filled her with rage.
As Cruella grew closer her words became more clear, snapping Evie out of her musings, the implications of her words making Evie's stomach churn with anger. “Brat, if you have so much as a sniffle I’m locking- Oh.” Cruella cut off her own shrinking, opening the door with a slam, recognizing the girl previously behind it. Her whole body language shifted suddenly, going from hunched and angry to open and welcoming, her scowl melting into a forced smile.
“Evie, how lovely to see you, dear. Is there anything I can help you with?” Cruella tidied her hair as she spoke, seemingly embarrassed that Evie saw her outburst, yet trying to play it off casually. Evie resisted the urge to tilt her head and squint at the women, a habit she’d picked up by somehow combining Jay and Mal’s mannerisms. Instead, she smiled wider, blinking at Cruella with large eyes.
“Hello there Mrs. Cruella. I was looking for Carlos, is he around?” She asked, her voice as high and agreeable as she could manage. Cruella’s face soured slightly, scowling in distaste. Evie mentally filed that away, deciding to dwell on it later.
Cruella leaned against the doorway, lips puckered and arms crossed. “I’m afraid he won’t be home for a few days. He tends to disappear sometimes, god only knows what he’s doing.” Cruella studied Evie as she spoke, expressing something like a mixture of disgust and apathy, as if the fact Evie was once again interacting with Carlos was a personal offense. Evie’s smile twitched, partly from discomfort, but mostly from worry. On the other occasions Carlos had ‘disappeared’ he’d been with her and the others.
“Oh, well that’s unfortunate. I’ll be seeing you around then, miss.” Evie said, effectively cutting their interaction short. Cruella narrowed her eyes suspiciously but didn't question Evie, simply nodding and disappearing inside.
Evie walked back down the path, turning back towards town when she reached the road, rather than to her home. She knew how to spot a liar, and while Cruella may not have been outright lying, she’d been hiding something, which did nothing to ease the fear festering in Evie's chest.
She pulled out her phone/communicator/radio thing, (C had fashioned one out of spare parts for each of them), sending a quick message to Mal and Jay that Carlos was still MIA, and to be on the lookout for him. Both of the other two had been obviously worried too, and the fact that they were all getting the same bad feeling made Evie glad they ditched school to look for him.
Evie held herself, shivering in the winter air. She glanced around as she walked, trying to spot familiar black and white hair on her way back to their hideout. Her thoughts drifted back to Cruella, and her growing distaste for the woman. Suppressed rage coiled in her stomach, burning her from the inside out.
The rage she felt towards Cruella was more specific then what she'd felt towards, say, Harry or Uma, or any of the other VKs they got in fights with on a semiregular basis, basically anyone else who could hurt her friends. This rage was tinged with hopelessness, because she knew there was nothing she could do to end her friend's pain. It was the same rage she felt towards Maleficent and Jafar, knowing that she, and truly none of the VKs, no matter how invincible Mal and Jay seemed, could do anything about the violent adults on the Isle. All she could do was patch her friends up, and protect them from the lesser threats that infested the Isle.
But even if she didn't want to belive their suspicions were true, or that the hurt any of her friends went to was painfully real, she wasn't an idiot, and wasn't going to live in denial. Especially if doing so would stop her from helping her friends if even a minuscule amount.
(Although Mal often argued she lived in denial, not of their parent's cruelty, but of her own. But how could Evie compare her mother to the others, who were violent and abusive? So what if her mom denied her food most nights, and she had to rely on the others to eat? So what if her mother did everything in her power to make her think herself ugly and worthless? Her oversensitivity was nothing in comparison to the horrors the others faced.)
So caught up in her own thoughts, Evie almost missed the subject of them sitting curled in an alleyway. She slipped past him, then did a double take, spinning around to face the shivering boy.
“Carlos!” She exclaimed, rushing up to the shorter boy. He sat curled against an ally wall, eyes glassy and face red. Evie ripped off her jacket, placing it around the boy’s shoulders. He was wearing the same clothes as the last time she saw him, minus the fur his mother would lend him as a coat.
“Evie…?” He mumbled, squinting at her.
“Yeah,” She breathed, eyes raking over him, looking for any injuries on top of his apparent illness. There was a large bruise on his face, something that made anger tug in her stomach, but besides that he seemed uninjured.
He squinted up at her. “What’re you doin here?”
“Looking for you, what else would we be doing when you disappear with no notice?” Evie huffed, using faux annoyance to hide her concern. Carlos’s eyes widened, confusion glinting under the sick haze.
“Why?”
Evie frowned, leaning in closer to put a hand to his forehead. “You must be really sick if you’re asking stupid questions like that.” She said decisively, standing and reaching down to pull Carlos up with her, noticing that his clothes were wet. It had rained last night, and if what she thought was true, she may have to commit a murder.
He immediately swayed on his feet, Evie wrapping an arm around his waist to steady him. Carlos was weird about physical contact, he never initiated it himself and it was hard to tell if he loved or hated it, so she tended to hold back on her instincts to touch and hold him like she did with the others.
But seeing how out of it he was she allowed herself to make an exception, reveling in the ability to hold him, even if it was for less than ideal reasons. She was a villain afterall, she was allowed to be selfish.
Carlos shivered in her hold, causing Evie’s frown to only grow. She took a moment to slide his arms into the sleeves of her jacket, ignoring the chill on her own skin as she zipped it closed. She pulled the hood up, tucking a few loose curls into it in an attempt to mask the identity of her sick friend. They may be young, but they already had plenty of enemies who would gladly take advantage of the situation to get back at any of them.
Evie started down the street, pulling Carlos along with her, head ducked in hopes to stay unnoticed.
“W’ere are we goin?” Carlos slurred, his head pressed against her shoulder. He was short enough that when Evie hunched he fit in perfectly to the crook of her neck.
“The hideout.” She said quietly, eyes shifting around as they walked. It was easy to assume Carlos was avoiding his home for a reason, presumably the bitch people referred to as his mother, so going to any of their homes was out of the question. Not only would their parents alert his, but the adults of the Isle were a lot crueler than their children. Even if the kids were rough and dangerous, they still... cared for one another.
Obviously they cared for their close friends, but Evie had to admit she had a soft spot for even Uma and her crew, and knew that all the Isle kids had at least some interest in seeing the others alive. The adults didn’t have friends at all, unlike their children who only pretended not to, and took pride in hurting anyone who wasn't their flesh and blood.
Or even their flesh and blood too, depending on the villain, Evie thought bitterly.
Carlos needed protection. Even if the other Isle kids didn’t want him dead, beating him up for fun or revenge wasn't out of the question. And the adult villains on the Isle would jump at the chance to hurt the defensless pre-teen. That is, if the freezing temperatures didn’t get to him first.
So, Evie half-dragged half-led Carlos to their gang’s base, forcing him to lay on the ratty couch when they entered. He was really out of it, like scarily out of it, mumbling things that made no sense the whole way. And, occasionally, a complex chemical formula, which was rather adorable.
After securing the exits, she rounded on the boy again, forcing him out of his wet and freezing clothes into some of the old ones Jay had stashed there for him. (He couldn't stash his own things, Cruella would notice, and be furious, so Jay’s hand-me-downs had to do.)
Once Carlos was settled on the couch, layered under every suitable piece of fabric in the building and shoes replaced with all the dry socks she could find, Evie took a second to breathe, organizing her thoughts.
Okay. Carlos was sick, like really sick. That put him in danger because he was vulnerable to the other people on the Isle, but even more so to the lack of medical resources. No one on the Isle was vaccinated, and medicine was rarer and more precious than jewels. Illnesses that would be fixed within minutes in Auradon took more lives than outright violence and murder.
The thought left a sour taste in Evie’s mouth, both in worry for her friend and anger at the “heroes” that left children to die. She forced the thoughts away, thinking about what could actually help.
She knew at least a small amount about home remedies for illnesses, and could maybe get Carlos’s most recent invention working to connect her to Auradon’s internet and research more. But to do that she’d actually need to go get the invention, and that meant leaving Carlos alone… although, she would probably need to leave to get supplies anyway, since their best option was to hunker down for the next few days. Maybe she could ask Jay to go get it…?
Evie almost slapped herself, realizing she’d completely forgotten to contact Mal and Jay, so caught up in caring for Carlos. She whipped out the communicator, calling Mal.
“We’ve got nothing on our end.” Came the almost immediate response. To an outsider, Mal’s words likely seemed emotionally detached, almost cruel, but Evie could hear the other girl’s worry under her misleading tone.
“Figures, since I found him.”
Mal exhaled into the phone, relieved. “Where?”
“In an ally, really sick.” Mal inhaled sharply, understanding just as well as Evie how dangerous being sick was on the Isle. “I need you guys to get some supplies and meet me here, at the hideout. We’re gonna be ditching school for a few more days.” Evie joked, though there was little humor in her voice.
“Text me a list, we’ll be there in an hour.” Mal ended the call abruptly, her voice again tight with worry. Evie sighed, not in any way frustrated with her friend, just worried herself.
Evie glanced behind her, noise from the couch catching her attention. Carlos had begun thrashing and whining in his sleep, seemingly caught in a nightmare.
Evie grimaced, reaching a hand out to smooth out the hair on the boy’s forehead. He calmed slightly at her touch, though not completely, still flinching at the phantoms in his mind. Caught somewhere between a smile and a frown, Evie gently lifted Carlos by his shoulders, slipping under him to sit on the couch and resting his head in her lap.
She hummed a soft tune, petting him in the only form of comfort she could give right now. He slowly stilled his movements, falling into a deeper sleep, the only sounds in the hideout being his ragged breathing and Evie’s lullaby.
-=+=-
Jay and Mal showed up long before the hour was finished, but left almost as quickly. They snuck in through one of the secret entrances, Jay narrowly missing the knife Evie had thrown at his head.
After brushing off her whispered lecture, they each took a moment to check over Carlos themself, uneasy until they saw him breathing with their own eyes.
Mal left soon after, gone to collect Carlos’s invention under Evie’s directions. Jay emptied his pockets onto the table, showing off the supplies he’d managed to scrounge up. Most of the things on Evie’s list were impossible to get, something Evie had known when she put it together, but he had managed to find half a box of crackers, some water, a bandanna, and some food for the three of them.
Evie tied the bandana around her mouth and nose, using it as protection from catching Carlos’s illness. Jay went on several other small supply runs, not wanting to become too conspicuous lugging around a huge haul. By the time Evie made him stop he’d collected a bunch more food, more water, two more bandanas for him and Mal, and a flask of whiskey that they could hopefully use to disinfect their hands and stop the spread of germs, like makeshift hand sanitizer.
Satisfied with what he’d brought, Evie switched places with Jay, going to help Mal transport the machine over. It took a while, the other girl insisting they take it apart and bring it over piece by piece to avoid suspicion.
By the time they were done it was night, which thankfully worked to their advantage. Under the cover of darkness they snuck into Evie’s tower, bringing back a bag stuffed with blankets to keep both Carlos and themselves warm in the December night.
The four stayed camped out in the hideout for the next few nights. They took shifts, one person protecting the others, one person taking care of Carlos, and one sleeping or working on something to try and help.
As time went on, Carlos just seemed to get worse and worse. His fever didn’t let up, during the day they kept him under only a few thin blankets, only giving him a full blanket at night out of fear of hypothermia. They'd place fabric scraps dipped in lukewarm water on his face and neck in attempts to give him some relief.
But nothing helped, and he only became sicker and more incoherent. At first he’d wake up occasionally, and seem at least aware of what was going on, even if he was overly confused and sluggish. But soon even those moments of coherency left, and he’d whimper and scream, caught in his night terrors, whispering things that made the other’s blood boil.
The only things that seemed to calm him were his friend's touch. There was always at least one of them holding him, oftentimes more. Evie would rub his ankle, sitting on the floor and working on his invention, while he sat curled to Jay’s chest as the older boy dozed, Mal’s hand stroking his hair as she kept guard.
The others never left his side. If they weren't sleeping, holding him, or keeping watch, they were either out gathering supplies, giving excuses to their parents, or working on his invention, tasks given to Jay, Mal, and Evie respectively.
But even as they worked, the three became more and more frantic. Carlos was barely getting better. He hadn't eaten anything besides the few crackers Evie had coaxed him to while he was still coherent, and dehydration was a big fear. They could at least get him to drink something, but it was disorienting and scary, seeing him glassy-eyed, not even able to hold the bottle to his lips.
-=+=-
“Fuck!” Evie shouted, throwing a screwdriver across the room, ignoring how it buried itself to the hilt in the wall as she hid her face in her hands. Jay tensed at her scream, shifting Carlos on his lap, Mal giving the three of them a quick glance before returning her gaze to the door.
“I fucking can't do it. I can't get this stupid thing working and I have no idea how to help. Even if there was some cure, there's no way we could get to it. Fuck. Fuck.” Evie breathed heavily, Mal and Jay’s silence pressing in on her.
“Switch with me.” Jay broke the silence, voice deadly calm.
“What?” Evie asked, turning to look up at him from where she was working on the floor.
He met her gaze, uncharacteristically serious, his eyes almost cold. “Switch, now.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, scowling. “Why?”
“I’m gonna go steal some meds.” Her eyes widened at his words. He looked away, not wanting to see the fear on her face.
“Jay, no.” She stood, grabbing his arm, careful of Carlos in his hold, whispering as to not wake him. “Frollo has a monopoly on all the medical shipments, if you managed to steal something, he’d send his goons to track you down and kill you. And there's no way we can afford his prices.”
“I won’t let them see me. Switch.” His eyes met hers again, less guarded than before, fire burning bright in them enough to knock her breath away.
“You can't.” Her voice cracked, but part of her wanted to let him go. She glanced down to Carlos, taking in his red face and labored breathing, then looked over to Mal, her eyes met with the other girl’s. The same fire was there, but it burned differently. Green, where Jay’s glinted red in his dark brown eyes. “Mal.” She pleaded weakly, needing the other to back her up, before she turned on even herself.
“E’s right, Jay.” Jay’s head snapped to the side, meeting Mal’s gaze with a glare. He’d thought she’d back him up, not join Evie. Didn’t they see this was their only option?
Mal frowned at him, eyes steady. “Frollo will figure it out, and he’ll have you killed. I think C’d be pretty pissed with you if you did that.” Jay clenched his fist, not looking away. Mal sighed.
“I'll still let you go”
“Mal!” Evie gasped, Jay’s face splitting into a grin instead. Mal held up a finger.
“After, I try something first.” Jay’s grin went crooked, slipping down his face as his eyebrows scrunched in confusion. Evie tilted her head in a way almost identical to him, through her eyes stared into Mal’s soul in a way only Evie could.
Mal sighed. “Remember when the barrier flickered, nine months ago.”
“Yeah…?” Jay raised an eyebrow at her.
“It didn’t just flicker, it broke, barley for a second, and then was up again.”
Jay nodded slowly, an old puzzle piece clicking into place.
“Those guys, with those machines, the ones from Aradon. They weren't checking us for any sort of undiscovered illness like they said, they were checking us for magic, to see who broke the barrier.” He snorted bitterly. “Makes sense, not like they'd ever care about us.” Evie bumped his leg with her knee, looking down at him. He shook his head, giving her a quick smile, before turning to address Mal again.
“Either way, I don’t get what that has to do with right now. They didn’t find anything, and it's not like anyone could generate any magic, all the magic users have magic blockers sewn into their skin.”
“All the adults, and the kids of any stupid enough to send a birth certificate to Aradon.” Evie said, looking at Mal, having pieced it together. “Mal….”
The other girl nodded, mouth quirked into an almost nervous smile. “I have just enough stored, maybe… maybe I can help him.”
Jay cleared his throat, almost self-conscious, placing his chin over Carlos’s head.
“That's incredible, but don’t you need a spell? Like one from a spellbook? Like the one your mother never takes off her person?”
Mal’s smile grew, becoming less genuine, fake in the way it did when she lied about a limp or bruises on her throat, as she pulled the book out of seemingly nowhere.
“Mom shouldn’t leave her glass unattended.” She was smiling, but her eyes were just tired. Evie took a heaving breath, averting her eyes.
Jay frowned at her, eyes hardening. The last time she left she’d said it was just to keep suspicion off them, but obviously she’d done something else. “And you say C’s gonna be mad at me for being a self-sacrificing idiot.” Mal shrugged, slipping the book into her jacket pocket.
“I only get punished for the things I do, not the things I don’t. It's fine, Jay.” It was a low dig, but a necessary one. Jay sent her a dirty look, looking rightfully pissed. It was true, her mom only... punished her when she did something really wrong, something that really pissed her off.
It wasn't like Jay, who’d get hit again and again, any time he didn’t bring back enough. He always argued she had it worse, coming to school with broken bones and injuries that took weeks to heal while he got bruises at the most, but she argued the opposite. She could count the time’s her mother hurt her on one hand, Jay had to deal with it practically every night.
Evie was never around for those conversations. They made her anxious and guilty, and she’d insist over and over again the Evil Queen never hurt her. Mal knew that was far from the truth, even if EQ had never put her hands on her daughter, the shit she said and did was enough.
And it wasn’t hard to guess at least something was going on with Carlos and Cruella, but they didn’t know the details. Just the way C acted in general, flinching at every little thing, was enough to guess, but the things he’d said these past few days in his delirious state had confirmed their theories.
Mal didn’t know if she could ever bring herself to kill anyone, but if she could, there were three people at the top of her list.
She walked around the couch, leaning closer to check on Carlos, when Jay's hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.
“When she finds out, come here. Call me.” There was no debating in his voice.
Mal nodded, trying to swallow around the thickness in her throat. He searched her eyes for a moment longer, worry broadcasted in his own, before releasing her, allowing her to look over Carlos, and pull out her mother’s spellbook.
As she flipped through it Evie moved behind her, wrapping her arms around Mal’s waist. She pressed her face into Mal’s shoulder, her chest to Mal’s back, face almost shrouded by purple hair.
Evie didn’t mention how Mal shook in her grasp, and Jay didn’t point out how her fingers stumbled as she flipped through the book, though he glared at a dent in the wall, his grip around Carlos tightening.
“This is it,” Mal breathed, eyes skimming the page. Evie tightened her hold for a second, before stepping away. Jay repositioned Carlos to be lying on his back, head now resting on Jay’s lap rather than his chest, no longer curled into the other’s embrace. Mal held a hand barely an inch over Carlo’s knees, slowly moving up and down his body as she spoke.
She spoke in a different language, almost melodic as she recited the spell. Neither Jay nor Evie knew much about Maleficent's magic, but this spell seemed distinctly different then what the witch would use normally. On the last word, Mal pushed down forcefully, jerking Carlos’s body though she never touched him. She stumbled backwards, caught by Evie.
“You okay?” The other girl asked softly, eyes shining with concern.
“Yeah,” Mal rubbed at her eyes, “Just a headache.” Evie nodded, though her hands didn’t leave.
“Did it work?” Mal asked, staring at Carlos from where they stood, too tired to move even a step forward to touch him.
“Yeah, he’s cooling down.” Jay smiled at her, first wide and relieved, then softer. “Switch?”
She nodded, allowing Evie to lead her to the couch and place her in a half-sitting half-lying position, Jay shifting Carlos to rest on her instead. He seemed marginally better, his skin no longer burning to the touch, even if it was still too warm for her liking. She laid a hand on his back, feeling his heartbeat and chest fill with air.
She fell asleep, Jay’s hand pushing back her hair, Evie’s leg pressed against her arm, her breathing syncing with the friend she’d saved.
-=+=-
A few hours later, Mal awoke, Carlos pushing off her chest and onto the other side of the couch with a muffled scream. She sat up almost immediately, looking around for danger. When she saw none, her gaze caught on him, speechless with relief.
His face was incredibly pale, and he still wheezed loudly with every breath, but he was awake, and his eyes held recognition rather than the glassy confusion that had held them these past few days.
“You’re awake!” Evie leaped up from her seat on the floor, pulling Carlos into a hug. The color returned to his face rather quickly. Mal snorted, trying to hide her excitement behind a smirk.
“Don’t scare us like that dude,” Jay grinned, wrapping an arm around Carlos's shoulder once Evie released him. “I don’t think the half a heart we have between us can stand it.” Evie giggled, only slightly hysterical.
“I… what?” Carlos blinked at them, confused.
“You've been sick for like four days, completely out of it with a fever.” Mal smacked his leg lightly.
He raised both eyebrows at her, blinking owlishly. “Ow?”
Mal huffed, crossing her arms and blowing hair out of her face, looking much closer to her eleven years of age.
“That's for scaring us by getting sick for half a week, and disappearing on Wednesday.” Her face became serious, shifting into a real frown. “Evie found you half-dead in an ally, you idiot, why didn’t you come to one of us?” Jay and Evie’s expressions were similar, angry and worried but also somewhat vulnerable.
Carlos looked between them, mouth opening once or twice like he was going to talk, then closing again.
He looked down to his lap, playing with the fraying sleeves of Jay's old clothes. He bit his lip, not speaking for a long moment, but the others waited for him, giving him time to speak on his own terms.
“I didn’t think you’d care.” He whispered it, soft, like it was his deepest shame. The other three stalled for a moment, surprised.
Jay reacted first, sighing and pulling the other boy into an awkward side hug, the couch between them. Carlos stiffened, but didn’t pull away like he normally would.
“Mal’s right, you’re an idiot.”
Evie joined in from the other side.
“Yeah, a huge idiot.”
Carlos blinked up at them, half a smile on his face. His gaze met Mal’s, then quickly shifted away. She rolled her eyes, reaching across to pull him away from their friends and into a hug.
“You joined our gang for your big brain, start acting like it.” He blinked at her, eyes wide and shocked, then finally softened, melting into her embrace.
“I didn’t realize I was a part of the group…” He whispered, just loud enough for others to hear.
“You go with us on raids, make all our tech, eat lunch with us, what the hell did you think you were?” Jay shook his head, smiling, and placed a hand on Carlos’s back. Evie’s hand joined, gently rubbing Carlos’s back.
“We’re friends, right?” She asked, voice soft. He nodded, the motion jerky and awkward, his face still pressed into Mal’s shoulder. They stayed like that for a while, just existing. Together.
“Get off before you make me sick.” Mal shoved Carlos gently, smiling softly. He returned it shyly, and sat up almost reluctantly, looking sheepish. “You probably don’t have to worry about that? I'm pretty sure I only got so sick from sleeping in the rain… not that the rain can make you sick, but I kinda was already, and it just made my immune system so weak…” he trailed off, looking embarrassed. Mal looked at him, waiting. Jay placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Why were you sleeping in the rain?”
Carlos shrugged, not hard enough to knock off Jay’s hand. He was looking down at his hands again. Evie took one gently.
“Mom always kicks me out if I’m sick. I had a bit of a cold, coughed in front of her one too many times.” He laughed humorlessly. “Not that I can blame her though, being sick here isn’t great.” His eyes were trained on his free hand in his lap, completely still.
“Does she do anything else?” Mal’s voice was filled with cold anger. Carlos shook his head, still not looking any of them in the eye.
“N-nothing bad. Maybe a light slap, o-or making me skip a few meals to keep my figure, but that's it.” It was easy to tell he was lying, but none of them called him on it.
Mal took his free hand, and he flinched slightly, then slowly looked up, meeting her eyes.
“We get it.” His eyes widened, but didn’t leave hers. “If we can help, or if she does some real bad shit, you come to us, okay? We look out for our own, and your one of us.” Carlos smiled, nodding at her.
“Promise.”