The Value of a Crew

Chapter Twelve

Mal sighed as she rested her head on the headrest as Lonnie drove the car back to Auradon. Ben had refused to leave her side, and neither had Jay for that matter. Carlos was sitting next to Lonnie in the front seat while Evie looked at Mal in concern.

Hey, it may have been a car but it was the car of a King. Made sense that it'd be a bit more roomy than a typical car would be.

"M?" Evie said softly. "You haven't said a word since we got in the car. Are...are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Mal said shortly. There was a small part of her that was upset that she'd left Ben's scooter on the Isle. That was such a nice scooter and she didn't want to have to ask for a new one.

That was if they were even still together. After all, Mal had given Ben back his ring when she left him the note.

What am I doing? Worrying about a scooter when Ben could have gotten hurt! Mal thought as she held back a sigh. If anyone had gotten hurt because of me...

Estelle whined softly and rested his heads on Mal's leg, looking up at his hooman in concern.

"I'm okay boy," Mal said softly, gently scratching Estelle behind the ears. "Looks like you're joining us in Auradon huh? It'll be nice to have you even though I was kinda banking on you keeping Hadie safe."

"He'll be safe in Auradon," Ben promised and Mal looked over at him. "What? I want to bring more kids over from the Isle anyway and he's your brother right? Makes sense I'd bring over my girlfriend's brother."

He's...he's talking like we never broke up, Mal thought as she continued to stare at Ben in shock. However, Ben's usage of the word 'brother' reminded Mal of something.

"Someone needs to explain to me what you were all thinking!" Mal growled as she looked at her friends. "Giving Uma the wand, even if it was a fake? Bringing Ben to the Isle?! Bringing Estelle around Harry and Uma, Jay? He had no idea what was going on! What if they hadn't cared who Estelle represented? What if they'd hurt him?!"

"Mal, even if they didn't care about that, they wouldn't have touched him," Jay said, and then sighed. He knew there was no reason to beat around the bush. "He's a symbol of the God of the Underworld. Not even the pirates are stupid enough to mess with your father."

Mal froze, not expecting those words to come from Jay's mouth. Only Evie knew about that and while Mal had come to the realization that Evie may have blabbed back on the Lost Revenge, there was still a small part of her that was in denial. Denial that Evie would have blabbed Mal's biggest secret.

"Wha...what did you say?" Mal asked after a minute. "I don't have a father Jay. You know that."

Jay couldn't help but give Mal a small smile. A smile that clearly told Mal that he could see through her facade. "Yes you do."

"I had to tell them M..." Evie said, her soft voice breaking through the last shreds of denial Mal had. "We...we needed a way to guarantee Uma would give you back."

"You didn't have to tell them anything E!" Mal snarled. "In fact, you didn't have to get Hades involved at all. You promised me you'd never tell! And not only did you tell Carlos, Jay, and Lonnie but you told Ben! What is it with the girls in my gang stabbing me in the back?"

Evie winced slightly as Mal flopped back against the seat. "One secret. You just had to keep one secret and you couldn't even do that! You know, maybe I shouldn't be surprised you barely listened to me at the dress fitting for Cotillion since you just do your own thing anyway."