You changed me

Childhood Trauma

"So you have a brother?" Jay asked, his gaze darting into alleyways, "I thought it was only the two sisters."

"Jay, can we not talk about this right now?" Xavier asked, shooting him a look, "We're trying to find Aziz."

"What was his name?" Jay asked him, ignoring his boyfriend, "I might know him."

"Jay please," Xavier sighed, "When we find Aziz, then I'll answer your questions."

"You're going to forget about it," Jay said, "Or I will, and you won't talk about it ever again."

Xavier let out a frustrated sigh, weaving out of the way in order to avoid running into someone. He shouldn't have brought it up, now Jay wasn't going to leave him alone.

'What if Jay did know him?' He thought, glancing back at his boyfriend.

He grew up on the Isle, so it wasn't entirely off the table.

"If I tell you something about my childhood, will you tell me about yours?" Jay asked, when the silence stretched for too long.

"Aren't we supposed to be looking for Aziz?" Xavier asked, trying to change the topic, "Maybe he's over there."

"My dad took in a kid when I was really little," Jay said, glancing back at Xavier to read his expression. Xavier guessed that there wasn't anything angry behind his glare, so Jay continued, "I was like 5? Maybe? He was older than I was by a few years. I never really figured out how many, maybe 2 or 3?."

"Jafar took in a street kid?" Xavier asked, now a little intrigued, "Out of the kindness of his heart?"

"I was too young to steal properly at the time," Jay said, rolling his eyes, "And lord knows my dad didn't want to stoop to that level himself."

"Ah, that makes more sense," Xavier said, glancing up at him, "Well, go on."

"My dad-... Jafar didn't really want us to view each other as siblings," Jay told him, "He hated it whenever I was around him, especially when I was younger. He always hated him so much, I never understood why."

"Well, I don't know if you've noticed, Jafar doesn't have many people he doesn't hate," Xavier said, pausing by a darker alley.

"Yeah, he didn't like me much either," Jay said with a shrug, "But at least I wasn't treated as badly as he was.  You wanna go through here?"

"Is it safe?" Xavier asked.

"Nowhere on the Isle is safe, Xavier," Jay said, a slight scoff in his voice, "Do you think Aziz could be there?"

"I don't know," Xavier said, "It's worth a shot though, right?"

Jay nodded, taking his hand and gently pulling him into the alley and away from the people in the street. Xavier followed close behind, keeping as close to Jay as he could. He eyed Jay for a moment, thinking of what Jay told him. 

Sure, he didn't really agree to tell Jay things about his family, but Jay did start it.

"My brother never really got along with my dad," Xavier said quietly, keeping his gaze locked on an area of Jay's shoulder, "My dad was always travelling, and he'd bring my brother with him everywhere."

"What about your siblings?" Jay asked, glancing back at him, "And you?"

"He always left us our mom," He told him, finding himself smiling softly at the memory of her, "We never really minded all that much, momma was wonderful and dad never stayed away for long."

"How'd your brother get sent here?" Jay asked him, "You guys seemed to be happy."

"My brother... his magic wasn't as..." Xavier trailed off trying to find the right word for it, "Stable, as the rest of ours."

"It wasn't stable?"

"Magic is tied to emotion in a way, doesn't matter what kind. My brother's was just so heightened, and any strong emotion could cause it to lash out."

"So they sent him to the Isle?" Jay asked, skeptically.

"No," Xavier snapped,  "That was our last resort."

"What did he do?"

"Him and my dad got in a really bad fight one night. I can't remember what it was about, but he got mad and lashed out."

"What, did your dad get hurt or something?" Jay asked, pausing his movements, "That's a pretty intense reaction."

"Jay, he killed my mom," Xavier snapped, "He deserves to be here."

Jay stared at him for a moment, his eyes wide as he looked at him. Jay wasn't sure if he'd ever heard something like that leave his boyfriends mouth. There was a harshness that was so unlike him. So unsettling.

The two stared at each other for a moment before Xavier shook his head, continuing down the alley way. 

"Let's just find Aziz and go," Xavier said, his tone short.

Jay followed him and the pair remained quiet for a few long moments. There was a tension in the air that seemed to prevent either of them from saying anything.

"Can't you sense him?" Jay asked eventually, moving away from the topic of his brother, "Aziz I mean. You were able to do it in Agrabah."

"No, I was able to tell your dad's magic," Xavier corrected, taking a breath before speaking, "That's how I was able to tell it was a sand clone. It wasn't specifically because it was Aziz he was trying to fool me with."

His tone was still a little short, but it was better than him snapping back.

"You found the cave he was in," Jay said, nudging him, "That was pretty damn impressive."

"I did that by using your dad's magic against him," Xavier said, "Where do you think he is?"

"If I had to guess?" Jay said, tilting his head, "He's been having dreams of Harry Hook."

"Do you think he might have gone looking for him?" Xavier asked, before letting out a sigh, "He would do something dumb like that."

"Did he look off to you?" Jay asked, "He was really quiet."

"He said he heard something," Xavier said, "Do you think that has anything to do with it?"

"I wouldn't doubt it," He sighed. 

Xavier heard it before he actually saw anything. There were footsteps running towards them, and he felt someone run into him, knocking both him and the stranger over. The man swore, scrambling off of him as Jay dragged Xavier back to his feet and behind him.

"Hey, watch it," Jay snapped, eyeing the stranger for a moment.

Xavier looked over at the man, and despite the darkness of the alley, he was able to pick out his appearance. To his surprise, before Xavier could react, Jay spoke first.

"Ghuath?"