Ben smiled as he leaned against the counter at Hook's fish shop. It was hard to believe how time had flown since that day his parents had told him his dad would be going to the Isle. Four years had flown in fact, if one wanted to be accurate.
"What are you smiling about, Benny?" Harry asked as he leaned against the counter, a teasing note to his voice so Ben would know it was all in jest.
"Just happy," Ben shrugged. It was the truth after all. He was happy. Happy his friendship with Mal had grown, happy that Uma and Harry had let him join the gang, happy that Jay still wanted to be allies even after finding out Ben was best friends with one of the sons of Aladdin, happy Abby got along well with Uma, Harry, Jay, and Mal ever since she started coming along on the six months on the Isle, and happy that the gang had grown significantly since that fateful day where Ben, Mal, Uma, and Harry had helped get Henry's mother to the hospital.
"I vote we pull Henry into the crew," Mal said; the then seven year old brushing a strand of purple hair out of her eyes. Uma and Harry had competed in a race to win one of Captain Hook's old ships that he'd put up for the grand prize; the goal being a place where they could have as their public hang out spot in the event the grown ups needed to locate them. Uma had won though Ben and Mal had a theory that Harry had thrown the race since there was also a wager between the pirate and the squidling.
Whoever won would be the captain to the other. And even though Ben could see that Harry wanted to be a captain like his sister Harriet was, there was also no one more protective of Uma than Harry. And a captain couldn't be the one protecting as much as they needed to be protected for the sake of the crew.
So the Lost Revenge had its captain, had its first mate. Now all it needed was its crew which was what they were deciding at that moment.
"He'd be a good fit," Harry nodded. "He's got enough loyalty, he showed that the day his mom had his sister, that's for sure and we'd want that. We'd be mad not to have it."
Uma nodded and added Henry's name to their list. "So far we've got Harriet, Sammy, CJ, Jade, Ryan, Caspian, Robert, Nick, Jake, Dustin, Peter, Rick, and now Henry."
"So that's...18 members," Ben said, counting the names. "Is there anyone else we want? Wait...Mal didn't you say Gil has sisters? Shouldn't we bring them in?"
Mal nodded and then sighed. "Yeah, he's got a few sisters. We can certainly make the offer, it's a question of if they take it."
"Why wouldn't they? It's a gang run by the niece and daughter of a God."
"Let's just say they've got some stubbornness," Uma said.
Ben shrugged. "Who doesn't on the Isle?"
"Okay true but...Piper...she doesn't like the idea of being seen getting a handout. Just in case Gaston decides to acknowledge her and her sisters," Uma said with a small sigh.
"Yeah well...the less said about Gaston the better," Ben muttered, his fingers brushing over the spot on his arm where the scar from the bullet graze remained. It was a permanent reminder of the day Gaston tried to shoot him.
"I second that," Mal said, a small growl to her voice.
"Surprised you'd be okay with Gaston's daughters in the gang then, Benny," Harry said.
Ben shrugged. "They're not Gaston. Everyone deserves to be safe, no matter who their parents are...and speaking of keeping people safe, Abby starts coming to the Isle next year. Can we include her in the gang/crew/whatever we call ourselves?"
"Of course! Why wouldn't we?"
"I mean...half of you haven't met her," Ben said with a small shrug.
"So? We're bringing in Harriet and I'm sure Henry'll bring his sister too," Harry said. "That's a clear sign that says siblings are welcome."
"Yes, but we've all met Harriet, Harry!"
"Hey, Mal's told us enough about Abby that it feels like we've met her," Uma said with a small chuckle, earning a chuckle from Ben and a smile from Mal.
Jay shook his head. "Okay then, who else for the crew? Do we have any lists for who's just under protection?"
"I don't think so," Ben said.
"Celia and Hadie," Uma said instantly. "And we're at least keeping an eye on DeVil."
"What about Gil?" Ben asked.
"Do we have to?!" Harry groaned, glancing his eyes upward to the sky.
Ben shrugged. "I mean...he helped Mal and me out that day with Gaston...if he hadn't tugged his arm when Mal pulled me down..."
"Yeah Harry, unless you're good with us owing a debt to Gil," Uma shrugged.
Harry sighed. "Fine..."
"He'll just be under protection like his sisters," Mal said. "You won't need to sit and eat near him. But we would prefer if you didn't try and kill him."
"Why?"
"Harry..." Uma sighed.
"He's a moron cap'n! He can't even lace up his boots!"
Ben shook his head. "Since when is being a 'moron' worth death? Besides, Gil's not a moron Harry. He's smart in other ways. He knew enough to pull Gaston so that the shot only grazed my arm and didn't kill me or Mal."
Harry pouted. "Even a moron can be right on occasion," he muttered.
Mal shook her head in amusement. "Looks like we've got us a crew," she said.
A splash brought Ben out of his thoughts and back into the present.
"What was that?"
"Probably just the crew messing around," Harry said though he too straightened up as if to investigate the noise. "The Lost Revenge isn't that far from here, maybe Ryan, Abby, Kristy, Lily, and the Runt went swimming?"
Ben nodded, relaxing slightly at the thought. Though it was November and he didn't see his little sister willingly jumping into frigid water especially with how protective their dad was with her. But Abby had inherited their mother's gentle nature and had quickly brought in Ryan's little sister into the crew's protection.
"Hold on Mal!"
"Wait...is that Uma's voice?" Harry asked, a frown forming as he made his way from behind the counter to see what was going on. "Benny, come on! Uma needs us!"
"But won't you get in trouble? Your dad gave you an order to stay!"
"Who cares? Uma and Mal are our captains!" Harry said and he made his way out of the fish shop but not before calling to Harriet to watch the counter for him; the eldest Hookling working in the back of the shop. Ben didn't hesitate to follow him; if Harry was going to get in trouble then so was he!
"Uma! What happened?" Ben heard Harry call; the taller boy already halfway to the two girls.
"Mal fell in!" Uma shouted and Ben immediately picked up the pace as he heard that. He knew Mal could swim some since she was getting lessons with Queen Ariel during her six months in Auradon but there was a difference between a calm pool and the wild Cove.
"Hold on!" Ben called as he saw Harry had already dove into the Cove. Without missing a beat, Ben jumped in after him. Two people were better than one when it came to helping Mal right?
"What are you doing Benny? Get out of here!" Mal exclaimed, though Ben could see a slight smile on her lips.
"Can't let you have all the fun," Ben said, a small teasing note to his voice as his hand gently gripped Estelle's collar. The Cerberus had been doing his best to keep Mal's head above water.
Ben turned and looked over at Harry. "Harry, get out of here!"
I've got Mal, you know what your father will do if he finds out you left the counter, Ben thought. I don't want you getting hurt Harry. You're my friend!
"Not on your life," Harry said as Jay came running up. "Mal's my captain, if she needs me I'm there Ben. If anything, you should get out of here. No reason you should get hurt because of this."
"Mal's my friend just as much as she's yours. If you're staying, I'm staying." Ben told him before looking over at Uma. "See anything that we could grab onto?"
Uma shook her head, looking around the docks.
"If it wasn't for the barrier, I could try to lift you out," Uma told them.
Mal raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that a bit advanced for you, Octo girl?"
"Well sorry we all don't get six months off the Isle to practice our powers, Dragon Breath," Uma shot back but there was obviously some teasing in the barbs the cousins threw at each other.
"Try to grab my hand you three," Jay said as he reached out for them, ignoring the banter. "Uma, go see if you can get anyone else to help out."
The underlying message was clear to all of them: go get either Lord Hades or former King Beast. Hades was preferable for four fifths of the group but no one was going to argue with an adult who was on their side.
Such a thing was rare for the Isle after all.
"Think Henry's helping us with that," Uma said as a blue flare shot up into the sky. "Remind me to thank DeVil for creating those, and remind me to make the rest of the crew get their ears cleaned. We're not that far from the ship, "
"Does Lord Hades know what the flares mean though?" Ben asked.
"He knows it means one of us is in trouble," Uma told him and sure enough, it didn't take five minutes before both Hades and Beast were running up to the docks. Well Beast was running. Hades was arriving as quickly as he could without drawing attention to himself—Beast running wouldn't cause anyone to bat an eye but the Lord of the Underworld?
Unless they made it look like Hades was running after Beast, someone would wonder what was up. And while the Isle knew about Hades and Persephone adopting Mal, Hades also figured a crowd wouldn't be the best thing even if he didn't know exactly what was happening.
"You do know it's November right Ben?" Beast asked as he leaned forward to help the kids out of the water.
"Mal fell in, we wanted to help her," Ben said as Beast pulled him out of the water. Without missing a beat, Beast wrapped his jacket around his son to keep him as warm as possible.
"Come on, let's get you all out of these wet things," Hades said. "Yes, even you Hook Jr."
"Um...okay Lord Hades," Harry said and Mal and Ben glanced at each other in worry. They knew Hook liked to 'discipline' Harry and they didn't Harry getting hurt because of this. But they also knew, there was no arguing with Hades when he put his mind to something...and neither of them wanted Harry to get sick either.
Even with a medical system now, it was still not a pleasant experience being sick. Ben seemed to enjoy it more than Mal, though Mal suspected the only reason Ben enjoyed it was because he had a reason to spend all day in his bed reading.
"Jay, let Harriet know where Harry's going," Uma whispered to the taller boy. "Maybe the crew can prevent Hook from finding out where Harry's gone."
"Aye," Jay nodded. "I'll be right back."
Jay slipped away from the group and both Mal and Uma let out a small sigh of relief. If Harriet knew where Harry was, then the crew could work to keep Harry safe and prevent any 'discipline' from Hook when Harry finally made his way home.
They made their way to the Underworld, and Beast brought Ben into his room while Hades took Mal to her's and the other kids got the attention of Persephone. Even Jay, who had managed to rejoin the group, was being plied with tea and warm beverages.
"Virgil, do you mind if Harry borrowed some of your clothes? With his height, I think he would be a bit too tall for Prince Ben's things," Beast heard Persephone ask before shutting the door.
"Alright Ben, does anything hurt?" Beast asked. "Are you warm enough? And be honest with me, because I won't hesitate to take you to the hospital if I think you could be at risk for hypothermia."
Ben shook his head. "I'll get changed dad, and then I'll be warm. Especially if I get to share Mal's blanket and Estelle joins us."
"Ah yes, that ridiculously warm, fuzzy blanket that you all brought with you the last time you came back from Auradon," Beast said with a fond smile. The blanket had been a gift from Belle, and yes Ben had one too. To quote Belle, there was nothing better than a fuzzy blanket and a good book.
Why do you think Ben and Beast's room had two walls of bookshelves?
"I think Mal would be up for sharing the blanket with you," Beast said. "But only if you get changed, Ben. Also...where's your sister?"
Ben nodded and quickly scrambled out of his wet things, which was a task easier said than done considering the amount of leather that had made its way into his wardrobe. "She's on the ship, dad. Don't worry, Henry and the rest of the crew will—."
"Ben!" Abby's voice echoed through the Underworld and it wasn't too long after that that his little sister was making her way into the room Ben shared with their father. Abby had also shared the room when she first started coming to the Isle but was later gifted a room of her own by Hades, who said that he had more rooms than he knew what to do with and it was better than having them be empty.
"Hey Abs," Ben smiled at his little sister. "I'm okay. I promise."
"What about Mal?" Abby asked, her glasses askew as if she'd run with them on. And knowing Abby, she probably had. "Henry said she was in the Cove!"
"Henry doesn't usually talk about crew stuff with under fifteens—."
"You're not that much older Ben-Ben, and I read in the crow's nest! Now answer the question!"
Ben shook his head but smiled as he heard the nickname his sister liked to use for him. Her reasoning had been since Chip and Mal both had nicknames for Ben, that it was only fair that she got to have one too. "Mal's fine. She wouldn't be Mal if she wasn't."
"Good," Abby smiled.
It was Beast's turn to shake his head. "And why am I not surprised you were reading when you found out Mal had fallen into the Cove, Abigail? Good book?"
Abby shrugged and set the book she had been holding on Ben's bedside table. "Not bad, can't complain."
"Good," Beast smiled before gently taking his daughter's glasses off her face. The last thing he wanted was for them to break. The optometrist on the Isle was backed up with trying to take care of the VKs and the last thing Beast wanted was to make it seem like they were taking a spot from someone who needed it more.
Unless that spot was Leah's. Yes, it amazed even Beast that Leah was alive still but she avoided him and he her. That didn't mean Beast wasn't petty enough to scoop up an optometrist appointment from her if his daughter needed it but it was better if they avoided the need all together.
"Uh dad? Kinda still need to be able to see," Abby said.
"Unless this is your way of saying you and mom are letting her get contacts?" Ben asked and Abby perked up. She didn't hate her glasses per se but she was quickly growing familiar with the ideas of the Isle; the most important one being not showing weakness.
Beast shook his head. "Not until you're eight, remember Abby? That's what your eye doctor said."
"Then why'd you take my glasses?"
"Because you know the way to Mal's room by heart that you could walk there blindfolded and I figured you'd want to go check on her," Beast said and Abby lit up. Before the former King could stop his daughter, she ran off.
"Should we make sure she doesn't run into a wall?" Ben asked. "She did that at mom's."
"Was Chip involved?"
"Of course!" Ben chuckled before making his way to Mal's room as well. Almost all of his friends were curled up into the bed, Abby having somehow wedged herself between Jay and Mal.
"Come on Benny," Mal chuckled and patted the bed. "Just enough space for you."
"Where's Harry?" Ben asked as he hopped onto the bed.
Hades shook his head. "Stubborn pirate had to leave, said he needed to get back to his father's shop."
Ben frowned and leaned over to Mal. "We'll check on him tomorrow?"
"Of course," Mal whispered back. "You don't turn your back on your allies."
Or your friends, Ben thought. Be safe Harry. I wish you liked Gil, you could have stayed the night with him and his sisters. Hopefully your dad isn't too mad that you abandoned your counter shift.
But Ben knew what Harry would say if he could hear his thoughts. If it came to a choice between the counter and Mal, Mal would win every time. And even though Ben didn't want his friend to be hurt, he couldn't argue with that logic.