Trigger Warnings; kidnapping, swearing, child abuse, destruction of property, emotional abuse, physical abuse, bad childhoods, trauma, child neglect, etc.

Let me know if I should add to the list of trigger warnings.

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Ursula sat alone in a dark corner booth of 'Ursula's fish & Chips'-her alternate self's vile restaurant-scowling in disgust as she scanned its interior. Sure, the decorating wasn't too bad but its patrons and the stench were just down right awful.

The patrons were almost all drunk and swearing like there was no tomorrow.

Some were spitting on the ground or throwing their trash on it, laughing as the child workers scurried to clean it up.

Others were gambling, fighting, bad mouthing people, getting frisky, or loudly telling other patrons of their sexual exploits-all in front of the workers, who, again, were primarily children . And not a soul was doing anything about it.

That simple fact-along with the stench of body odor and rotting food-made her feel sick to her stomach.

Her alternate self's business was a pigsty and she wasn't doing a damn thing about it-hell, she wasn't even running the restaurant: children were. Children who couldn't be more than 13 were running the restaurant-all by themselves. And no one but her seemed to care. What kind of horrible place was this?

It was surprisingly not hard to spot her daughter amongst the sea of child workers & adult patrons, because she was behind the counter-standing on a stool & spitting out orders at the other workers. And surprisingly, the other workers-even the 2 adults who were working-were following them without question, despite the girl's small stature.

There was no doubt in Ursula's mind that that girl was her and Jack's daughter- their little Uma.

She looked exactly like her minus the teal hair and was even dressed like her father-even wearing one of those stupid pirate hats that didn't quite fit.. it looked very adorable-even with that little scowl she was wearing. What wasn't cute, however, was that sad, hopeless look in her eye and the fact that it was mirrored in every other child's eyes.

And the fact that they were being forced to run her 'mother's' restaurant-yeah, she wasn't letting that one go anytime soon. And she definitely wasn't gonna let her alternate self get away with it when she got her hands on her...

But first, she had to handle getting the kids to listen to-

"Ma'am, what would you like to order?" A small, accented voice asked from beside her, causing her to jump slightly as she hadn't been expecting it.

Her head spun towards the source of the sound and found 2 small children-one of which was clearly one of Hook's brats.

He looked like a mini clone of him and Snow white-same dark hair, same eyes, and same pale skin as Hook with a small, ovalish-shaped head. He had a handheld hook attached to his belt and he was wearing dirty, baggy, torn clothes just like the rest of the kids. But, unlike the other kids, he was wearing an oversized pirate hat that didn't quite fit- just like her daughter.

The 2nd child was small and blonde like the bimbettes in her realm, but had a bit of muscle on him and would be about the same age as one of Gaston and Laurette's boys-he could be one of the stolen children as well. Both were waiting-a bit impatiently now-for her to answer the first boy.

"Actually, I was hoping to talk to you & whoever's in charge here" the boys-Harry and Gil, if this world's Hook and Gaston hadn't changed their names-both paled and nodded, looking at her warily.

"That can be arranged."

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Ursula wasn't the only one unhappy with what she had found.

The other parents who were on the isle were all finding their children in worse states than they had lost them in and they were all more than a little pissed about it.

William Smee found two of his 3 sons- the youngest two actually -starving in their room, looking thin as twigs.

One wouldn't stop squirming and the other wouldn't stop squeaking, and both were absolutely petrified of him. So much so that neither of them spoke a word to him-even when spoken to. Even when he picked them up; instead, they just shook like leaves in the cold Autumn wind. And the pain it caused him was indescribable.

But that wasn't even the worst part.

No, the worst part was the fact that no one- absolutely no one -even noticed his presence or the fact that he was taking them.

No one gave a fuck.

Not even his alternate self-they were all too drunk to care.

At least that's what he told himself, because it was easier than just thinking of the possibility that that was how they always acted towards his children. Easier to assume than to think about all the damage they had probably caused his children and their own. Why would anyone have a kid -let alone steal one- if they weren't gonna love and take care of them?

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Killian and Emma had found their daughters-and their crews-in a similar manner and condition.

Calista had been in a rowboat with 3 girls & 2 boys, dangling over the edge of it-trying to feed a small hoard of baby crocodiles.

Needless to say, Killian nearly had a heart attack as he quickly plucked up the group of protesting, confused (small) children. Which caused two teenage boys to quickly run over and try to fight him for trying to kidnap their cousins-his daughter's friends. All while his daughter kept trying to feed the crocodiles from his arms-paying no attention to his explanation or the fighting.

And he had thought that Henry, Alice, and Hope were gonna give him gray hairs.

He just knew that this batch of children were gonna be the death of him-that is, if the Charmings (including Emma), Liam 2, and the last batch didn't kill him first.

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Emma's encounter with their oldest lost child was much less heart stopping and thrilling.

After splitting off from Killian and the other parents, she subtly scaled the isle for about 2 hours-spying and eavesdropping on the inhabitants desperate for any sign of any of her children. And eventually, she got one in the form of a conversation between a trio of angry children.

"God, I hate Hook" a boy with horns and red eyes said fuming; he looked like a corpse, not that Emma would ever say that out loud. "Her and her whole stupid, thieving crew."

The only girl of the group-who had wings, bright white eyes, and horns-groaned, throwing back her head "Gods, tell me about it! They think they're so great but they aren't! They're weak-have you seen the way they share their goods with brats of the isle? We should storm their ship and take what is rightfully ours! "

The last member of the trio rolled his eyes-he had wolf like features-and elbowed her in the side. "Keep your voice down before someone overhears and thinks we're serious. That is an awful idea!"

"How so?" The girl asked, sounding cranky.

"We know their ship is by the Jolly Roger and Hook's inlet, we could easily storm it and take them by surprise!"

The first boy decided to add in his own 2 cents before the 2nd could even respond. "As much as I hate to say it, Queenie, I agree with Wolfrick. There's like 22 of them and only 3 of us."

The girl-Queenie-sputtered "the brats don't count! " the 3rd boy cut in. "There are only 3 brats in the group, that still leaves us out numbered by like, 16 like people."

The last thing Emma heard as she headed towards the docks was the girl's response of "Shut up Kingsley."

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The ship by the Jolly Roger and Hook's inlet was a breath of fresh air compared to the other buildings and ships Emma had seen so far.

It was actually in pretty good shape and everything- including the sails -were practically sparkling clean and everything was where it was supposed to be.

It was amazing that while the adults of the isle couldn't keep it clean and spiffy, that a bunch of kids- teenagers really -manage to do so with a ship of all things.

Emma really shouldn't have been surprised considering that one of the kids was Killian's daughter, but she was. Seriously, it was as if being tidy and drawn to the sea was in their DNA.

On board, she found her daughter-who looked exactly like her father-playing cards with a group of other kids, who didn't notice her at first.

She watched them for a few minutes, stunned by how childlike and carefree they seemed despite growing up in such a terrible place like this and briefly wondered if she had any traces of that left by the time she was their age.

She almost didn't want to ruin it-almost turned around and left, leaving them to be together in this horrible place. All because they seemed so happy together but she didn't in the end-unable to willingly abandon her daughter and her daughter's friends to a place like this.

The savior took a step forward, causing the floorboards to groan and creak-which immediately had the kids' heads spinning towards her.

They all scrambled for their weapons the moment they saw her, a whirlwind of emotions prevalent in their eyes.

Anger.

Fear.

Confusion.

Resentment.

All of which Emma remembered having in her own eyes years and years ago-all of the things she swore would never haunt her children on her watch. And it just broke her heart.

"Uh hi, I'm Emma. And I'm here to rescue you from this place." It probably wasn't the best thing to say but she didn't care.

She wanted them to know she meant them no harm and that she was taking all of them-something that the others might not agree with, but couldn't stop.

She was meant with confusion, disbelief, hesitance, and anger, along with several other emotions-and they were still trying to reach their weapons. The weapons she had used her magic to block them from.

Which only made them angrier.

Emma internally sighed and resigned herself to the very, very long road (and day) she just knew this was gonna lead to, wondering how everyone else was fairing.

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The answer to that question varied depending on the pairing, but everyone, absolutely everyone's heart was currently breaking because of the state they were finding their children in.

Jafar found himself in front of a Shop that looked like it had been pulled straight out of Agrabah and dropped here, before getting ransacked.

The sign of the shop was tilted dangerously and read 'Jafar's Junk shop', leaving Jafar with the correct impression that he'd find his stolen son inside.

And find him, he did; curled up and sleeping under a tv stand with a battered face and bruised, welt covered hands.

It just broke his heart and he knew that if Amara was here and not in Wonderland visiting her sons, she'd be heart broken too.

The fact that a girl with his long dead twin sister's face was there and in the same horrible, malnourished state as his son-curled around him and a fish bowl that seemed to contain two sickly looking eels-didn't help his heart break in the slightest.

How his alternate self could do this and live with himself, he'd never know or understand-he didn't want to.

Jafar didn't want to know or understand how this level of evil could exist.

He just wanted to get both the kids and get the hell out of there-out of this accursed shop and away from this terrible place.

So that's just what he did-by simply picking up the kids and poofing away. He knew there would probably be consequences for this-most likely in the form of scared, reluctant, confused children-but couldn't find it within himself to care.

He needed to get them out of there and he needed to do it now , consequences be damned.

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Maleficent and Hades ended up splitting up since they figured they'd find their stolen daughter faster that way.

Hades went to where he felt the most godly energy and Maleficent went to where the other Maleficent obviously lived.

Maleficent thought that nobody was home when she entered the decrepit home since no one yelled or swore at her when she picked the lock.

She nearly left-she would have if the sound of soft sniffles hadn't reached her ears.

The dragon sorceress ended up letting her ears guide her towards the source of the sound and when she found it, her heart broke. That soft sniffling sound?

It had come from her very small, very pale, and very distraught daughter who was curled up on a ratty mattress on the floor-hugging an even rattier pillow and sobbing.

And to make matters worse, she had a large bruise on her face that was only a few hours old that was shaped like a hand.

Luckily, it was simple enough for Maleficent to convince her long lost daughter to come with her, even if the 10 year old had been a bit scared of her at first.

All she had, had to say was that she was there to take her away from the isle and the purple headed fae eagerly packed the few measly things she had grown attached to during her time on the isle. Most of it was ratty and clearly came from the trash, but Maleficent wasn't about to take it from her.

Not when the poor thing didn't know she had a series of better things at home.

She could ease the young girl off of the measly things when they got home and away from here.

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Meanwhile, Hades was in his alternate self's lair, silently fuming at what he was seeing.

A few feet away from him, his alternate self was sleeping on a ratty couch- wearing sunglasses! -while the looped sound of barking played on a record player, drowning out the cries of a small blue haired infant.

An infant that's crib was on fire with blue flames.

His alternate self was ignoring a defenseless little godling's cries and the smoke that was filling the room out of pure laziness. It was disgusting and infuriating.

This.. this bastard had likely stolen his daughter - depriving him and his wife of a relationship with her -only to ignore his own child and likely her as well?! What kind of sorry excuse for a man ignored and neglected their children? One of which they had stolen ?

Hades didn't even have to think about his next course of action-there was nothing to question or think about.

He was taking this baby with him, whether anyone else liked it or not, because it was his child and his daughter's sibling in a way and he refused to let it suffer like this.

So he walked over to the flaming crib and plucked up the child-not caring about how heinous and hypocritical the action was-and simply and swiftly exited the lair.

The fact that his other self didn't even stir only reinforced the idea that he was doing the right thing.

He silently promised the small, pitiful infant that he'd be a better parent than his poor excuse for a counterpart ever could be. While also silently promising that he'd make his counterpart pay for every transgression he had made against his family.

He knew he'd have to wait until everything was settled to get his revenge, but he swore that he and his wife would get it soon.

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Gaston and Laurette's discovery and reclaiming of their boys went a lot quicker and smoother than anyone would expect.

They didn't even get past the 'Hey do you want to leave the isle-' part , before the twins were grabbing their and Gil's stuff and following them out. It honestly should have been concerning how quickly they agreed to leaving with them, but it wasn't.

Not after the LeGumes had already seen and heard how bad the isle was. Not after hearing all the screaming and pleading, fearful children once they had first stepped foot on the isle.

They understood that the isle was awful and that no one would want to be stuck there, so the fact that the children agreed so quickly didn't concern or surprise them. Not yet, anyway-there would be plenty of time for them to be concerned later.

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Tisbe and Clorinda's run-in with and retrieval of Anthony and Dorothea (now known as Dizzy) went a whole lot less smoothly.

Mainly because Anthony didn't trust them at all and tried to shut the door on them multiple times. In fact, if Dizzy hadn't been there, they probably wouldn't have gotten through the front door at all .

Dizzy had been the one to let them in and to plead with Anthony to hear them out. 3 hours of arguing with the stubborn 13 year old later, he finally relented and agreed to go with them-solely because they agreed to take his living siblings and cousins with them as well if he agreed to go with them.

Sure, it was probably a dirty tactic to use but at this point the two sisters were desperate to get their kids back and if they had to bring extra kids back, then it had to be done. Besides, they weren't exactly willing to leave the alternate Tremaine kids behind in this world anyway... who cared if the others would probably bitch at them for taking extra kids back home?

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Audrey sat on the floor of her closet, hugging her knees-trying to block out the sound of her VERY ANGRY Grandmother's screams.

She was trying to hide from her & the punishment that awaited her-knowing that it was gonna be bad.

She knew that she shouldn't have talked back to her grandmother, but she didn't know what else to do: Leah was gonna take her baby blanket and stuffed bunny away from her so she'd have no childish attachments left, and Audrey just couldn't let that happen.

So she talked back and she yelled, before running off with the attachments in question and hid.

"AUDREA FAE ROSE, GET YOUR BEHIND OUT HERE NOW! SO HELP ME GOD, IF I HAVE TO FIND YOU MYSELF, YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO SIT OR LAY DOWN UNTIL YOUR THIRTY!"

The little girl whimpered, knowing that she was so dead. Her grip tightened on her blanket and her bunny as her eyes watered- she couldn't breath.

"YOU'RE MUCH TOO OLD FOR THESE CHILDISH ANTICS AND ATTACHMENTS!" Leah's voice sounded off furiously from nearby; She was close- very close -to finding her.

"Grammy, please-" Ariana pleaded from a little further in the room. Sounding uncharacteristically scared.

"Ariana, remember your place," their grandmother warned in a low voice that was just loud enough for just barely hear.

The 12 year old went quiet-clearly just as scared, if not more so, than Audrey herself was. And with good reason-Ariana was clearly the least favorite between the two of them and it wouldn't be the first time she'd been punished because Leah couldn't find Audrey when she was mad at her.

The thought caused the 10 year old to swallow heavily, knowing that it was time to throw in the towel and face the music-if she waited any longer, her grandmother would make good on her threats. To her and Ariana, who hadn't done anything wrong.

Audrey made a move to get up-only to freeze as a loud bang rang through the air. And whatever it was, it caused Ariana to let out a terrified scream.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"

"WE'RE THE PARENTS OF THE LITTLE GIRL YOU KIDNAPPED 10 YEARS AGO, YOU EVIL BITCH!"

"Grammy? What are they talking about?"

"What did I say Ariana?!"

"But-"

"REMEMBER YOUR PLACE! AND YOU TWO ! GET OUT OF MY HOME BEFORE I CALL FAIRY GODMOTHER AND TELL HER YOU'RE TRYING TO STEAL MY AUDREY-"

Audrey gasped quietly, realizing what the argument must have meant.

Audrey gasped quietly, realizing what the argument must have meant.

She wasn't the top of her class for nothing, so it was no surprise that she was able to figure everything out so quickly from just a couple of sentences.

The voices went silent and she felt her stomach drop, knowing that she had just given her position away.

She backed away from the door as footsteps headed her way, causing her to stumble and fall back-hitting her head on the wall.

A high pitched yelp escaped her and she squeezed her eyes shut, knowing that this was it-her (not?) Grandmother had found her and was gonna make good on her threats again, and no one could stop her.

The door opened slowly and a soft hand gently palmed at her injured head, causing her to furrow her burrows in confusion. No one had ever been this gentle with her before-not even the staff of the palace, her fairy godmothers, Ariana, or the school nurse.

"Hey sweetheart, can you open your eyes up for me?" The unfamiliar (male) voice asked her a tone softer than any Audrey had ever heard before; she couldn't help but oblige him.

The owner of the voice was a tall, tannish man with brown hair and eyes like hers.

"That's good, just like that. Can you talk?" She nodded, slightly insulted that he thought she couldn't as he continued on, "okay. Good. Good. Can you tell me how your head feels?"

Audrey thought about lying-her grandmother didn't like it when she complained-but again, the softness of his tone as well as his previous words against her grandmother stopped her.

If what he said was true, her grandmother wasn't really her grandmother (which would explain why she never saw her parents. Was Ariana stolen too? Was that why her parents were never around either?)-and it must have been, because her grandmother hadn't denied it-her opinion didn't matter.

Which meant that she no longer had to be loyal or obedient to her any longer; she decided to tell the truth and allow herself to cry openly.

"It's kinda sore."

'Kinda' didn't even begin to cover it. Her head was throbbing and it hurt really bad-and she couldn't help but sniffle.

"Shhhh... it's okay. My wife and I are gonna help you pack your things, and then we'll take you to get it fixed, is that okay with you?"

An hour ago, Audrey would have blanched at the mere idea of going anywhere with a stranger but now? After everything she had heard? It seemed like a pretty good idea-especially if it meant she was gonna be taken away from Leah.

She nodded meekly and the man smiled at her as he took her hand in his and led her out of the closet.

A red headed woman stood in her room, near Fairy Godmother who must have appeared before her (father?) opened the door and magically restrained Leah.

Leah glared darkly at them, ranting through her gag-which thankfully muffled everything she was trying to say before she could traumatize Audrey any further.

Audrey glanced at her over her newfound parents' shoulder & blew a kiss at her with a little smirk on her face, mouthing 'bye-bye' as she did so.

No one other than Leah noticed this and she screamed in frustration, especially when her screams went ignored by everyone.

Audrey gave her one last sarcastic little wave as she carried out of the room, smiling smugly; she knew her life was about to get a lot better than it was before and she just couldn't help but be smug about it. Especially since she knew that the woman who had robbed her of a childhood thus far was going to pay for it dearly...

Though she couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen to Ariana...

And, it seems, her mother couldn't either.

"Philip" her mother-Aurora, maybe, (Her real dad had her fake dad's name. So maybe her real mom had her fake mom's name too?) said, slowly as she glanced back at where Ariana stood. "You go ahead. I'm going to go talk to that girl. See if she has anyone before we leave. Just in case she doesn't."

Her father simply nodded at her. "I'll meet you outside."

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Aurora slowly crouched down in front of the little girl who had called her daughter's kidnapper 'grammy'.

The girl who didn't look that much different from her own daughter.

The girl who had been left alone with her as Fairy Godmother carted her grandmother- if she really was her grandmother -away. Never giving her a second glance as she did so.

It was quite sad, honestly, and Aurora couldn't help but feel bad for her and hate this world that seemed not to care for its children.

"Hi there. My name's Aurora. " She introduced, giving the child what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

"My aunt's name is Aurora. That's what Grammy said, anyway." The child commented, peering at her curiously. Before quickly averting her eyes. "I wouldn't know, though. It's not like I ever met her. Or my parents."

Aurora hid a frown and forced a smile. "Oh. Well, do you know how to contact them?"

The girl shrugged. "Not really. I don't even really know who they are. I've only seen them on tv and in pictures."

That wouldn't do.

Aurora stood up, brushing the dust off her dress. "Well. How about I help you find them....Miss?"

"Ariana."

"Right. And if we can't find them, then you can just come and live with me and my family. How does that sound?"

Ariana stared at her. Cautiously. "Is that where Audrey's going?"

"Yes, sweetheart."

"... I'd like that."

Aurora said nothing. Just smiling as she offered the girl her hand. Which Ariana gladly took.

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10 year old Evie sat alone in her room, crying over the dress and jacket her mother had destroyed-the ones she had been making for her only friends, her dolly, Jocelyn, and her parrot, Othello.

They had taken her weeks to design and make, and her mother had cut them both up like they were nothing. As if she hadn't put her heart and soul into making them-and then she just left, not even bothering to comfort her only child.

Evie hated it here.

She hated being stuck in the castle all day and not being able to go to real school.

She hated her mother and her twisted views of the world.

She hated the isle and how cruel and unlivable it was there.

She hated not being able to be herself and not being able to be an actual kid with friends.

Hated not being able to protect her parrot and their things.

But most of all, she hated Auradon.

Her life and the life of all the kids on the isle wasn't fair, and it was all Auradon's fault.

She was a child and a princess, for God's sakes and she didn't belong here.

None of the isle kids did.

They hadn't done anything-they hadn't even been born when their parents committed their crimes and it wasn't fair that they had to suffer with them.

It wasn't fair that Auradon was okay with them suffering here and Evie desperately wished that they could suffer for their sins as the isle kids' parents were. If she and the other isle kids had to suffer, then so should they.

Crash!

Crack!

Smash!

Bang!

Clang!

Evie jumped at the sound of shattering glass, clanging metal, and the loud thud that followed from further up the hall.

She hesitantly stood up and crept towards her door, still clutching what remained of Othello's ruined jacket and Jocelyn's tattered dress in her scarred hands as she did so.

She was nervous, scared, and a bit unsure of whether or not she should proceed- who wouldn't be? -but she was also curious.

What was that sound and what/who had caused it? Had her mother knocked something over again? Or was it an intruder coming to kill or steal from them?

Evie wasn't sure, but she took another step forward regardless.

Another loud bang rang out as she did so, followed by muffled cursing that was pitiful compared to isle standards.

That only peaked the bluenette's curiosity further, causing her to take another step forward, heart racing as she turned the knob.

Another loud bang rang out but from further away, causing the castle to shake-Evie pushed the door open and peeked around it to see what was going on. It was probably a bad idea since curiosity killed the cat but then again, satisfaction brought it back so perhaps she'd be fine.

She wasn't expecting to see a tall, middle aged man in strange clothing that she had never seen before laying sprawled out on the floor of the hall surrounded by broken glass and two knocked over suits of armor.

'Well, at least I know what that sound was' was the only thought Evie could muster at the moment as the man pushed himself up, still swearing.

He had fair skin, light facial hair, and short, light brown hair as well as gray eyes; he wore funny clothes and Evie couldn't but help but move forward to get a closer look at the man.

Any other child would have run away in fright but not Evie- no, never Evie. She was just too curious to run-even as her heart raced and her mind ran rampant with speculation.

She had a hundred questions on her mind & asked the most important one-well, the one that was most important to a 10 year old anyway.

"Are you a prince?" The man jumped, startled by her sudden appearance out of seemingly nowhere.

Evie wasn't fazed by the reaction-it was one she got often, after all-and patiently waited for an answer as the man quietly collected his bearings.

He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, clearly not sure what to make of her; Evie tried to make herself more appealing by standing up straight, and staring at him with a smile-forgetting that her makeup was running. She figured if she made herself look like a pretty, polite, obedient, perfect child the man would take her away from here and maybe adopt her-whether he was a prince or not.

She knew he didn't belong to the isle, which meant that he was probably gonna be able to leave-this was her shot to get out of here, once and for all. And she could not screw up.

This was not how Robin had pictured his 1st official meeting with his daughter going.

Then again, he had never thought he'd marry the evil queen and have their first biological child together stolen and taken to a different realm either. Nor did he think that said wife would be fighting an evil counterpart of hers for a 2nd time but here they were.

In the disney realm, in the evil queen's castle & separated from one another-one fighting the queen and one fumbling for something to say to their 10 year old who had no memory of them.

God, their lives were getting ridiculous.

He decided to be selectively truthful with her, telling her just enough so she'd believe and trust him.

"Sorta? My wife's a queen, so I guess that makes me a prince consort but no one ever really got into the specifics with me" Evie looked at him quizzically for a few moments before her eyes lit up.

Bingo: He got her.

Another bang rang out and the castle shook once more, but Evie didn't show any signs of the concern Robin felt: only curiosity.

"If you're a prince consort, what are you doing here? And what's that sound? How'd you get into the castle? And how did you even get on the isle in the first place with the barrier?"

Man, his daughter asked a lot of questions. Not that he could blame her: it must be very confusing to see a man you don't know in your house out of the blue.

"I'm here for you, that's your mother and my wife, the window, and magic, '' Robin answered immediately.

Evie's eyes widened and her face lit up once more, which almost made it easier to ignore her running eyeliner and her red, puffy, glassy eyes. "You're here for me? Why? And you know magic?!"

Disbelief and shock crept into her expression that made Robin's heart ache.

She reminded him so much of Regina in that moment that it hurt. Especially when Regina's past words 'what do you see in me?' Rang out in his head as his mind went back to that moment.

Evie's face was just as vulnerable and confused as Regina's had been and it hurt more than he'd ever admit.

He never wanted to see that look on her face ever again and was gonna make sure that no one else ever did either.

Robin took her hands in his and looked her in the eyes, letting her see how sad he was for her before he spoke. "Because you don't belong in a horrible place like this and we wanted to take you away from here. We want to take you home with us, if you'll let us."

Evie's eyes shined and watered, and Robin just knew that it was gonna be easier to take her home than he had originally thought-especially when she hugged him out of nowhere.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️

Carlos (only eight years old) was cleaning Hell Hall by himself and running around the manor, taking care of his three extremely ill older cousins and the two equally sick Badun cousins who were asleep on the couch.

They had been sick all week, which meant that Carlos had to do all the chores himself while taking care of them and rarely sleeping because if he didn't take care of them, no one would.

His mother certainly wouldn't, anyway.

The white haired boy couldn't help but feel just a teensy bit bitter and resentful towards his mother, even if he knew that it was theoretically wrong.

It wasn't as if he could help it; who wouldn't be bitter and resentful in his situation?

He and his cousins and their 'henchmen' were treated horribly by everyone in the family and on the isle, and he hated it.

He hated being treated like a slave and being belittled by everyone for not being evil enough.

He hated having to clean up after his mother and seeing animals hurt, and most of all, he hated his mom and Auradon for getting them stuck here.

He wanted them to pay and he wanted his cousins and him to be okay, even if he knew it would never happen.

Carlos sighed and went back to his chores, unaware that his REAL mother and the father he had always longed for were watching him through the window-absolutely fuming at what they had witnessed so far.

"Cruella, calm down-" James hissed, worried that someone would catch and stop them from getting their boy back.

Cruella was not having it at all.

" I WILL NOT CALM DOWN! NO 8 YEAR OLD SHOULD HAVE THAT MANY CHORES! NO 9 YEAR OLD SHOULD BE DOING ANY OF THE THINGS HE'S DOING! "

James winced at how loud she was being and quickly sought to appease her. "I know, I know. But you HAVE to be quiet or else you'll get us caught. Why don't you pull the car around so we can make a quick getaway while I go get him?"

His wife just huffed, rolling her eyes as she went to do exactly that.

15 minutes later-after a lot of terrified screaming from Carlos and reassuring from James-Carlos was packing his things up and looking for his cat, Beezlebub.

Only after James cleared the closet of the bear traps though-he wasn't about to let any accidents happen on his watch...even if he wanted this world's Cruella to get into one.

Yeah, James was still pissed about that and planned to ruin all of her furs before he left. Which he couldn't do until Carlos was out of the house, otherwise he'd risk causing Carlos to have yet another panic attack-which James really didn't want, so for now he waited and paced, eventually making his way into the living room.

He froze in shock at seeing the other de Vil cousins and two other children he couldn't identify, who he hadn't noticed before, sleeping on the couches and the floor-which were facing away from the window.

He felt a sudden wave of protectiveness that he couldn't explain wash over him.

He might not have known who they were but James knew that they had to be de Vils based on their hair, slim frames, and facial features. Or at the very least close to de Vils. And they weren't adults who could fend for themselves, adults who he could leave behind without a second thought; they were just kids . And sick ones at that.

He knew that he couldn't & wouldn't leave without them in that moment.

There were 4 boys and 1 girl, and all of them looked awful.

The oldest of them was a boy in his teens with poofy bleach blonde hair. A boy around Carlos' age with straight brown hair was fast asleep on his chest, clutching his shirt. He was laying on one of the two couches.

On the floor in front of them was another boy Carlos' age-a bigger boy with brown hair. Next to him was a preteen boy with fawn skin and the telltale de Vil hair (which was cut into a mohawk).

And, on the other couch, was the only girl of the group. A girl who looked almost identical to his wife in a pink nightgown.

All of them were somehow flushed and pale as a sheet at the same time. Except for the one with the mohawk, who had an almost green tint to his skin.

All of them were pitifully thin like Carlos was and while they didn't have his matted hair, they were just as dirty and beat up as he was. And James just couldn't stand it-he hated this and hated Auradon for doing this to these poor kids.

"Carlos?" James called out, wondering how the kids were still asleep.

"Yes, Mr?" The boy in question asked, sticking his head out of his 'room'.

"I'm gonna take these other kids to the car. Think you can handle getting their stuff, bud?"

Carlos beamed at him-obviously happy that James was taking his (siblings? Cousins?) With them.

"Yeah, I can do that! Brb!" Carlos bolted up the stairs two steps at a time gleefully before James could stop him, possibly into danger.

Cruella was gonna kill him if she found out he let Carlos go up there by himself without checking for danger first.

He hoped Carlos wouldn't tell on him, cause if he did, he might not get to see him grow up before his wife and brother throttled him.