It's been so long, my lovely readers! I imagine those of you who stuck with me will have to reread to get your bearings on what's going on in the story. Take your time. Clearly, I sure did. I've known how this story ends the day I started writing it, so figuring out how much of a middle it has is the tough part. This chapter has one flashback, one limbo scene, and two Isle scenes. One of which goes into the next morning. (I took out one of the hints dropped here to avoid clue overload.) Next chapter is definitely a game changer.

This chapter is dedicated to Pinkcrazyness, morrismsteph, GenderqueerWriter, Mangalover97, Rose teniza, Moony and Sunny, LunaOlcaRaca, xxKKxZKxx, rebekahpsweatman81, Joemie1092 and MikaelsonChika. Enjoy!

I do not own Descendants

"I know you just woke up," Doug told Jane as he stood outside her empty dorm before class that Wednesday morning. "but whatever you're thinking of doing… sleep on it." This was almost an order.

She answered him as if that had no affect on her. "So you got it?" Her usually anxious expression was replaced with something more like excitement.

"...Yeah." Doug looked down the hall to make sure no one was coming. Then he reached into his backpack. Regret painted his face as he handed over Mal's spellbook.

"You really are the apprentice of stealth." She thought aloud, before re-entering her room. Doug sighed to himself as he heard her find a hiding spot for what he'd stolen. He was ready to walk off when the door opened again.

Jane looked more like herself. Overwhelmed by what she had yet to try. "Thank you." He could only nod in reply. Which showed her that -though he understood where she was coming from- he felt guilty about how they were going about it. Doug would rather not know the details for that very reason.

She went back inside. Her back pressed against the door as she looked over at the spot the spellbook now occupied. Repressing a sigh of her own.

Meanwhile, Mal sat above where she found Jay's secret stash of stolen items, to offer him a piece of advice. He looked disappointed to see only her there, occupying the spot where his roommate should be. "You should've known Evie was gonna take this the hardest. She was his first friend."

He hadn't forgotten. "I know that. But… we're all handling this in different ways. I was just… I thought I was doing the right thing." He kept his challenge a secret because he knew the others wouldn't agree on that.

"It's nice that you visit other people." Mal said, surprising him. "I saw how happy you made that kid who took his parents to the tent. I saw how easy it was for him to talk to you." That surprised her. "And knowing that you did that for other people? People who… might not get the kind of support he did?" There was such a thing as Auradonian orphans, after all. "It's-" After having a day to think about it, she found these acts of kindness so amazing she couldn't get the words out.

"It's the kind of thing Carlos would do." Jay cut in.

"Is that how you got the idea?" Mal asked.

He shook his head. "I saw the crowd in the waiting room. Knew they were all there for Carlos. Figured he wouldn't miss me."

Though she countered that, her tone remained gentle. "What if you're exactly what he's missing?"

This hopeful sentiment only added to Jay's guilt. The thought that his absence was what kept Carlos in a coma. He tried to hide that by saying: "I doubt I mean as much to him as you and Evie do." Even the AK's seemed to have a better standing in Carlos' circle of friends.

"Well, stop doubting." Mal ordered. "'Cause I know you do."

"I can't make up for what I didn't do. Not unless you've got a spell to rewind time."

"If I did, I would've used it long before today." The slight break in her voice made him go silent. "You're not getting that time back, but… you can spend the time you have now differently. Split it between visiting Carlos and adding names to that list of yours. You're a long way from 101."

All she was asking was for him to take ten minutes out of the day to see Carlos in the hospital. That one favor to her could help mend Jay's friendship with Evie, and might even be the reason Carlos woke. That's what Mal was hoping would happen.

But Jay worried it would make no difference at all.

"So I'm guessing we're not here on business?" Diego asked as he eyed the sign for the salon creepily and cleverly named Curl Up & Dye. He trusted the leader of his newly-formed pack, but didn't think a beauty treatment would do anything to help their investigation.

"Actually, we are." Freddie informed as the youngest of the group caught onto how.

"We're following Anthony's lead." Niraya concluded, setting the cat she carried down. Beelzebub had been growing restless lately. "From the treehouse."

By the look on his paling face, he'd gathered that. But knowing the reason for being there didn't make entering the establishment any easier. "So we're takin' the hands-on approach then." Isle kids hardly knew any other way to be.

"It's more like the head-on approach." Freddie corrected, failing to sound encouraging. "We won't go in without you." Even though she and Diego had shown their faces there before, she said this to assure Anthony he wouldn't face this alone.

"It's for the cause." He reminded himself in a whisper, as his steps fell into the rhythm of a march. He led the way in.

Only to be greeted by the sight of his cousin sweeping the floor of an empty shop. All the fear he felt subsided then.

The girl went about her work, humming songs to herself. When all the hair was in one pile -drained of color and life- she threw it away. Turning back around, she saw the others watching her.

She seemed startled, but beyond that had no reason to feel threatened. Yet.

"Dizzy, are you here all by yourself?" Anthony asked, his voice still at a whisper. The gears in the group's head were turning as the girl answered.

It took her a few seconds, as she wasn't used to being addressed by him directly. "That happens a lot." She said this as if that was the way of the Isle, but that wasn't what the others were getting at.

"What he means is, how long have you been here by yourself?" Freddie revised. Which was true. The words just didn't come out that way. He'd been so convinced he was willingly walking into a confrontation with Lady Tremaine. Finding out otherwise took some adjustment.

Her absence had lasted so long that her granddaughter had to give it some thought. "For about… almost two weeks now." The others exchanged looks as if her estimation made something definite for them.

Diego spoke up then. "That can't just be about pushing work off on you."

"It can't?" Dizzy was confused as to why. She adjusted her glasses as she added: "She's never needed a reason for me to watch the shop before."

"She's hiding out." Niraya said, wishing she knew where. As good as her ears were, she hadn't caught wind of that.

"Which means she knows something." Diego didn't specify that he meant about the attack.

Freddie nodded. "Or she's done something."

"If that's true, bringing this to light won't just mean disappointing my family." Anthony realized. "It'll mean betraying it."

"Does this mean you're backing out?" Diego wondered aloud.

"Lady Tremaine isn't exactly the kinda family you should be proud to have." Freddie said.

Anthony nodded slowly. He didn't need to be told this. He sighed silently, closing his eyes. When they opened again, his focus was set on his cousin. "But Dizzy is."

She couldn't help smiling. That was hands down the nicest thing he'd ever said to her.

The decision to bring Dizzy into the fold was a unanimous one. It happened without deliberation and wasn't just about increasing numbers. She needed to be protected if it turned out they were right.

This shop was Lady Tremaine's alibi. And the little bit of information Dizzy disclosed threw that alibi out the window. Dizzy knew this, and she accepted it. Hearing the others talk about what they thought and discovered in the days since the attack, she hoped joining them would be her way off the island. She felt that was selfish to say, so she kept it to herself.

Instead, she asked: "Is there anything else I can help you guys with?" As she spoke, Beelzebub was exploring the shop and wound up with a few stray drops of dye in her fur.
The others pounced to pick her up, protective instincts kicking in. She stayed surprisingly still while they washed her. Seeing the colors swirl in the water gave the group an idea.

As it turns out, stopping at the salon did mean a bit of a break. Each of the Isle investigators took a seat in front of Dizzy's design book, sifting through it and picking out accessories to wear. Choosing colors took some pushing from Anthony, but eventually, each of his fire-forged friends saw his side of things.

Diego chose spiked bracelets that went stacked up around his wrists. Three on one and two on the other.

Anthony looked at laces to tie up his sleeves with. Each formed X shapes reminiscent of crossbones.

Niraya picked out rings, one for each finger on her right hand.

Freddie let Dizzy streak her hair, the gray highlights that tied her to her father gone when the dye job was done.

The colors carried through each design represented who they were fighting for. Black, white, red, light blue and yellow.

Before lunch, Jay listened to the recording of Lonnie's story. There was one detail he picked up from it that he felt needed to be discussed. He didn't want to wait until after visits were over for the day to have that discussion.

At the table, no one was paying him much attention. And it wasn't that they were all outright ignoring him. They just had other things on their mind. Evie, for one, had learned that a tag for one of her designs had been found inside a house where the mail had piled up. The neighbors were questioned, and knights knew the owner wasn't someone who had gone on vacation, but someone who was just gone. Hiding out, they were certain, on the Isle of the Lost.

She was relaying this information to Doug, and he listened intently. The two were holding hands under the table, much like the other couples present. None of them had much to say, though Ben was thinking of making another proclamation. Something in response to the events that had taken place.

Audrey sent Jane a reassuring glance, having learned what she was planning earlier that morning. Though, not in detail. As Jane put it, the more she knew, the more trouble she'd be in.

Dude was circling Lonnie's feet while she debated dropping scraps for him to eat. She fed him regularly, so she wasn't sure if he would view the offerings as snacks or a painful reminder of his past.

Jay hadn't touched his food, thinking it was more important to get his story out of the way first. "Guys…" Everyone's glance shifted to him, almost immediately. "Based on what I heard, Lonnie thinks that she was the last one to see Carlos before he got attacked. But I was."

With that, glances were exchanged around the table. "Is that why you didn't wanna see him?" Doug asked, trying to understand.

Jay didn't confirm that, but he did offer clarification. "I'm gonna tell my story now. So you know why."

This prompted Audrey to record again. So Dr. Porter would have all the parts of the story. "Whenever you're ready."

Jay wondered why that saying couldn't have been applied to him visiting Carlos. Though he knew that if no one had found out about the deal he made with Cadence, he would've never been ready.

"Any particular reason you kidnapped me to the kitchen?" Carlos asked in a dry tone. It was as if he didn't want to know the answer and only cared about getting to his follow up interview. He'd been on his way out the door when Jay pulled him into the kitchen, which was empty aside from the two of them.

"Talk to me." Jay's plea came out sounding like a demand.

That earned him an eyebrow raise from the younger boy. "I could've sworn I just heard my voice." For extra effect, Carlos looked over his shoulder as if someone else might be standing there.

Jay let out a groan, but knew that would do nothing to help him get an answer. So he asked for one outright. "What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing." Carlos said this casually, but not casually enough to convince Jay he was telling the truth.

"I must've done something wrong."

The calm tone Carlos kept started to make Jay's skin crawl. Especially since he looked like he wanted to scream. "Why do you think that?"

With that, Jay's blood boiled. "Because now the only thing you do in our dorm is SLEEP!"

Carlos nodded as if that was how it was supposed to be. "That's what a dorm is for."

That had to be an excuse. He never looked at it like that before. "I HAVE to be the problem. You don't mind being alone with anyone else!"

Instead of answering that, Carlos did something he was used to doing. He used a tactic the Isle had instilled in him. He deflected, purely out of fear. "It sounds like you want me to be mad. But I'm not." He had a lot flooding his mind but tried to keep those thoughts from coming out of his mouth. It worked, for the most part. "Why would I be mad at you for doing what you always do?" He hadn't realized he let that slip until he saw Jay's face drop.

He wished he would've come up with a better response. "...What?"

"I just… figured out how to deal with it." Carlos explained, though it didn't look like he wanted to.

"Why's this something you have to deal with?" Jay asked. Unlike Carlos, he wasn't saying more than he planned to. He was saying less. Whatever this was, he didn't want Carlos dealing with it by himself.

"It just is." That simple answer didn't satisfy.

"Nothing ever 'just is'!" Jay was screaming with sad eyes. It was enough to get Carlos to stop sounding so content with the way things were.

For the first time that day, Jay heard hurt in Carlos' voice. Hurt and acceptance."This time it has to be. I don't get the point of spelling out the obvious. I used to hate that you didn't see it. Now I think it's better you don't." He didn't see any hope for change.

Jay remembered what that felt like, and he hated it.

He wanted to object. He wanted to tell Carlos he was wrong, even though he still felt clueless about the whole thing. He wanted to, but he didn't get the chance.

"I gotta go." Carlos told him. "You should get to practice." Before he left, he let something else slip. "Though I don't know why you need it. All of life's a game to you, anyway."

Though everyone looked equally stunned, the king was the first to speak after the story was told. "That's the last thing he said to you?" Ben didn't think Carlos capable of sounding so harsh.

Jay nodded slowly. His tone was soft. "The worst part is, I proved him right. Went back to doing what I always do." To emphasize this, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the napkin rings he'd stolen from Ben's castle. He took them back without a word.

Lonnie made a comment then. "You were trying to fill a void. You even thought I knew about it, didn't you?" That would explain his reaction when she asked if he found anything good while out on his walks past curfew.

"Carlos kept me from stealing. Everyone else could break their own habits. I needed him here, but it just felt selfish. Like I only wanted him back so he could keep my nose clean for me. And he didn't wanna see me anyway. So I just kept my distance. Every day I didn't go I wondered if that's all it was. If Carlos gave up on me 'cause he was tired of having to keep me out of trouble. But it's not like I can ask." Faces fell, as the others thought Jay meant he couldn't pose the question as long as Carlos was comatose. But it hurt worse to hear the truth. "I already tried." Even when Carlos was conscious, he avoided the conversation.

Jay was done talking, but his words hung in the air. Which made Mal realize something. "You're asking us?"

He'd figured out this much on his own: "Maybe I'm the only one who doesn't know."

He watched as Mal looked over at Evie. Though neither of them said anything, the look in the eyes had him sure he'd missed something. Something major.

"Even if that's true," Jane began, getting Jay's full attention. "and even if we had a guess… this was between you and Carlos. So it's not our place to say."

All that told Jay was there was no getting out of this hospital visit. Not that he was still looking for a way.

In Mal and Evie's last class of the day, they were allowed to pick the topic of discussion. Evie recognized that her best friend possessed more innate magic, so she let her choose.

"Shared dreams?" Mal suggested. It came out as a question since she still hadn't mastered her own. With no way to navigate them, she couldn't use them to her advantage and help wake Carlos.

Fairy Godmother stood at the board in quiet shock. "You have that ability?"

"Ben and I." Mal clarified.

"It's very rare." The woman informed. "Kind of a lost art."

"Isn't all magic a lost art?" Evie questioned. "Since it just recently came out of retirement?"

"Yes." Evie had a point, but still didn't see why shared dreams were such a big deal. Her teacher had to clear that up. "But it either takes a very strong connection… or a very strong influence."

"That explains why I was seeing Ben in my dreams before I even left the Isle."

"You two are practically soulmates." Evie agreed.

She wanted to smile at this, but a haunting realization stopped her. "How does it work for people who aren't?"

"There's no written record of how in Auradon." Fairy Godmother was disappointed to have to deliver that news. "All that's known for sure is those not naturally connected use spells or potions to implant… messages in those they reach."

"Magical mind control?" Essentially, that's what Evie's teacher was saying. The silence that followed her question confirmed it.

Mal didn't understand. "If the attackers are using that, why did they need to steal your magic?"

"Because theirs isn't strong enough." Evie reasoned. "If it was, their plans would've worked the first time."

Fairy Godmother gave a nod. "Whoever attempted to mirror my magic was reckless. Combining spells can have drastic consequences."

"So we've seen." Mal said darkly.

"I don't just mean for Carlos. The caster could suffer as well."

Belle watched as her husband frantically scribbled down his thoughts, trying to capture them all in ink before they left his head. The state of his notebook was a sad one, as he'd torn out pages Chad had written on in order to do side-by-side comparisons. With so much information, he should have looked satisfied to be closer to the truth. Instead, he just looked defeated.

She was about to ask why, when he got up and left the room without a word. No doubt headed for the dungeon. He looked back as he left. Appreciative that his wife continued to support him in this, though she didn't side the same.

Chad looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps, anticipation hidden in his exhausted expression. "I feel like we're right back where we started." Adam reported.

Chad looked less disappointed and more curious, extending his open hand. When the book was placed in his palm, he looked at the last note recorded: The attack was some upscale EVIL SCHEME to them.

"No," At first, the former king thought he was disagreeing with him. But his tone was more delicate than dismissive. "this is good. I think it means the criminals were taking cues from the kids."

"Kids." Adam echoed, trying to wrap his head around that. "The VKs?"

Chad nodded. "What they did made history. For Auradionans it… broke ground." The words felt weird on his tongue. "Bridged the gap. But for people on the Isle, it was the ultimate act of rebellion."

"So what you're saying is that all this was an act of rebellion by Auradonian criminals? In response to my son's proclamation? Then why target the attack toward the VKs?" The idea had been Ben's in the first place, the others just reluctantly agreed to it.

"Because driving Ben out of Auradon wouldn't accomplish anything. He probably would've gone to the Isle voluntarily, to bring over more VKs." His look of disgust wasn't aimed toward those hopefuls. He was showing that he caught onto the attackers' logic.

"So, what, the plan was to scare the four we have here into going back to their proper place?" In trying to think like the attackers, Adam was scaring himself. This was where his son's friends belonged. Why couldn't everyone accept that? "Starting with who they thought was weakest?" He curbed a sob so he could continue. "And if they thought Carlos was so weak, why send four people after him?"

Chad surprised himself with how he responded: "Symmetry." It was frightening to see his eyes light up while analyzing this, but he couldn't help it. Something clicked, the way it never had while he was in class. He hurried through an explanation for Adam, who was looking at him like he just backslid. He started talking with his hands, so the book fell from them. "This is what you get when you cross veteran villains with amateur Auradionian criminals. It has to have some sort of style." The way Chad saw it, trying to earn style points was what kept other evil plans from succeeding. He didn't say so, but he was glad for that.

"So, each Auradonian who carried out this plan… is a counterpart for one of the VKs?"

Chad gave another nod. "Does that mean that if we figure out what roles they played, we'll know how to find them?"

Adam sure hoped so. He tried to keep calm as he thought aloud. "Well, we can assume that the goblin played messenger. Being from the Isle."

"And he would need a translator." Chad reasoned, raising his eyebrows. In order to carry out this plot, the Auradonians were ironically forced to work with a former Isle inhabitant. "More gap-bridging." That role sounded like the one representing Carlos, as it took charisma to manage.

"Plus some sort of alchemist to figure out the spell."

Chad's head tilted in confusion. "I thought alchemists were more science than magic though."

This wasn't the time for insistent terminology, and yet Adam couldn't help arguing. "What would you call it in a place where magic's been retired for two decades?"

"Yeah, okay. Alchemist. Sure. Who else?"

It was debatable whether the alchemist was meant to be Mal's counterpart, or Evie's. Mal did cast spells, but Evie was a whiz at chemistry. Adam recalled how the Auradon public likely only knew the VK's by reputation. And Mal was the descendant of someone regarded as the evilest villain. So she probably matched up with the most brutal of the bunch. "Even if the alchemist understood the way ballistics work on paper, that wouldn't qualify them to be the shooter. That just leaves one."

Chad heard the news. Either from Adam, or the TV broadcasts. He knew who was left. "The guy who scoped everyone out." He was stealthy, like Jay. But not stealthy enough, as he'd been caught on tape and in print.

"The Rogue." Adam agreed, striking a nerve. He watched as Chad mouthed the word back to him, speaking more toward the dungeon floor before he looked up again. His face was horror-stricken, and that expression was contagious. "Chad, what is it?"

His answer wasn't directed at Adam. "This is no time to be going rogue…"

"Where have you heard that before?"

The teen couldn't place where exactly, but the name Adam had given the 'scoper' sounded so familiar because it had been used to scold someone at the crime scene. "From one of the other attackers. "The plan was twisted, but I don't think it was supposed to be so violent."

"The real rogue just made it that way." Adam concluded. "Changed the plan." By carrying out their own.

Chad remembered something else. Another random line of dialogue he didn't know where to place in the confrontation with the criminals. He couldn't even recall who'd spoken it. But he had to say something.

"Adam…" That was an effective way of getting the attention he didn't realize he still held. He'd never addressed the former king by name before. "I think one of them was trying to kill Carlos." It almost ended up that way, they both knew that. But it sounded to Chad like that had been someone's intention. Like they saw no point in beating some lesson into the poor kid's brain. Especially since they didn't see Carlos as a kid, but as some little devil. So instead they aimed to beat his brains out. "They talked about sending him back to hell..."

"The reason I hired Carlos was because I was amazed by his eagerness to learn despite how smart he clearly comes across as. Our exhibits breathe life into what's printed in the history books, and he recognized and appreciated that." The museum curator spoke into the camera Audrey was holding. "I first met him during a tour and his eyes lit up at the visuals. When the presenters talked, he was hanging on every word. He embodied the ideal museum visitor. All the staff felt proud to do what we do that day. It made us feel important." The videographer's sad smile in response reflected how Carlos specialized in making others feel like they mattered.

"We knew when he showed up for an interview that we'd at the very least have a good talk. When he answered my questions, I knew he had a clear understanding of his responsibilities, but I also could tell he was overwhelmed. Like he didn't know if he could handle it because he had no experience." Isle kids were encouraged to scheme rather than to dream. "He was our youngest interviewee, but he was also the most knowledgeable and enthusiastic. So we asked him back."

Audrey couldn't help thinking that if Carlos had let his lack of confidence get the better of him, he would've gone to practice that day. And with such a crowd around, maybe the attack wouldn't have happened.

The curator took notice of her pained expression, but continued talking. "When we spoke again, it was like he'd convinced himself he wasn't qualified. But then I asked him why he interviewed in the first place. And he told me that he wanted to be a part of Auradon history. I couldn't help laughing because I thought he already was. One of the first ever transfer students from the Isle to attend Auradon Prep. Pretty monumental, right? Unprecedented. And he said: 'As appreciative as I am for that, it was something that was decided for me.'"

Knowing his reason, neither of them could help getting misty-eyed. He finally knew what he wanted, and he was kept from it.

The curator spoke directly to thr camera then. "Carlos, you may think you have yet to make your mark on the world. By the looks of the crowd in the waiting room, I don't agree with that. You've touched kids' hearts and made adults rethink somethings about how their world works. I'd say that's a good start."

After recording, Audrey returned to the waiting room in line with Mal, who had just gotten done with visiting. Lonnie was just arriving from the shelter, as everyone wanted to support Jay as he made his first visit with Carlos.

The girls noticed that the still unnamed invention was playing softly since the TV was turned off, but he had tuned the music out. Until he got to his feet, accompanied by the sound of a hauntingly familiar song. Played on glockenspiel.

Jane gasped, out of surprise but not shame. She was looking in the direction of where the music was coming from, but everyone else had their eyes on Doug. They all recognized it to be Chad's arrangement of A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes.

"Why would you put this on here?" Mal asked. She knew that Doug didn't side against Chad in this, but the action seemed cruel.

"I didn't." The assurance in his tone was emphasized by his bewildered expression. "Carlos must have."

Jay's usual approach to hospital visits wouldn't work this time. He doubted his mere presence wouldn't do the trick to wake Carlos, so simply sitting and listening was out of the question. Yet silence fell while he tried to gather his thoughts, mindful he had half the time to voice them.

A minute went by without anything surfacing other than a groan of frustration.

He was already on his feet, and staring at them. Afraid to look in Carlos' direction despite how much he'd healed. In that moment, shifting his glance seemed to be his only shot of breaking his silence.

He stepped closer to the younger boy's bedside and mustered up the courage to take in the damage. It was all so unfair.

Take away the IV's and machines and Carlos looked perfectly healthy and at peace. And maybe he felt that way, and wasn't in any rush to wake up. Maybe he had no idea how much everyone was hurting, including himself.

"I did do something wrong." Jay admitted, his voice barely audible. "I am wrong, for leaving you like this." The more he spoke, the clearer he sounded. There wasn't confidence in his tone, but he was no longer quieted by his shame. "Maybe that was what bothered you. Maybe when you were around me… you felt alone." Only silence answered, and Jay felt deserving of it.

If Carlos could hear him, he had no choice but to listen. So the older boy's honesty wouldn't hit any faults. "I made tourney my world and dragged you into it. The first safe thing I found, I just clung to it." Some might see 'safe' as an ironic way to describe a contact sport. But Isle life had prepared him for it. "It was built for it. You were too, it's just that no one ever bothered to tell you. "You are that strong, Carlos."

Jay watched intently for any sort of recognition. Any sign of Carlos' increasing consciousness. A deeper breath, the slightest turn of a smile. Nothing. Burning tears brimmed Jay's eyes. Instead of letting them fall, he just got louder. "I know you said you weren't mad at me, but… I think you should be. I really messed up, and I'm sorry." He wasn't sure when, but his hands went from resting at his side to spread evenly on the side of the bed. Holding him up while those tears came down. "I let you get lost in the crowd. I wanted all this attention, and you just wanted-"

Jay cut himself off, realizing what he was about to say. His mouth seemed to be working faster than his brain, but that didn't mean the conclusion he reached was wrong. "I see it now," Jay said as his cheeks began to burn along with his eyes. "but I don't understand. Especially after how I acted. Why…" When he trailed off again, it sounded like he couldn't explain nor forgive his actions. In actuality, he was attempting to pose a question to someone he thought incapable of answering. "Why would you want me?"

Jay's blurred focus was on Carlos' closed eyes, so he didn't detect any moment. Until the younger boy's fingertips brushed against the back of his hand.

Aside from letting out a soft gasp, Jay didn't dare move. He could tell the others about this moment when it was over, he saw no sense in interrupting it. Especially since Carlos unconsciously started tracing what felt like infinity signs on Jay's skin.

Without stories of the days leading up to the attack left to tell, the group had some time freed up after their hospital visits. Audrey had the chance to record video for the second time in the same afternoon. Except now, she was on the other side of the camera.

Front and center, standing between her girlfriend and Lonnie. Together, the three of them ran through the choreography they'd come up with to perform at the first tourney game without Carlos. Evie did them the favor of filming. She'd asked Mal to come along, but she was busy turning their room upside down to try to find her spellbook.

The dancers went through the routine multiple times, as Evie captured different angles. After that, they moved at half the speed, and broke the dance down step by step.

Hours of work went into reenacting the number, even on such a small scale. Without grass stains and dirt clouds from the field's sidelines to show them where they made their mark, the girls had to trust in their soreness and sweat.

Audrey thought the hard part was over, having had a shower and a change. All that was left to do -aside from editing- was sit down, relax and record an intro. When it came time for that, she hardly knew what to say. This was her challenge, she had to show that she was up for it.

Her dance partners and camerawoman stayed around for moral support. Lonnie gave a double thumbs up, Evie sent her an encouraging smile, and Jane had her eyes locked. "You can do this." The words were aimed at Audrey, but she took them to heart for herself. She'd reached a decision. She knew how she'd be spending the following day.

Audrey cleared her throat, mindful that could be cut out of the video. Then she waved in the camera's direction. "Hey there AuraTubers, I'm Audrey. My friends and I put this dance together for someone very special to us, and I got quite a few dozen comments asking if we could make a tutorial." The expression on her face showed she was still in disbelief about that. She hadn't done this for her own recognition. But it had a hand in people turning up to visit Carlos, so she wasn't going to ignore the feedback. Especially not if it could help him. "So, here it is. This one's for you, Carlos. Get well soon."

An enhanced image of Carlos' scar was held up to the wall in the evidence room. The team watched as Dr. Porter slid the laminate paper across both maps, to see where the lines overlapped. "What's this meant to show us?" One of them asked, not bringing her attention off what was in front of her.

"Where his head is. Why he won't wake."

Won't was the proper description. At this point, given his brain activity, Carlos was about a day shy of opening his eyes. If he was fighting that, it meant there was something he didn't want to see.

The doctor gasped as she found her match, blindly reaching for a marker. She put it between her teeth, using her one free hand to take the cap off. She let it fall to the floor as she wrote out her findings.

She marked her makeshift map with one lone X, and wrote out an address along the bottom of it.

As the words appeared, the team's jaws dropped. A theory was confirmed, and a question was raised.

But before anyone could vocalize it, Carlos' monitor sounded. The team ran to check on him.

He was still making waves. He still had yet to wake. But something his mind's eye made him see was enough to make him thrash.

Having no concept of time put Carlos under pressure to act fast. He tore through his old stomping grounds, looking for something -anything- that didn't belong. He took too wide a turn around a railing, expecting to find someone sitting beside it.

This made him lose his footing, and he nearly hit his head on one of the steps. Those who noticed didn't even laugh. In fact, if he hadn't scrambled to his feet in such a hurry he was half convinced someone might've offered him help to get up.

He slid open the chain link gate, which took a lot more effort for two hands than it did for eight. He didn't notice though, hopped up on adrenaline. He went under a clothesline, nearly getting knocked over again by those using it. But this didn't slow him down.

He had no plans to stop anytime soon, but being surrounded by pipes he swore he felt like he could taste the metal. A bad feeling washed over him, and not the kind he felt when he was up to no good. He suddenly didn't know where to go, and looked around him for a way out.

There was light at both ends of the tunnel, but that brought no end to his emotional turmoil.

Carlos turned his head to take in his surroundings, and saw something wedged between the pipes. Whatever it was, its presence was no coincidence. This move had been calculated.

Carlos pressed himself against the wall of pipes and pulled at the object. The dried mud held it in place there like glue. So he dug into it, dirtying his nails. He could see the cracks forming, and watched as what may well have been his last clue to finding out what was happening to him fell at his feet.

How ironic.

Carlos stared, slightly mystified, before picking the object up. It was muddied and misshapen, but he still could place it. Where from didn't exactly compute. His brain felt like it was breaking as his shaking hands held onto a single spiked cleat.

The map Jafar had drawn up was littered with X's. Each one showed an increased level of frustration. Going by Grimhilde's glance, she was dismayed by the sight. But he nearly tore the map in half because his idea looked like nothing but a waste of time from the angle he saw it at.

"We've been through every vacant house on the Isle. How can that be?" He must've missed something.

"Maybe we underestimated the Auradonians."

"No." To him, she was blameless. "The plan was mine to begin with. I'm the one who steered us wrong."

"You were only thinking logically looking in places no one lives." The Evil Queen countered. "Who would want to harbor…"

She trailed off, so he finished her thought for her. "A bunch of criminals?" Even though the attackers had lived in Auradon up until now, that didn't change what they'd done. That sort of thing earned them a spot on the Isle. No wonder they fled to it. They were right where they belonged, Jafar just hadn't figured out exactly where that was yet. "That's all anyone here is." He didn't notice how hurt she looked by those words, taking them personally. He was still ranting about how he'd fallen short of completing his mission. The Evil Queen could hear in his tone that he was ready to give it up. "Why did I think that I could be anything different? And why did I drag you into my delusion?"

"It's not a delusion." Grimhilde disagreed. "Our children changed. That means we can, too. I'm lucky you convinced me to do this. Where would I be without you?" She looked like she'd said a sentence too much, but he was too mad at himself to notice the meaning behind it.

"Home."

She didn't want to go back there. "It's lonely in that empty castle. I'd rather be out here, helping you do something that makes a difference."

He laughed harshly. "But we haven't done that."

"Sure we have." To back that claim up, she pointed out. "The knights had more evidence because of us."

"Because of you." Jafar didn't think he'd done anything worthwhile. "You're the one who found the fabric." She also was the one to see it was a match for her makeshift pillow.

"I wouldn't have had anything to compare it to if it hadn't been for what was in your shop."

"It's not enough." If it had been, they would have who they were hunting down already.

"It has to lead somewhere."

He shook his head. She misunderstood. "What if none of it's enough? What if the girl with good ears was right?" He remembered what Niraya said now. And he still wanted to do this as a way to get their kids to come back to them. "What if we can't learn?"

"Learn." The Evil Queen echoed under her breath. "That's it! Jafar, you genius…"

Thanks for reading, PLEASE REVIEW! Let me know of any ideas/questions/corrections you have.

And feel free to tell me your thoughts on Descendants 2. I'll update ASAP!