Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Harry had a tendency to pick up strays.

Uma didn’t really mind it, since they were generally small animals that either died before the night ended or Harry was able to nurse back to health. She just assumed it was part of their alpha nature to care for other beings, something she was better at suppressing than Harry was. Sometimes, though, Harry came back to the ship with more than a mangey animal—like when he’d shown up with Gil, or with the Smee twins. They had adapted easily enough to sea life and Uma would even call herself…fond of the Smee kids. A little fonder of Gil, who time and time again proved himself more than worthy of being a pirate on her ship, even despite Gil’s thick-headedness and soft heart. But Gil never brought strays home, unlike Harry, and this most recent one was definitely shaping up to be an issue.

Carlos De Vil was huddled under a ratted blanket, soaked to the bone and teeth chattering loudly, in the corner of Uma’s cabin. He was exuding a heavy scent of fear, one that was sure to have spread to the rest of the ship, putting everyone on edge. Harry was standing—hovering—by the younger boy, twisting his hook anxiously. Uma sighed deeply, trying to decide the most beneficial route for everyone involved.

“Carlos, stay here a minute, okay?”

The freckled-boy gave no indication he’d heard her, but Uma knew that as an omega he had registered her alpha command, so she grabbed Harry’s arm and dragged him out of the cabin anyways.

“Uma,” Harry practically whined as the door closed between him and the omega.

“Shut it, Harry. I’m not going to throw him out.”

A relieved grin broke across Harry’s face, his blue eyes twinkling dangerously.

“But you owe me an explanation, and he’s not going to be sleeping in your cabin. He’ll stay with me.”

Uma didn’t want Harry making the kid anymore nervous than he already was. Harry pouted but agreed with a sharp nod. They may both be alphas, but she was the captain.

Uma popped her head back into her cabin, both worried and relieved to see Carlos had not moved from his spot.

“Carlos?”

The boy at least looked at her this time.

“Harry and I are going to get you some food, okay? Gil will still be on board if you need anything.”

Carlos just blinked those big, dark eyes. He seemed hollow, like she could tell him to jump into the ocean and he wouldn’t even protest. Things were not well with the omega.

But it was enough for Uma at the moment, since she knew no one would bother him while he was on her ship. She shut the door, locking it behind her, and then beckoned Harry to follow.

It was still raining, though it had lightened to a dismal drizzle when Harry and Uma emerged on the top of the ship. Gil was standing on the deck of the ship, watching the sea rise and fall outside of the barrier.

“Gil,” Uma commanded, and the blonde brawn jumped.

“Captain!”

“Listen, we’ve got…someone in my cabin. No one goes in or out, got it? Make sure everyone leaves the kid alone.”

“Yessir,” Gil nodded, pleased to be entrusted with the task.

He’d seen Carlos come on board. Or rather, he’d watched Harry struggle to carry the shell-shocked boy onto the ship, and smelled the absolute terror reeking off the smaller boy. Despite the fact that Carlos seemed completely checked out of reality, he’d put up a bit of a tussle when Harry had tried to pick him up. Whatever was going on, Gil wanted to make sure Carlos was okay before he left the ship.

“That means you, too, Gil,” Harry huffed, clearly upset about leaving his new friend.

Gil just gave a vague nod and watched Uma haul Harry down the gangplank onto the docks.

“What in Davy Jones’ Locker were you thinking, Hook!” Uma snarled as soon as they touched dry ground. “You know he runs with Mal!”

“Then why did I find him first?” Harry snapped back.

“Find him?” Uma pushed.

“Stumbling around the market like a drunk man! You saw all those bruises…he’s hurt and clearly got a knock on his head…I couldn’t just leave him like that!”

“Well, maybe you should have! Because now Mal will think we’ve kidnapped him, and we just finished cleaning up the ship from her last round of retaliation.”

“Uma,” Harry said softly, though his tone was laced with malice. “He was in danger.”

“It’s the Isle, what did you expect, Harry?” Uma sighed, knowing the other pirate had a point, even if he was taking forever to get to it.

“Madame Medusa was looking for him, saying something about ‘unfinished business’,” Harry hissed as he and Uma picked up some fish and chips from Ursula’s. It was a quiet night at the shop which made their errand quick.

“Oh,” Uma said, finally understanding why Harry was so up in arms about the white-haired boy.

There was an unspoken rule of sorts that kept the children of the Isle alive, even after they presented. Keep each other away from the adult villains, no matter their biological role. It usually didn’t have to be enforced, since the adults didn’t often take interest in each other’s offspring, a vague respect that had lasted since the pre-Isle days. It’s not like they didn’t all spend their time reminiscing about how evil they used to be anyways. But sometimes a kid got kicked out and needed a place to crash, or they went a little too long without any food, and the other kids stepped in. It was the most effective system of protection they had.

But there were a certain handful of adults who had a…taste for younger children, especially the unfortunate few who presented as omegas. It wasn’t openly discussed, but there was always a different kind of haunted look in the kids who made it through those interactions.

“Okay,” Uma relented as they returned to the ship, her own Alpha instincts urging her to protect the small omega from someone more vile. “He can stay until he’s healed, or until Mal and her crew comes for him. And if she does, we give him over without a fight, okay?”

Harry nodded agreeably at that. He truly hoped that Mal didn’t come for the pup, of course, but he would take what he could get. As long as Carlos was safe.

Carlos still had not moved from his original spot when Uma, Harry, and Gil entered the cabin. He was staring into space blankly, though a bit of color had returned to his cheeks and he was no longer shivering. His scent hadn’t subdued at all, though, and Uma and Harry shared a look.

“Hi, Pup,” Harry said gently, kneeling in front of him. “Come eat some food, yea?”

Harry pulled Carlos to standing and shuffled him to the table, where he sat stiffly. Uma placed a greasy bag in front of him, and Harry opened it. Gil placed a neatly folded pile of clothes for Carlos to change into from his wet clothes next to the bag, then retreated to standing next to Uma.

At the scent of fried food, Carlos began to stir. He blinked a few times, sniffing the air. Then he squinted down into the bag. Fish and chips.

“Poison?” he croaked.

Harry wanted to be offended, but he was more relieved that Carlos was thinking about survival.

“Not poison,” Harry said easily, trying to put the Omega at ease. “Just verrrry greasy.”

Carlos didn’t move, though his stomach growled loud enough for the other three to hear. Uma sighed, and looked at Gil. As an omega, she hoped him eating would encourage Carlos to eat as well.

Gil got the message immediately. He was just as worried as his alphas were; an omega being this vulnerable on the Isle meant a very specific kind of doom, and all Gil wanted to do was keep Carlos safe. Enemies or not, Carlos had never been mean to Gil, and that was more than enough reason for Gil to care.

Gil reached into the bag and took a small handful of fries; just enough to show they weren’t poison, but not too little to indicate to Carlos that Gil was eating for his benefit. Gil munched with a little extra emphasis, relieved to see Carlos watching him through his eyelashes.

After Gil swallowed his mouthful, and a few seconds passed where he didn’t kneel over, Carlos dug a hand into the bag. He sniffed the fry, then popped it in his mouth.

Oh, Evil, he was so hungry. He truly couldn’t place the last time he ate something that wasn’t at least half-rotten. Without any further thought, he began eating steadily, each bite he swallowed slowly bringing him back into his body.

Once the bag was empty, Carlos dared to assess his surroundings. He was on Uma’s ship, in her cabin, judging by the maps tacked on the walls and the large, intact-glass windows behind him. The boat was rocking easily, still docked as it always was, but in the water nonetheless.

Uma was leaning in a chair across from him, her focus evenly distributed between the three boys in the room. Neither her posture or her scent indicated anything was amiss or that his being there was out of the ordinary. That was odd, but Carlos didn’t want to try and puzzle it out at the moment. Gil was sitting in Uma’s armchair, swinging his legs casually. He was letting off a very calming scent, one that made Carlos want to curl up and sleep. But then, right next to him, was Harry Hook. Carlos could only see him out of the corner of his eye and didn’t want to turn to face him fully. He could smell Harry’s concern and…possession? No, protectiveness… being directed towards him. Carlos knew he was on the ship because Harry had dragged him out of the storm, but he didn’t actually remember it.

Carlos took a deep breath, focusing on his body. He was damp and cold, his clothes pressed tightly against his skin. A thin blanket was draped over his shoulders, and he was sitting in a chair at a table. His skin felt tight, like his bones were trying to break free. And his head was aching sharply. Why?

Oh.

Almost immediately pain overwhelmed him, tears slipping unbidden down his cheeks.  No, he couldn’t be weak, he couldn’t be exposed, not in front of pirates! Mal would kill him before he even got back to Cruella if she knew he was here!

“Hey,” Uma’s voice caught Carlos’s attention. She was speaking softly, but in that commanding tone alphas took when they wanted to be obeyed. “Listen, I know you’re worried about Mal, and your crew. But you’re only here to keep you safe, okay? If they come looking, you go to them, okay? Harry just wanted to keep anything else from happening to you, and you have our protection.”

Carlos cried harder at that. If the pirates were…protecting him, something really bad must have been going on. Why couldn’t he remember?

“How much…do you remember, love?”

That was Harry, who had moved to be in Carlos’s eyeline. His brow was furrowed deeply, and he almost looked like Jay when Jay worried, the way their postures were tensed, ready to fight, but uncertain how to comfort the omega curled in front of them. That reassured Carlos a bit. Jay—and Harry—wouldn’t let other people hurt him, and Harry was here now, so he was safe. And Uma was just like Mal, she was protecting him too. He was safe.

“I…don’t know,” Carlos answered truthfully. “I remember…I was supposed to fix a machine…at Madame Medusas?”

Judging from the scowls as he said her name, she was to blame for Carlos’s current state. Evil, that wasn’t good. He must have broken her machine, and she must have been mad and…

“Did you fix a machine?” Uma asked him gently.

Carlos shook his head, not recalling any tools or machines. He also didn’t smell of grease or oil, so he didn’t think he’d worked on anything.

“I don’t remember. I got to her place, and then. I just don’t know,” Carlos felt frantic. Why couldn’t he remember? What was he not remembering?

“Hey, hey,” Harry crooned soothingly, approaching Carlos slowly. He placed his hook on the table, and let Carlos see his hands were empty. Then the alpha sat, sitting cross legged on the floor next to Carlos’s chair, staying as open as possible.

Carlos leaned towards Harry instinctively, craving something physical to reassure him.

Harry let the omega collapse into his lap, letting Carlos position himself comfortably before wrapping his arms loosely around the boy. Carlos gave a whimper, almost unintelligible, then buried his face in Harry’s neck.

Uma gave them an approving nod. She reached for Gil’s hand and pulled him out of the cabin with her. If Carlos was comfortable enough to seek comfort from Harry Hook, then she wasn’t going to stop him. Of course, she would be checking in often to make sure nothing else was going on, but she also knew Harry. All he wanted right now was to protect, and so she let him.

Harry slowly rocked Carlos in his lap, moving both their bodies back and forth with the movements of the waves against the ship. This is how he’d comforted his little sister whenever she’d been upset, and how he cradled the Smee twins whenever they woke up looking for their mother.

 Smee had been inconsolable when she’d passed, and while he always did his best when it came to children, it was better for the twins to stay with Harry and Uma for a while. Grieving on the Isle was much more complicated, since there weren’t any structural support systems in place. Apparently, in Auradon, according to Harry’s father, there were childcare systems to help you have a career and children, and communities that knew how to care for a widower and sons. But this was the Isle, and so Harry took charge of the twins, for now at least.

Harry didn’t mean to end up taking care of so many people, and animals. But he instinctively reacted to something being picked on in a way they couldn’t defend against. It was one thing to challenge Gil to a fight, for example, but it was another thing to corner Gil and taunt him about his smarts. Harry believed in a fair fight, and if wasn’t fair, he had to step in. He had no control over that part of him.

Uma liked to tease him about it, but she had the same tendencies, though they came through differently. It was just part of being an alpha. She was less likely to seek out unfair situations, rather she just ensured they never happened under her watch. That was why Harry was content to let her be the captain. She kept her strength localized, and Harry tended to spread himself thin fighting every unfair battle he came across. But the two of them combined…they were a power couple for sure. No sexual feelings, though there were possibly romantic ones. But they didn’t really discuss those things though, so it mostly went unexplored. Still, they ran the most effective, and safe, pirate ship on the Isle.

Carlos gave a particularly loud sniffle, shrugging the blanket off of his shoulders, and Harry returned his attention to the omega.

“How’re you feeling?” Harry said gently, letting Carlos rub against his collar bone.

“Tired,” Carlos murmured. If he weren’t pressed so close, Harry wouldn’t have heard him at all. “And small.”

“Small?” Harry echoed. He wasn’t sure what kind of emotion that was tied to.

“Like…I’m just a speck,” Carlos whimpered, unsure how to explain. Jay and Mal and Evie knew what he meant by it, but they weren’t here now. They hadn’t come for him. Harry had. Why hadn’t his pack come?

“Well, you’re more than a speck,” Harry said, unsure if he was saying the right thing. “You’re here, and you’re in my lap, and yeah, you’re not the biggest kid on the Isle, you certainly are bigger than a speck.”

Carlos giggled at that. He liked how Harry had visualized his wording. This was comforting.

“Okay, so it’s more than that,” Harry gathered, though he was delighted that Carlos had at least responded directly to his comment.

“More like…I’m not worth anything, as a person.”

“Why do you feel that?”

Harry hadn’t meant to jump into that line of questioning, but he recalled how Uma liked to break down Gil’s emotions. Ask why, and how come, that was what she did.

“Oh,” Carlos was also surprised by Harry’s question.

“You don’t have to answer,” Harry insisted as Carlos hesitated, suddenly worried he’d over-done the Alpha thing. He wasn’t Carlos’s alpha and they both knew that. But he was here right now, and he wanted to give Carlos what he needed.

“It’s okay,” Carlos said, nodding to himself. “I just. Don’t feel good about having to be rescued.”

Harry held the boy even tighter at that. Carlos really didn’t remember what kind of situation he’d been in, did he?

“I…” Harry began, not knowing how to soothe Carlos’s feelings about that. He had rescued him, yes, but. It was not his fault, it was not his fault at all. Evil, Carlos should never have had to been in any situation where he needed to be ‘rescued’, to begin with.

“It’s okay, Harry,” Carlos said. “You’re not the first person to rescue me.”

“I don’t wanna call it a rescue, pup,” Harry said, running a hand through the white curls tucked under his chin. “It was just an…escape route.”

Carlos turned to look at Harry, confused. Harry caressed his freckled cheek with his hand, and explained both to Carlos and himself what had truly went down at the marketplace.

“If you had shown any hesitancy about coming with me, or if there had been any indication that you had been fully conscious and able to…get out of that situation yourself, I wouldn’t have stepped in. I mean, you could have kept wandering around the marketplace in a daze, but I just. Wanted to give you another option.”

Carlos suddenly had a crystal-clear memory of Harry Hook’s hand being offered to him, the pouring rain bouncing off his warm palm as steam. And Carlos remembered his own hand reaching for it, reaching for something safe.

“I remember that,” Carlos whispered. He still didn’t fully remember the events leading up to it, and he didn’t know if he ever wanted to. But he remembered choosing Harry, choosing to go with the pirate. “I remember choosing you.”

Harry didn’t know what to say at that. He had seen a brief flash of lucidity in Carlos’ eyes as he’d taken the outstretched hand, but…

‘Thank you,” Carlos muttered against Harry’s neck, overwhelmed for a number of reasons. “Thank you.”

“Aw, shush, shush,” Harry crooned, forcing his thoughts to focus on the present. “Can we get you out of these wet clothes?”

Carlos looked at himself and let out a tight laugh, realizing he was still in the rain-soaked clothing he’d been wearing when he’d arrived. Evil, he was going to get so sick from wearing them for so long.

“Please,” Carlos groaned, tugging at his shirt. It was practically sealed to his skin.

“Do you want me to…help?” Harry asked, a minute after watching Carlos fruitlessly tug at the wet cloth.

Carlos nodded, sticking his arms towards Harry. Harry reached down and grabbed the hem of Carlos’s shirt, suddenly wondering where his trademark jacket was. But he didn’t ask, just focused on wriggling the shirt of Carlos’ torso.

Harry tried not to stare as he pulled the pile of clothes Gil had left down to the floor next to the two of them. But his torso was so pale, so freckled, and…covered in scars. Slashes and burned circles, and the echoes of bruises scattered in between. God, was this all from Cruella? That fucking bitch…

Carlos distracted Harry by pulling the shirt Gil had left on over himself. It was big, but it was rather cute to see Carlos in the faded pirate blouse, the sleeves billowing into pools of extra fabric at his wrists.

Harry smiled delightedly, but covered his eyes once Carlos began to squirm out of his pants. He didn’t want any kind of breachment of modesty. That was the last thing Carlos needed was an alpha taking a peek at him.

Soon enough Carlos tapped Harry’s arm, and Harry removed his arms from his eyes, letting the boy now clothed in dry clothes settle back into his lap. It was more comfortable for both of them, the warm fabric making Carlos more comfortable. Harry resumed his gentle rocking. His scent was no longer distressed, calmer, even relaxed. Harry took that as a good sign, wondering if he should try and make the boy sleep soon.

“You tired?” Harry asked, looking down at Carlos. His eyelids were drooping as he lulled against Harry’s chest.

Carlos nodded fervently, so Harry scooped the boy into his arms and laid him gently in Uma’s bed. He assumed she wouldn’t mind, since she’d left them alone.

Harry stepped back, prepared to leave as soon as the omega drifted off. Carlos rolled around a moment, then stretched his arms towards Harry again.

“Not right,” Carlos said, teetering on the verge of crying again. “Doesn’t smell like you.”

“Oh, okay, okay,” Harry said, surprised, but frantic to keep the omega as calm as possible. “We’re in Uma’s cabin, that’s why.”

“No, not right,” Carlos said again, shoving the pillows away from him, and trying to scramble out of the bed, now crying. He jolted onto the floor as a wave rocked the ship, whimpering as he landed awkwardly on his knees, a high-pitched keen coming from the back of his throat.

“Okay, okay, don’t worry, pup,” Harry reassured the boy, scooping Carlos back up. The sound stopped and Carlos practically began to purr as soon as he was back in Harry’s arms. He would have to apologize to Uma for breaking her rules later, but the omega was about to have another breakdown and Harry wanted that less than anything in the world.

So, he carried Carlos out of Uma’s cabin across the hall to his cabin. It was a lot smaller, couldn’t even fit a table in it. He only had a hammock chair twirling from the ceiling, a broken wardrobe bursting with his prized clothing collection, and a narrow bunk piled with blankets. It was his home, and he was almost embarrassed to bring the omega to it. He was sure Carlos was used to more, living in Hell Hall and all. But Carlos relaxed fully against Harry as soon as they entered the room, breathing in deeply.

“This okay?” Harry asked the omega.

“Yes, yes,” Carlos said, suddenly incredibly cozy.

Harry gently placed the boy into his bed, laughing softly as Carlos kicked off his shoes and wiggled around to get comfortable. He tucked the blanket around the freckled-boy, who was already half asleep, his face buried against Harry’s pillow.

Harry turned to leave, stopping as Carlos caught his jacket fabric tightly in a fist.

“Don’t leave. Please.”

Harry couldn’t resist the omega’s desires, not when he said them so pleadingly. So, he unlaced his boots, chucked his jacket on to the floor, and tucked his body next to Carlos. The white-haired boy nestled against him eagerly, and soon fell asleep, snoring softly.

Harry smiled up at the dark ceiling, rather pleased to have been able to calm the omega enough to sleep. He had expected a full night of staying awake, waiting for Mal to burst onto the ship and reclaim their pup. But here Carlos was, safe, and next to him.

Warmed by Carlos’s sleeping body, Harry drifted off into a deep slumber.

Chapter Text

Harry was the first to stir as the weak rays of light peek through the porthole. They’d slept through the night, thankfully.

Stretching, Harry shifted slightly to check on the omega curled next to him. Carlos was still asleep, a puddle of drool on the pillow beneath him. He looked peaceful; forehead relaxed instead of the furrowed brow he had sported most of yesterday. Harry leaned forward and gave him a delicate sniff. He smelled sweet and sticky, like syrup, nothing at all like the metallic scent of his fear yesterday. That was relieving.

There was a soft rap at the door, and before Harry could answer, it swung open. Uma entered the cabin on tiptoe, arching a meaningful eyebrow at Harry when she saw he was awake. He very gently untangled himself from the omega, smiling as Carlos immediately rolled into the warm spot Harry vacated. Then he followed Uma into the hallway.

“I remember telling you he was going to stay with me,” Uma said evenly, though there wasn’t any malice in her tone, just questioning. It wasn’t like Harry to ignore her orders like that.

“Aye,” Harry yawned. “I tried, Uma, and he nearly had a break down. Didn’t like that yer bed didn’t smell like me.”

“Didn’t like that my bed smelled like me and not you?”

Harry nodded in confirmation.

“He freaked out about it, wouldn’t let me leav’im alone.”

“Well, Evil. This is a problem. He’s really attached himself to you. Traumatic stress bonding, maybe? I wonder if Gil knows anything.”

Harry shrugged. He wasn’t about to dissect the reasons behind omega logic, it was always too emotional for him to fully grasp. He liked direct logic—cause and effect things. This thing with Carlos sounded more complex than just Carlos being comfortable around Harry because he’d rescued him.

“Actually, let’s go talk to Gil, he might know what else you can do to help Carlos feel better.”

Harry shrugged again, not necessarily confident in Gil’s knowledgebase, and followed Uma up on to the deck. It still smelled like rain, though the clouds were less heavy than the day before. They could probably expect another storm later in the afternoon.

Gil spotted them and bounded over eagerly.

“Hi Harry! How’s Carlos doing?” he asked worriedly.

“Sleeping like a wee babe,” Harry grinned.

“Oh, phew,” Gil physically relaxed at that.

“Why? What’d ye think he’d be doing?” Harry accused, though he was curious. Maybe Uma was right about Gil giving them some better insight.

“Well, not sleeping,” Gil responded like it was obvious. “If I went through something like that, and if you guys didn’t come for me, I’d be so stressed out.”

“Huh,” Harry stroked his chin, his hook still in Uma’s cabin from the night before. Carlos hadn’t shown any indication he’d thought about his pack—and the fact that they hadn’t come looking for him—at all. “The lad didn’t seem too stressed. Just…needy. He didn’t want me to leave him.”

“Ohhh,” Gil nodded. “I mean, that makes sense. You’re gonna be the only person he trusts for a while.”

“What do you mean?” Uma folded her arms. “Are you saying he won’t go back to Mal willingly?”

Gil shrugged.

“I mean it’s different with every person, but that kind of…situation means he probably has decided he’s safest when he’s with Harry. At least for now.”

Uma and Harry chewed on that for a moment. Gil knew more than Harry had expected, which was a nice surprise. But he wasn’t sure what to do with the information.

“So, what should I do?” Harry asked Gil, suddenly worried he’d been doing things wrong. He’d never felt super caring towards Gil, not the way Uma was, or any other omegas in general. Harry just wanted to be a good alpha, a good caretaker, for the lad.

“I think you’ve been doing the right things,” Gil answered honestly, scratching his head. He was flattered that Harry was asking him for advice. “I mean, you got him to sleep, which is important.”

“Right,” Harry nodded, relieved.

Uma sighed, still worried about the consequences of having the omega on her ship and not with his crew.

“Okay, Harry, you stay with the kid today, and try to figure out what the best next step is for him. As much as I don’t want to…I think I’m going to try and let Mal and her crew know what’s going on. I don’t want any miscommunications about this, since it sounds like Carlos might be sticking around here for a bit longer.”

Harry nodded, a warmth blooming in his stomach at the fact that he got to spend more time with Carlos. Uma gave Harry a look, which he interpreted as ‘don’t do anything too stupid’, then she turned to Gil.

“Gil, come with me to find Mal? I might need you to back me up since you know what Carlos is going through.”

“Sure, Uma, anything.”

Harry waved the two off before returning to his cabin, a slight bounce in his step.

Harry pushed the door of his cabin open and entered, turning towards the bed. It was empty.

“Carlos?” Harry called. No response.

Panic immediately seized Harry. He’d left the pup alone for too long, and now he was spiraling somewhere…where would he have gone? He hadn’t left the ship, they would have seen him come up on the deck.

“Carlos, pup, where are ye?”

There was a loud thump from inside Harry’s wardrobe. Harry approached the wooden closet slowly, then knocked on the door softly.

“Pup?”

“Here,” a small voice said from within the wardrobe. 

 “Can I open the door?”

“…Yes.”

Harry opened one of the double doors and peered into the closet. Carlos was sitting as far back as he could get in the small space, with a carefully arranged pile of Harry’s clothes surrounding him. The white-haired lad looked up at Harry with wide eyes, his eyelashes making him look even more doe eyed.

“Sorry,” Carlos said softly, shrinking even further into the closet. “I just woke up and, and…you weren’t there, and I wasn’t sure when you were going to be back and…”

“Hey, hey,” Harry said softly, crouching so he was eye level with the omega. “It’s okay, I should have told ye where I was going.”

Carlos just frowned, twisting the hem of one of Harry’s shirts tightly in his hands.

“It’s alright, love.”

“Even though I’m in your clothes?”

Harry bit back a smile.

“Even though yer in my clothes. I want ye to feel safe, okay? And if that means ye want to make a fort in my closet, that’s fine by me.”

Carlos nodded, relief sliding across his face. But he didn’t fully relax. Harry frowned, trying to determine what to do next.

“How’re ye feelin’, love?”

“Okay,” Carlos shrugged, not making eye contact.

Harry just raised an eyebrow at the omega, knowing there was more to how he was feeling than just ‘okay’.

Carlos fidgeted. In truth, he was very far from ‘okay’. He couldn’t do anything right.

He’d let himself be…taken advantage of by Madame Medusa—even though he couldn’t (and didn’t want to) remember what had actually happened, he remembered the pained looks on Uma and Harry’s face the night before. So, he’d let that happen, somehow, and then he’d needed to be rescued. And of all people, Harry Hook had been the one that showed up. “Escape route” or not, it was a rescue, Carlos wasn’t dumb. He could put together the pieces.

And now he was in the heart of enemy territory, seeking comfort from a literal pirate. But every part of him was begging him to not let Harry out of his sight for another moment or else the whole world would fall apart.

His pack was going to kill him.

If they even cared to come looking for him.

Carlos unintentionally began to whimper frantically.

He didn’t want to think about his pack. He didn’t want to think about how furious Mal would be, and how Jay would never be able to look at him again without remembering how Carlos betrayed them. And Evie…she would just be so…sad, sad that he had turned to an enemy before her.

Oh, Evil, he was absolutely the worst, a failure, a discredit to his pack. Evil, he should just die and spare everyone the trouble.

“Hey, hey now,” Harry reached out slowly, trying not to startle Carlos but also wanting him to come back to reality. He’d caught a few mumbled words from Carlos’s thoughts, and they didn’t sound good.

Plus, the omega was rocking back and forth, staring at nothing, a high-pitched keening emitting from the back of his throat. Harry leaned forward to touch him and wrinkled his nose at Carlos’s scent. The syrupy scent from earlier was gone, replaced with that metallic scent of terror and something rotten, and something…heated.

“Carlos, Carlos,” Harry tapped the boy’s shoulder.

Carlos finally blinked, his mind emptying of thoughts about his pack. Harry Hook was in front of him, looking concerned. He briefly wondered why Harry was worried before he leaned in a caught a whiff of Harry’s scent. He smelled so good, like the way home being lit with orange lamps.

“Harry,” Carlos murmured eagerly, wanting to collapse into his arms.

Carlos whined again, wiggling towards the alpha. But Harry kept him at arm’s length for the moment.

“Carlos…” Harry was a bit uncomfortable asking…but if what he smelled was what he thought was, then the boys had yet another problem on the way. “Is your…heat starting soon?”

Carlos’s eyes blew wide, pulling back from the pirate. He pressed his nose into his shoulder, taking a deep whiff of himself. Then he began ticking off on his fingers, growing more panicked. It was, in fact, around the time his heat should be starting.

“Oh, oh no. Fuck. No, no, no.”

“Oh, Davy Jones’s Locker, Carlos,” Harry groaned, dragging a hand across his face in exasperation. It just wasn’t enough for Carlos to be overly attached to Harry; he had to get his heat, too. He had not signed up for this.

Carlos whimpered, his eyes filling with tears. Harry was mad at him. He’d made an alpha angry. Carlos tumbled out of the closet to kneel on the floor without thinking, trying to make himself as small as possible, his soft whines an apology for existing.

Harry looked back at Carlos and the sight of the omega on the floor nearly made his knees buckle. He looked so vulnerable, so trusting…then he heard the whines of utter distress

“Oh, love, no it’s okay, you can’t help it, it’s nae yer fault,” Harry immediately began to soothe the other boy.

Carlos just sniffled, tears pouring down his face, still whining pleas for Harry to forgive him. Harry gently scooped him up and settled them both into his hammock chair, tucking the omega under his chin. He rocked them slowly, letting Carlos calm down while he thought through what he knew about heats.

It wasn’t much. Uma and Gil had somehow synced up their rut and heat, and spent that week tucked away in an old shack on the far end of the docks. Everyone knew better than to bug them, especially when Uma left Harry in charge. He got his ruts, of course, but he just channeled the aggression into being more of a bully than usual, and sometimes slept with willing alphas or betas. But that was a rut, not a heat. He tried to remember anything Gil had ever mentioned about heats.

Oh! There was nesting, he knew about that. Gil had sometimes asked for a recently worn bandana from Harry for his nest. Harry glanced towards the open closet. That must be what that was all about. But didn’t omegas nest with familiar scents, like stuff that smelled like their alphas? Oh Evil. Maybe with the combination of Carlos’s stress-bonding and his heat, he’d just…decided that Harry was…his alpha.

Oh, Evil. They were so fucked.

“Well,” Harry spoke finally. “We can’t stop yer heat from happening.”

Carlos sighed deeply.

“No, I know. I’ve tried. But one way or another, it happens.”

Harry did not like that implication.

“What da ye mean?”

Carlos shrugged, intentionally looking away from Harry. He decided to not mention the times before he’d let Evie help him. Not even Jay or Mal knew about those times, and easily let him chalk up those scars to more of Cruella’s punishments, never even considering they could be from anything else.

“Evie has lots of herbs, you know, for potions. We’ve tried pretty much everything to stop it entirely, but the best we’ve been able to do is make it…bearable and mask the scent.”

That was actually incredibly smart, Harry realized. Being an omega on the Isle was not easy. Being a pirate had offered Gil some protection, but Harry still had to pull him out of more than a few scrapes with power hungry alphas now and then. He couldn’t imagine what Carlos delt with. Maybe he should mention the herbs to Gil, see if that would help him at all. But first, Carlos. What could he do to keep Carlos safe, and calm, and maybe even happy?

“Da ye want to get the herbs? From yer blue-haired lass?”

“Don’t want to leave,” Carlos said anxiously, pressing himself against Harry harder.

“Wasn’t going to make ye, love,” Harry stroked his curls. “Was going to send one of the crew.”

“No, too dangerous. They’ll be so mad,” Carlos whimpered, thinking of his pack’s fury.

“No, pup, it’s nae yer fault. And listen, Uma went to explain everything to Mal, okay?”

“Oh, no,” Carlos gulped, trying to imagine the two alphas having a civil conversation and failing.

“Gil went, too…to explain things.”

“Explain what?”

“Gil says we’re…bonded, for a bit, and if it’s okay with ye, and if ye want, ye can stay with me until you’re ready to go back to Mal and her crew.”

Carlos flung his arms tightly around Harry, relieved to have a word for why he felt so attached to the alpha, relieved he had a choice in the matter…and relieved he could stay with Harry.

“Stay. I want to stay,” he purred.

“Okay, then don’t worry about yer heat, or anything, alright? I’ll take care of ye.”

Carlos nuzzled against Harry, pleased he wouldn’t have to leave the alpha.

“Wait,” Carlos sat back up. “Bonded how, exactly?”

Harry blushed, realizing what Carlos was implying. That was definitely not the case, but…that didn’t mean Harry hadn’t thought about what it would be like.

Carlos thought Harry looked quite adorable when he was embarrassed, since this was the first time he’d ever seen him look this way. Usually, he just looked angry or worried, or sometimes gleeful.

“Gil said that because of…the situation ye were in yesterday, and the fact that ye…chose to come with me, means that we’re sort of bonded in that way? Like, emotionally?”

Carlos mulled that over. It certainly made sense. He couldn’t really explain why he was so insistent on staying with Harry, since by all normal logic, it was a terrible idea. But his omega instincts were pleading with him to not let Harry out of his sight, or else the world would fall apart.

“Well,” Carlos leaned back into Harry’s arms, suddenly nervous about the bond not being mutual. “I mean…if you’ll have me, please, I’d like to stay, please.”

Harry chuckled, and pressed a soft kiss to Carlos’s forehead. The omega purred at that, and Harry smiled.

“If I’ll have ye? Are ye kidding, pup? Aye, I want ye to stay, as long as ye need.”

Harry also was blaming the bond for his inexplicable fondness of the freckled omega. There was no way he was turning Carlos lose until a) his heat was over, and b) he was semi-recovered from the Medusa ordeal. Harry didn’t have details, and only by luck had come across the aftermath, but he didn’t think that was something the pup could ever fully recover from. Evil be damned if Harry wouldn’t help him try, though.

They rocked for a few more moments, then Harry decided that he should try and feed Carlos again. Gil was always ravenous around his heat, which Harry loved to tease him about. He imagined Carlos would be the same.

“Do ye want to eat something?”

“You have…food?” Carlos looked impressed, though doubtful.

Harry shrugged. The pirates usually nabbed first access to the barges, so they always had a stockpile. It wasn’t enough to keep everyone full, of course, but Uma made sure everyone had something in their stomach.

“I mean, it’s not anything fancy. But I’m sure yer still hungry after last night.”

Carlos nodded at that, though he wouldn’t have thought to ask for food. That was just something you didn’t do on the Isle; it was a form of stupidity to admit to being hungry, since literally everyone was hungry all the time.

Harry stood, placing Carlos on his feet. He was still in Gil’s clothes, which ballooned around his small frame. Harry smiled at that and led him to the lower part of the ship, where they kept their ‘kitchen’.

Of course, there wasn’t a stove or anything to heat or properly cook things, but they had stacks of canned goods and knives and some utensils for eating the messier items, like ‘soup’. That was all you needed to eat on the isle—something to open the can and someway to get it in your mouth.

Harry directed Carlos to sit at one of the long tables, which the omega did, while Harry picked out something for them to eat. Harry felt Carlos’s eyes watching every move, but felt no threat from it, rather just a sense of pleasure that the boy would drop being overly aware of his surroundings to focus on Harry instead. It was a show of trust, and Harry was grateful for it.

He really had no idea how long this would last, and nor did he want to consider it. But he did want to savor every moment he could while he protected the omega and try to offer him everything he could.

Harry sat across from Carlos sliding the omega an opened can of a fruit called ‘pineapple’, while taking a can of ‘spinach’. He couldn’t imagine what these foods looked like before they had been canned and sat on the self to the point of mush, but the tastes were okay as far as canned goods went. Harry despised eating any canned meat, though he would if it was the only option. Having access to the meager number of fish that somehow wandered to the Isle side of the barrier had spoiled him in that sense. Another pirate benefit, of sorts. Those closer to the market usually got the ‘fresher’ loaves of bread, and the less bruised un-canned fruits. But the pirates knew that since cans lasted longer, that was their priority when the raided the barges.

Carlos had dug into his can of fruit immediately, and was now sucking the juices off his fingers. Harry watched slyly, unable to ignore the stirring in his core. That boy’s mouth was so perfectly shaped, so pink…Harry wanted to bite it until the boy whimpered.

Oh, fuck. Harry shook his head. He couldn’t even be thinking about having sex with the omega, not now, and probably not ever. It just wasn’t appropriate, given the whole situation.

Carlos had been watching Harry through his eyelashes, and froze when Harry jolted, his thumb in his mouth. He watched Harry tear his gaze from Carlos to the can in front of him, before Carlos slowly finished licking the pineapple juice off his finger before brining his hand back to the table.

“That was really good,” Carlos said softly, wanting to reassure the alpha, assuming his abrupt action was about not feeding Carlos the right thing.

“Good, good,” Harry muttered, and tipped the rest of his can into his mouth, swallowing most of the wilted greens whole. No point in trying to chew what was already mush. Harry put the can down, and then tried to think clearly. Okay. Carlos was going to stay with him. He was going to be in heat. Well, what in the seven seas did that even mean?

“What…da ye need, for yer heat?” Harry asked, looking at the omega again, this time analytically.

“Uh,” Carlos squirmed in his seat. “I dunno, it’s kinda hard to describe.”

“Can ye try? I just want to make sure I get ye what ye need.”

Carlos flushed deep pink from his head to his toes at that. Harry cared, no—Harry wanted to take care of him. That was…oh, he couldn’t even put it into words. His whole body felt soft and warm.

“Um. Okay…I uh. Like to nest,” Carlos said softly, still blushing.

“Do you like your nests in a closet?”

Carlos shook his head at that. Truthfully, closets reminded him too much of his ‘bedroom’ at Hell Hall.

Oh. His mother…well at least she wouldn’t be looking for him, even though she would have a long list of punishments for him to endure when he did return to her domain. He didn’t want to think about the chores list.

Okay. What else did he do during his heats?

“Um. I don’t like to be alone. They usually take shifts, so someone is always with me.”

Harry nodded, knowing he was referring his pack. He’d have to see if Uma and Gil would be willing to take a few shifts so he could piss in private here and there.

“And, uh…” Carlos thought some more. It was so hard to describe the behaviors he did on instinct. “I sleep a lot, I guess. Though that might be the herbs.”

“Should we get ye some? Like I said before, ye don’t have to leave, and I won’t either. But Uma is letting Mal know what’s going on, so ideally we should be able to bring some to ye.”

Carlos nodded, though he hated to ask. He hadn’t gone through a heat without the herbs in a couple years. He didn’t want to go through one without them now, especially with all the other…circumstances.

“Okay. As soon as Uma and Gil are back, we’ll see what we can do, alright pup?”

Carlos nodded, glad to have at least parts of a plan in place.

“Anything else I should know?”

Carlos shook his head. That was truly all that he could think of, though he was sure there were some other things that came up.

“Oh! Wait. Jay says I get really sweaty,” Carlos blushed again.

“Well, I kinda figured that one, since they call it a ‘heat’,” Harry chuckled.

Carlos smiled at that, once again amused by Harry’s word play. He truly hadn’t known the pirate had a sense of humor. What else was Harry Hook hiding behind his macho alpha front?

Uma finally got Mal to meet with her just after noon. It was more of a public stand off in the middle of Dragon Hall’s yard, but Uma would take what she could get at this point. She didn’t like leaving Carlos and Harry alone for too long, mainly because she could feel in her gut something else was happening while she was away. She just hoped it was something manageable.

“What do you want, Uma?” Mal hissed, Evie and Jay flanking her, arms crossed.

Sure, they looked threatening. But Uma didn’t care. She could take them all if she wanted, but that wasn’t why she was here.

“Promise you’ll hear me out, okay?”

Mal scoffed but Uma continued before the purple-haired girl got a word in.

“It’s about Carlos.”

All three of them snarled at that, positioning for an attack, but Uma just held up her empty hands, nudging Gil to do the same. No one moved for a long moment, the tension heavy in the air. Uma stayed as still as possible.

Mal finally narrowed her eyes but they resumed a defensive position.

“Listen, I know you aren’t going to like this, and I swear I don’t like this either…

But Harry rescued your omega from Madame Medusa yesterday.”

That was enough for all three of them to react. Evie drew both hands to her mouth in shock. Jay stiffened, his face twitching violently as he struggled to keep himself under control. And Mal’s eyes went neon green, smoke billowing out of her nose, her entire body poised to pounce.

“We don’t know the full story, but all Harry did was bring him to the safest place he could think of. Yes, he’s on my ship. And yes, I plan on giving him back without a fuss.”

“Why aren’t you giving him back now?” Mal demanded, her voice barely more than a hiss.

Uma gestured for Gil to explain. He shifted forward, not so he was standing in front of Uma, but so he was in the other packs’ line of sight.

“Uh, hi, I’m Gil…”

“We know who you are,” Jay snapped.

“Just listen to him, okay!” Uma snapped back. Gil gave her a nervous look, but she nodded for him to continue.

“Uh, so I’m an omega, like Carlos. And uh…”

Mal had begun growling, a low rumble resonating across the school yard. Evie moved to rest a hand on Mal’s shoulder, indicating they should hear what Gil had to say. Mal stopped growling, her eyes still glowing. Evie gave Gil a nod, so he continued.

“Uh, so Carlos was in a bad place yesterday, because we…pretty much know Madame Medusa hurt him. Real bad. Like, uh, the kinda bad that can’t be healed.”

Uma nearly burst with pride at how well her omega was doing, facing down an enemy yet still managing to be the most articulate she’d seen him.

“And Harry got him out of that. But Carlos is bonded with him right now, because Harry helped him. Like, separating them would be really bad, like Carlos might even die, bad, okay? Because right now, Harry is his safety.

And it’s not, like, forever. I mean, I don’t know how long it will last, but. Carlos needs to be with Harry right now. He just does. That’s the best any of us can do for him.”

Evie was crying silently by the time Gil finished. Jay and Mal were wearing a pathetic, pitying look, but Uma couldn’t tell if they pitied Carlos or themselves.

But to Uma’s surprise, both alphas turned to Evie for their next step. Evie, rubbed at her eyes, then sighed.

“Carlos needs to feel as safe as possible,” she said. “And, yeah, I would prefer he was with us. But this is an omega bonding that can’t be broken without the omega’s consent. I mean, that’s why people are always locking omega royalty in towers, so they forcibly bond with their rescuers. It’s a whole planned scheme for true love.

What?” Evie said at the raised eyebrows from the other four. “Mommy told me all about this. She wanted me to be an omega, you know. She even started building a tower.”

Uma shared a glance with Gil at that. Evil, that girl had some issues.

“So, anyways,” Evie continued. “If we care about Carlos, at all, we have to let him stay with Harry, until he’s ready to leave. I mean, based on Isle-based biological timing, it won’t be more than a week. But we still have to let Carlos do it.”

“Especially since we didn’t rescue him,” Jay said sullenly, speaking for the first time.

Uma glanced at him, interested to see how much pain the alpha was in. It seemed he really did care about the De Vil boy, like the way she cared about Gil. Evil, this was so complicated. She didn’t want to dance around people’s emotions, but she also didn’t want to fight.

“Here’s what I can promise,” Uma offered. All three of the other pack spun to her eagerly. “I can promise that no harm will come to him while he’s with Harry. No other crew member will be near him, no one will touch him, so on and so forth.”

“Can you promise that Harry won’t hurt him?”

Uma scoffed.

“My first mate would sooner die at his father’s hand then let anything hurt Carlos, that I can swear to you easily.”

“He wants to protect him,” Gil nodded.

The other three didn’t look too happy, but Mal gestured for Uma to continue.

“Two, I can promise that as soon as he’s ready, we will get him back to you guys without any fuss, okay? This is not the kind of battle I want to be fighting with y’all.”

They all nodded gratefully at that, though they would never verbalize it.

“And three. I can promise that bitch Medusa will never, ever come near him again.”

Gil looked at Uma in surprise at that, though he definitely agreed. That just wasn’t something they had discussed on the way over.

“I say we make sure she can’t come near any kid ever,” Mal offered, the possibility of an alliance against the pedophilic bitch being offered up.

“I’m in,” Uma nodded. The safety of other Isle children was always on her mind. “But let’s figure that out after Carlos is better, deal? I don’t want him to worry about that sort of thing right now.”

“Agreed,” Evie said, giving Uma and Gil a soft look. She hadn’t expected pirates to come to the rescue of her best friend, but Evil was she glad they had.

“Fine,” Mal sighed, holding out a hand.

Uma shook it evenly, knowing that this would be one of their few alliances. It was worth it if it kept one more villain away from the Isle kids.

The five parted ways feeling slightly better, knowing that someone vulnerable would be taken care of, and avenged.

Chapter Text

Harry brought Carlos up to the top deck to wait for Uma and Gil to return. He wanted to keep a general eye on things and try to air out the omega’s scent. He wasn’t sure if being outside would help at all, but it was better than the two of them sitting in the stifling smell of Carlos’s upcoming heat for the moment.

The ship was running smoothly, the few pirates who were assigned to the ship that day scrubbing the deck and checking their stock. The rest of the crew was scattered at various places throughout the Isle, guarding borders and gathering information. It was an effective system, having shifts so everyone got some action, and everyone did some chores. Kept people from going stir crazy.

That’d happened to one of Harry’s father’s crew members, one of the original Neverland pirates, around year ten on the Isle. The beta hadn’t taken to being stuck in one location, having spent his entire life roaming the sea. They’d found his body a few days later, washed up on the rocky shoreline. Hook had thought up the shift idea that night, reminding his children that the crew’s mental health was just as important as their physical health. Can’t have an effective crew if they’re too depressed to get out of bed.

Harry’d taken that to heart. He’d seen kids weigh themselves down with alcohol before they hit double digits, and adults who lived in so fully their own fantasies they were no longer reachable. But he and Uma worked hard to make sure their crew was healthy, or at least as healthy as they could be on the Isle.

Harry watched Carlos out of the corner of his eye, letting the omega roam around. He knew Cruella wasn’t mentally stable, but he had to wonder if her son had inherited any of the crazy. He didn’t know much about Cruella, in all honesty. She wasn’t on Hook’s radar, so all he knew was the general basics—she’d tried to skin some puppies for a fur coat and was bat shit insane. And she was ruthlessly cruel to her son, even by villain standards.

Carlos leaned against the ship’s railing and breathed deeply. He could almost get a hint of the salted water that crashed rhythmically just outside the barrier. He wondered what it would be like to be on the sea, for real, if the wind was cool or hot, if the waves really got taller than ships, if the endless expanse of blue would calm or scare him.

And he wondered if Harry ever thought about sailing across the sea.

Well. He wondered a lot about Harry. They didn’t know a lot about each other, since they’d spent so long being enemies… But now Carlos had all kinds of questions. What was Captain Hook like as a dad? Did he like his sisters? What about his mother, did he know who she was? How’d he end up with Uma, being a first mate rather than a captain? What was Harry afraid of? Did he ever think about the future, about maybe mating with someone, or what it would be like to grow old on the Isle?

He might never get the chance to find out the answers to all of his questions, of course, but it was a nice distraction from what he was dealing with. His body ached all over, and he could pick out which bruises were from yesterday’s nightmare rather than the usual hell of his mother. He hated the darkening outlines of slender fingers that rested above his hips the most, hated that someone had marked him like that.

He knew he was lucky in some ways, that this hadn’t happened to him before, and that he seemed to have gotten away before things got…really bad, but. He was furious at himself and at Medusa, at how she had made him feel so worthless and at how he was letting her.

And he was worried about explaining this to his pack. Because they’d ask him why he’d agreed to visit her in the first place, and they wouldn’t like his answer.

He had been trying to get enough to trade for a zippo lighter he’d found at Jafar’s.

It was his mother’s birthday soon, and despite her general attitude towards him, she was always pleased when he brought her a gift. Last year he’d fixed a record player so she could listen to the few un-broken vinyl’s she’d brought from the mainland. But she’d broken it beyond repair during a fit a few months later. This year, he wanted to find something that was too valuable for her to break. Hence, the lighter.

Sure, Jay could filch it for him, but he would get in trouble for that, and Carlos had been trying to avoid trouble. He’d asked Jafar the price and the older man had scoffed in amusement. But then Jafar had told him since it was still full of lighter fluid, it was worth something equally valuable. As if Carlos could find something like that in the Isle’s already picked over trash heaps.

And then, by fateful chance, Medusa had overheard their discussion. She’d stepped over and offered to trade Carlos one of her fully intact canes for him fixing her boat’s engine. Jafar had agreed that one cane would be worth the lighter, so Carlos had agreed, not thinking about it any further.

Until now. He knew Medusa’s boat engine was beyond repair; otherwise, she would have fixed it years ago. It was also a well-known fact she liked to prey on young omegas, the younger the better. And he’d walked right into her domain, basically offering himself to her. All for a chance to please his mother.

Evil, he was pathetic.

“Hey, pup,” Harry had moved next to him, laying a gentle hand on the omega’s shoulder. “You still with me?”

Carlos nodded; grateful Harry had approached when he did. Carlos shifted so he was tucked under Harry’s shoulder, pressed against the taller boy’s side. It was chilly outside, and he gave a small shiver.

“Cold?” Harry asked, rubbing his hand against Carlos’s arm.

Carlos shrugged. It wasn’t terrible, but he missed the comforting weight of his leather jacket. He didn’t remember where he’d left it, though it was probably on Medusa’s boat, where she had either tossed it or was keeping it as a trophy of sorts…

Harry pressed Carlos closer to him as the omega grumbled, a low sound deep in his throat. Harry wasn’t sure what that was trying to communicate but he figured sounds were good, and silence was bad at the moment.

But Carlos didn’t say anything to explain, so Harry just rubbed his hand up and down the omega’s arm, keeping them both grounded as they stared out at the world they would never know.

“We’re back!”

Harry and Carlos turned to see Gil and Uma returning from their mission. They joined Harry and Carlos at the railing. Uma immediately went to sniff the omega, then pulled away with a deep frown.

“You smell better. But also…” There was an unasked question lingering at the end of her sentence.

“I’m going into heat,” Carlos mumbled, getting it out of the way sooner than later, his eyes downcast, hand fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

Both Uma and Gil just looked at the two boys in shock. Neither had been expecting that.

“You’re going…heat…now?” Uma asked, exhausted. Of course. She had known something else was going to come up, and it just had to be the omega’s most vulnerable period.

“Yeah,” Carlos nodded, still not making eye contact with anyone.

“And do you…want to spend it with Harry?”

At that Carlos looked up, his eyes hopeful.

“Mal said I could stay?”

Uma scoffed.

“No matter what Mal said, if that’s what you wanted, I’d make it happen. But,” she amended, seeing Carlos’s face droop, “your pack agreed you can stay with Harry until you’re ready to leave. We didn’t know about your heat though, so you’re definitely sticking around.”

“They said you could stay, as long as you need,” Gil beamed, delighted to have helped the other omega.

“What else did they say?” Harry asked, knowing it couldn’t have gone that smoothly. It was Mal, after all, who had some unknown but unshakable grudge against Uma.

“Well, Carlos is their priority,” Uma shrugged casually. “They don’t like him being here, but they also acknowledged that it’s safest for him at the moment. Oh, and, Evie? Has some serious parent issues.”

Carlos nodded, very familiar with Evie’s mother and the expectations she had for her daughter.

“Evil Queen really wants Evie to marry a prince.”

“And she thinks you can find a prince on the Isle? Oh, Evil, that’s a delusion I hadn’t heard,” Uma cackled. “The poor girl.”

“What about Mal and Jay?” Carlos pressed, worried his alphas were angry.

“Honestly, kid, they were mostly upset that they weren’t able to help you more. Jay was pretty torn up that he hadn’t rescued you instead of Harry.”

Carlos nearly collapsed with relief. His pack had given him permission to stay with Harry AND they weren’t mad at him. That finally ended the internal conflict he’d been trying to navigate, thankfully. Now he could focus on getting through his heat in one piece.  

Harry grinned delightedly, pleased to have gotten under Jay’s skin, even if it was unintentional.

“Okay, back to the real issue,” Uma said, hands on her hips. “Carlos, what do we need to do for your heat?”

“Well,” Harry supplied at the omega’s uncomfortable glance, knowing Carlos would rather have him explain things. “Carlos usually takes some herbs that Evie gives him, so his heat is more bearable. And less smelly.”

“Ohhh, is that why I can never tell where you’re at in your cycle?” Gil asked Carlos, looking thoughtful.

Carlos nodded, surprised Gil had tried to keep track of his cycle.

“Cool,” Gil said. “Maybe Evie will give me some too.”

“You… want them?” Uma asked, suddenly worried about her omega.

Gil shrugged easily.

“If it helps make it less intense, it would be better, you know? Just in case we have to do something during it or something like that. Not an all the time thing, maybe a backup,” Gil explained his reasoning.

Uma sighed, reading Harry’s meaningful glance. It would be good to have another option to protect Gil, especially since she couldn’t always be at his side. She turned to Carlos with a questioning look.

“She probably will,” Carlos answered honestly. Evie liked when she was able to offer people some form of protection, since she wasn’t the ‘muscle’ of their pack like Jay or Mal. Herbs and potions were her specialty, next to knife throwing and flirting. And proper table manners. But people usually came to her for her potions.

“Where does Evie hang?” Uma asked. “I’ll send Gil, so he can get some for both of you.”

“She likes the gargoyle’s coffee shop, the one by Bargain Castle. Or she’ll be at her mom’s, next to Hell Hall. But if she’s at her mom’s you’ll have to have tea with Evil Queen.”

“Oh, I love tea!” Gil grinned earnestly.

Uma gave him a tender look, while Harry just smirked. That was Gil for you, always able to find joy in something, even wading deep into enemy territory.

“Alright, whenever you’re ready Gil, that’s your mission,” Uma told the blonde omega.

“I really, really appreciate it,” Carlos addressed both Uma and Gil. “You’re doing so much for me, I just…”

“Hey,” Uma said evenly. “Don’t worry about it, okay? You’re still one of us, an Isle kid, and you know our code. We’ve got each other’s backs against the old folks, no matter what. Just don’t make a habit of it and you’re cool by my book.”

“Yeah,” Gil nodded. “Though you should visit sometime, that would be cool.”

Carlos laughed, finally feeling fully comfortable. No one was mad. Everyone just wanted to…help him. It was a nice feeling, having so many people wanting to take care of him.

Harry glanced down at Carlos as he laughed, a warm sound that eased a tightness in Harry’s chest he hadn’t noticed. The omega was practically beaming. Oh, that was a good look on him. Harry gave the omega a tight squeeze, feeling rather…emotional.

“I’ll go now,” Gil said, glancing at the sky. “It’s gonna rain again soon.”

After pecking Uma on the cheek in rare display of affection, Gil bounded off the ship in search of Blue-Haired Princess Evie (as he called her in his head). Uma blushed warmly and watched Gil until he was out of her sight before returning her attention to Harry and Carlos.

She was truly amused that Harry would have to endure an omega’s heat in close quarters, especially one he was bonded with. Maybe this would center the alpha’s aggression in a more helpful manner than adopting animals. Her main priority, though, was that she needed to take care of the rest of her crew, and she didn’t really want the scent of Carlos’s heat onboard. But, in the spirit of diplomacy and knowing that Harry liked to have a say in things, she offered the boys a choice.

“Okay, now, Harry—would you rather have you and Carlos stay in your cabin, or do you want to use the shack?”

“Hmm,” Harry turned to Carlos, which Uma hadn’t been expected. Oh, Evil, this boy was in deep for the omega. “What’d ye prefer, love?”

“I’d feel bad staying on the ship,” Carlos answered honestly. “I don’t want to disrupt anything…what’s the shack?”

“It’s where we have the crew spend their ruts and heats, down at the end of the dock. Just some place out of the way, where you won’t be bothered.”

“Oh, that sounds perfect,” Carlos sighed. He spent his heats with his pack at their hideout, which was just off the main marketplace. It was never quiet, and his pack was always back and forth between the hideout, school, and their parents’, which just made Carlos anxious. Spending his heat in a quiet place sounded really nice.

Uma nodded approvingly, turning to Harry.

“I’ll send someone to check that it’s clean and empty. Gather up some food, and Carlos, do you need to nest?”

Carlos nodded, eager to start piling things that smelled like Harry around him.

“Okay, grab whatever of Harry’s you think you’ll want. There’s lots of room in the shack, so don’t worry about space.

Then I want you both off the ship, okay? I’ve got better things to do than explain this whole thing a million times to the crew. Me and Gil will come by once a day to make sure you’re doing alright, get you more food or whatever.”

The boys both nodded in confirmation.

“Alright, get going,” Uma waved them away from her.

Harry was quite pleased with how accommodating Uma was being. It wasn’t her usual attitude, but Harry wasn’t going to question it, especially since she was literally encouraging him to shack up with the pup.

The shorter boy had been sort of in and out of focus all morning, but Harry hoped that Uma’s news about his pack that some of his anxiety would be lessened.

Harry dropped Carlos at his room, then went to pack a bag full of food, making sure to bring a can opener. He packed more fruit, since Carlos had liked that so much earlier, and a few boxes of crackers for variety.  

Then Harry thought some more about what he was doing. They were going to be spending a week or so together, in the same space. Evil, he’d never spent that much time alone with anyone. Maybe he should bring a few books. He couldn’t imagine he and Carlos would be able to entertain each other nonstop for an entire week.

He returned to his room where Carlos had dumped most of Harry’s wardrobe into a box, and was now trying to squish the blanket from his bed on top. Harry watched the omega struggle for a moment, amused by how focused the other boy was on his task.

“Ye really trying to bring it all?” Harry asked with a light-hearted grin.

Carlos turned to the alpha nervously, biting his bottom lip.

“Well, I’ve never nested with your stuff before, I don’t know what will work best!” he said defensively, looking back and forth between the overflowing box and Harry.

“Aye, alright,” Harry said calmly, still smiling gently. “I’ll help ye take it. But yer gonna carry some stuff too.”

“Of course,” Carlos huffed, folding his arms across his chest. “I’m in heat, not useless.”

“Has it started fully?” Harry asked, pulling a few books from the stack he kept by his bed. He’d never gotten much further than a few pages in any of them, but maybe this week he would read at least a chapter.

“No, but…it’s very close,” Carlos sighed. The minute he’d gone back to Harry’s room he’d been ambushed by the early symptoms. He was easily irritated, sensitive to touch and textures, and very much wanted to be making a nest. He knew going to the shack was the best option, but he just wanted to be curled in Harry’s bed, the alpha’s scent already in place.

But he could keep it together for a little longer. He hoped.

Harry tucked the books into the food bag and turned to the omega.

“You ready to go?”

Carlos nodded eagerly, rocking on the balls of his feet. He took the bag from Harry, and watched the alpha pick up the box full of clothes. Harry shifted under the weight, surprised his clothes weighed so much.

Harry took one last look around his ransacked cabin, suddenly nervous. How was he going to make it through a week with an omega he barely knew, bond or no bond? He didn’t know the first thing about caring for an omega during a heat, and Carlos was particularly sensitive. He was going to fuck this up, wasn’t he?

Harry jolted as Carlos laid a hand on his shoulder. The omega looked up at him with wide eyes, his face full of concern. Harry shook his head to clear his thoughts, remembering that Carlos would pick up on any of his emotions immediately. He had to keep it together, for Carlos’s sake.

He gave the omega a forced grin and led them off the ship towards the shack.  

Chapter Text

The shack Uma had offered up for Carlos to spend his heat in turned out to be just that: a shack. It was a lot of mismatched, partly rotted wood precariously assembled into a cube. There was a hinged door with a large lock on the inside, and a raggedly cut out window that had a heavy cloth nailed over it. An out house was positioned another few yards down the beach. But, most appealingly, the area was secluded, the shack tucked in an alcove of rocks.

“This alright, love?” Harry asked, turning to look at the omega, who had been deeply quiet the whole walk.

Carlos looked at the shambled structure in front of him, feeling a surge of defensiveness spread across him. He decided that he didn’t want to be anywhere else and with anyone else. With a sly glance at Harry, he left the alpha’s side and sprinted the last stretch down the dock onto the rough sand.

Harry laughed in surprise, watching the smaller boy dart to the shack. Carlos had always been able to outrun everyone, but Harry was still amazed at how damn fast the lad was. He tried not to linger on his thoughts as he jogged after Carlos, worried his mother was the reason the pup needed to be so quick.

Carlos pushed open the door, wrinkling his nose against the muted scents of past visitors. It wasn’t terrible, but he didn’t want to be smelling that when he could be only smelling Harry. With an impatient huff as Harry finally caught up, Carlos snatched the box full of Harry’s clothes and dumped it onto the floor of the shack.

It wasn’t as clean as Hell Hall, which he was used to, but that was because Carlos scrubbed every inch at least once a week. It was about as clean as his pack’s hideout, though, which encouraged him as he began to sort through the cloth items to build a nest.

“’ere” Harry leaned in to help, picking up a scarf.

“No!”

The boy yelped and tore the fabric away from Harry, his eyes wide with panic. He clutched the flimsy fabric to his heaving chest with white knuckles.

“Mine.”

“A’ight, a’ight,” Harry held up his hands in surrender, and backed off. That was another thing about omegas he wasn’t used to: possessiveness. “No need to get feisty.”

Harry leaned against the wall, letting the pup do his work. He tried to maintain a detached air, but he was invested in the particular way Carlos was arranging things. The white-haired boy had also commandeered the furniture, grabbing the two chairs to create a sort of…fort. Every piece of fabric had a set spot that Carlos was gently tucking it into.

Carlos was meticulous about his nests. They had to be comfortable for long term stays, but also easy to escape from. He preferred to work in familiar spaces, so he knew how defend himself, but the shack was next to the docks, which was not familiar in the slightest. He also wasn’t sure what to do with the sand laying outside their makeshift place. So, much to his chagrin, he’d have to rely on Harry for protection.

“Harry,” the boy paused in his nest-making with a groan. “If someone were to attack—”

Harry cut him off immediately.

“No one will. No one touches this place, never have.”

Carlos’ brow furrowed. How dare the alpha dismiss his concerns! He was supposed to be building a safe place. That was his job!

“So? I still want to know how to build this for optimal defense,” Carlos’ tone was painfully sharp.

“Oh,” Harry sighed, his heart aching. He wasn’t sure if it was with pity or with adoration…or fear (for himself). “Well, uh…they’d either have to come in through the window or door.”

Carlos nodded quickly and padded those areas of his nest a bit higher than the others. He worked on arranging things just so for a few more minutes, fixated on the task at hand. Evie always said his nests were the best, and she had read an entire book about nest making, courtesy of her mother, so she knew what made a good nest.

But Evie wasn’t here to praise him, and Mal and Jay weren’t here to jump in it and make a mess of things even though Carlos didn’t really mind because it meant their scent was more prominent when they eventually left.

He was just with…Harry, who was still leaning against the wall, watching him with those stupidly blue eyes of his, the ones that looked like the ocean that lay outside the barrier on clear days.  

Carlos shifted around for a moment, nearing panic, unsure how to approach the alpha now. He had his nest…and he knew he had to invite the alpha in, but it was, well, Harry. Harry didn’t do ‘invitations’; he just kind of showed up where he wanted to.

Harry looked at Carlos with a bit of concern as the omega had seemed to have finished building the nest and was now just…looking at the alpha meaningfully.

“Um…can I join ye?” Harry asked softly.

Carlos’ face lit up and he nodded vigorously, patting the space besides him on the patchwork of clothes. Harry chuckled gently, rather pleased that he had figured out the correct social move, and gently lowered himself into the nest.

He’d never been in an omega’s nest before.

He was quite surprised to find how much he liked it. He liked that the omega had built this from items that smelled like him, and that it was built in a semi-tactical way with higher walls where the building’s defenses were weak, and that he was invited to lay with the omega, and that the omega had done all this…because he wanted to.

Harry and Carlos sat apart for a moment, silent, though each was aggressively aware of the other. Then, slowly, and hesitantly, Harry reached out a hand towards Carlos.

Carlos leaned into Harry’s touch eagerly, pulling them both down into the nest. After a bit of shifting and fidgeting, the two boys were spooned tightly, Harry’s arms wrapped around Carlos tightly.

“Is this a’ight?”

“Mmm,” the omega purred, shifting so his back was even more flush with Harry’s stomach. The black-haired boy was warm, his muscular arms comforting, his breath brushing softly against Carlos’s earlobe. It was enough to send Carlos into a soft doze, his breathing deep and even.

Harry sighed in relief as Carlos drifted off. He really was so unsure about this whole thing, which wasn’t like him.

Harry was the kind of person who did what he wanted and faced the (usually very few) repercussions later. But this was a much more delicate situation. One wrong word and the omega could spiral. One wrong word and everyone would be out to get him—because now Harry had promised that the omega would be fine not just to his pack, but to Uma as well. And since Uma was involved, he could not let this go poorly. He needed to prove to Uma, and to Mal and Jay, and to Evie, and to Gil…and to Carlos, that he was capable of being a good alpha.

He didn’t really think he would ever ‘settle down’ or mate, not on the Isle. There was just too much survival involved to even consider tying himself to someone like that. With Uma, it made sense. And the crew, it made sense.  It was a pack dynamic, not a mate. A mate was someone who you needed to think of even in the heat of battle because you wanted to protect them. And with his pack, he knew they could take care of themselves. Yes, he would step in if needed, but it wasn’t the overpowering thought that a mate’s safety would be.

Of course, he was basing all he knew about mates on Smee.

Smee had found his mate before the Isle, and she’d chosen to come with him even though she’d never participated in any ‘villainous’ activities. They hadn’t had any children yet, but she was hopeful. Her name was Bree.

It rhymed with Smee, and it was rather cute though villains weren’t supposed to be ‘cute’. Smee was the exception, especially in Captain Hook’s eyes. His first mate was his most loyal and trusted friend (a word that Hook used even when on the Isle). Bree had always watched out for the children on the Isle, running an overnight house so no one had to sleep on the streets. She was the one who showed up at the barges and begged the goblins to ask for better food, medicine, and warm clothes. She was the one who bartered with Evil Queen for rare herbs to cure someone’s bloody cough, and the one who figured out how to grow mushrooms on the Isle, even though the soil killed literally everything else. She had once even socked Madame Medusa hard enough to break her nose for the insinuation that Medusa had been ‘interested’ in a child.

Then one year, she and Smee had finally been given children—the twins, Quentin (Squeaky) and Quigley (Squirmy). The twins were their world, their everything. Yeah, some villains liked their kids. But Smee and Bree, they loved theirs.

And then one incredible wet winter, after the twins had been born, Bree had caught a cold. It wasn’t uncommon, especially on the Isle. But she’d refused to stop doing her runs to the barges and to the mushroom garden. And the cold had quickly turned into something worse.

Auradon didn’t send over medicine, ever. An occasional pill would appear among their trash, but it taking it was a risk since no one knew what it would do.

The pirates had stormed the barges, fought and yelled and haggled with the goblins for medicine. The goblins, though generally indifferent to human suffering, had genuinely tried to get something to save Bree. They’d brought all they could scavenge, but it hadn’t been enough.

Bree died before the eighteenth year on the Isle began.

The Smee twins still spent most of their time on Uma’s ship. It was easier than facing their father, who spent most of his time buried in running Captain Hook’s ship, lost in the delusion that they were still in Neverland and he’d never met Bree, never had children. Once in a while, rarely, Smee would ask about his children. Then he’d see them, and completely fall apart.

So, yeah. Harry’s knowledge about ‘mates’ didn’t exactly offer a happy ending.

Carlos shifted, pinning Harry’s hand in an uncomfortable position. The pirate grimaced but didn’t move since the other boy looked so peaceful. Until pins and needles began to shoot through his arm.

Then, Harry not-so-gently shook Carlos awake.

“Ayyyy, my hand,” Harry muttered, shimmying his hand out from under Carlos.

“Mmphhhh, ugh,” Carlos sat up. “Did you really have to wake me up for that?”

Harry pouted, not really hurt but slightly offended. Was he truly supposed to give up all of his comfort for his enemy this week?

“Oh, no, Harry,” Carlos shook his head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it.”

“It’s fine,” Harry sighed. “I’m just…new at this.”

“Me too, sort of,” Carlos also sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I haven’t had a heat without my pack before.”

“Aye,” Harry leaned back onto his elbows, gauging the omega’s facial expressions. “Do ye miss’em?”

Carlos pulled his knees up to his chest, looking vaguely into the distance.

“Yes, and no…I mean. I want to be with you, I do, this—” he gestured at the nest made of exclusively Harry’s extensive wardrobe— “is what I want, it is. But it’s not something I’ve wanted before, so I don’t know how to go about this. With my pack…we had a lot of trial and error, you know, like a full year of figuring out what was okay for all of us. And it’s comfortable now, with them, you know? That I have that kind of stability to lean on, that I know they’ll be there for me no matter…”

Carlos trailed off. Even though he’d gotten ‘permission’ to stay with Harry for the extent of their forced bonding, he still felt that he was betraying his pack in some way. That he was undoing all the effort they’d went through, and breaking all the trust they’d built for each other. How could he excuse spending a heat, when his omega instincts were at their fullest, with an enemy? With a pirate that they’d tormented and who’d tormented them? What was he doing?

“Well, we’ve already established this is anything but normal,” Harry offered up.

Carlos frowned even deeper, a sudden flash of his time at Medusa’s playing out in his head.

He was leaning over her boat’s engine, trying to decide where to start. The blower that would direct the gas vapors away from the boat was broken, most obviously, and he couldn’t determine where exactly the gas was supposed to go, actually. That was an issue. Was this engine even fixable? No, he had to, he had to get his mother’s birthday gift.

Then, he’d felt skeleton-like hands dancing across his hips, fingers dipping beneath his waist band. He’d jerked around, just to see a shiny cane swinging towards his face. Then, pain, and his vision blurring.

 Harry regretted saying that as soon as Carlos’ face fell even further into shadow. He didn’t want to imply that Carlos was anything but a victim, and he especially didn’t want Carlos to feel trapped with him. Sure, they’d gotten this far, but Carlos was more than welcome to change his mind at any point.

“Listen, pup…I swear any second you want to leave, you can, okay? You’re not a hostage, you’re not being forced to stay. I really, truly just want to make you as comfortable as possible.”

Carlos sighed, with gratitude and regret, at Harry’s words. There was no clear way to sort through his feelings about the Medusa situation. All he could do now was as Harry encouraged; make sure he was as comfortable as possible to get through his heat.

They spent until early evening napping on and off, munching through a few cans of food, with Carlos adjusting the nest as he felt was needed. Harry had made it an entire two pages in his book before it began to get dark. Then just after the sun set, there was a knock at the shack’s door.

“It’s Uma and Gil,” the daughter of Ursula announced.

At Carlos’ nod, Harry unlocked the door and let the two visitors in. Gil was holding a bulky sack in his arms, which immediately put down in front of the nest.

“Hi,” Uma said, glancing around the room. “You two need anything?”

Carlos shook his head, so Harry did as well.

“Okay, fine,” Uma then turned to Gil.

“I saw Evie!” the blonde said brightly. “You were right, Carlos. I did have to have tea with the Queen. They’re both so good at table manners. And their tea is bitter!”

Carlos giggled at that, imagining Gil trying to keep up with Evie and her mother during teatime. Carlos could barely remember all of the ‘manners’, even after he’d been friends with Evie for so long. Gil was very right about their tea being bitter, though, since most of it was Auradon’s over-steeped leftovers.  

“But,” Gil said proudly, pulling from the sack a smaller bundle. “I have your herbs!”

“Oh,” Carlos sighed in relief. “Thank you, Gil, thank you.”

Carlos took the bundle from Gil, and untied it, shaking a palmful of the crushed leaves into his hand. That was how Evie measured it, by what would lay flat in his palm. When they had time, Evie would measure and then steep it into a tea. But since he didn’t have that luxury, Carlos dumped the leaf crumbs into his mouth and chewed what he could before swallowing. It left an ash-like taste in his mouth, but just knowing the herbs were in his body made Carlos feel more relaxed.

“What else’s in the bag?” Harry asked, eyeing the lumps.

“Oh! Well, I told Evie about Carlos being in heat,” Gil said easily. “And she brought me a bunch of stuff he could use for his nest!”

Gil turned the bag upside down and dumped out a pile of fabric items onto the floor. Carlos eagerly scrambled to them.

Tears began to stream down his cheeks as he sorted through the items Evie had given Gil. Here was Jay’s favorite beanie, and the shirt Mal liked to paint in. And Evie’s apron that she wore when trying to bake. Oh, and here was the first jacket Evie had made Jay, the one he’d accidentally torn to shreds trying to squeeze through Frollo’s backdoor.

Uma watched Carlos’s emotions overtake him with the feeling that she would regret that she’d already agreed to what Gil had also brought.

“Oh! And,” Gil continued eagerly, oblivious to his alpha’s displeasure. “They want to come visit, during your heat.”

“What!” Harry and Carlos said at the same time, though Harry was angry, and Carlos delighted. They both turned to Uma for more information.

“Your pack wants to check up on you throughout the week,” Uma explained begrudgingly. Over and over she reminded herself that she would do the same if it was Gil instead of Carlos having his heat in enemy territory. That was the only thing keeping her from laying claim to the other omega out of spite. “Gil already gave them our word, but I’m going to make sure it’s regulated. One of them at a time, with both Gil and me for safety, for a fifteen minute-max visit.”

“Oh!”

Harry seethed silently, disappointed as he noted how pleased Carlos looked.

“Thank you, Uma,” Carlos said softly, remembering that villains didn’t say ‘thank you’ at the last moment.

But Uma only gave him a gentle smile and tapped Gil on the shoulder.

“Okay, we’re gonna leave. We’ll bring you more food tomorrow. Please, don’t burn the place down.”

And then she and Gil left with a final smirk, leaving Harry and Carlos alone again.

Carlos turned to the small pile of his pack’s items, then looked at Harry.

“Do you…mind if I put these in the nest?”

“Oh, uhh. I guess not?”

“I’ll put them all together, so you don’t have to smell them.”

“Whatever helps you,” Harry emphasized again, though he wasn’t exactly eager to have other scents mixed with his. But since Carlos’s comfort was the main priority…so be it.

Carlos nimbly tucked the fabric pieces into the spot where he most liked to sleep within the nest. Then he gave a sudden yawn, the herbs starting to take effect.

That was the worst side effect of subduing his heat with Evie’s selection of plants—that he became incredibly sleepy. But it was a fair trade off if he could avoid the more aggressive emotions that came with his heat.  

“Tired, love?” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow, watching Carlos circle his nest on hands and knees.

Carlos just gave a low whine as he finished his last lap, settling into a comfortable position on his side.

Harry didn’t move from his perch on the table, which Carlos had not pulled into the nest. He just looked at the omega curled in his nest. Harry’s nose was overwhelmed with the salted scents of the heat working through the omega. It just smelled so enchanting, so tantalizing. Harry imagined that this was what the open sea smelled like.

“Come, sleep,” Carlos instructed in a husky-half-asleep voice.

Though Harry had been wide awake moments before, he obediently crawled into the nest, eager to rest. After a bit of fidgeting, he settled against Carlos so that he had an arm draped across the omega, but still left some space between them. There was still some uncertainty flowing between the two, and Harry didn’t want to push anything. This seemed to satisfy Carlos as he had begun to snore lightly, his mouth open as it pressed against a pile of fabric heavily scented with the pirate alpha that was laying next to him.

Harry just smiled to himself as he left the omega’s even breath lull him to sleep as well.

Chapter Text

Carlos was incoherently groggy when he awoke for the first time the next day, but he managed to use the bathroom a bit down the beach and eat half a can of a mystery food before collapsing on top of Harry in the nest.

Harry woke up when Carlos dropped ungracefully onto him with his full bodyweight, but after a bit of wiggling was comfortable enough, especially since Carlos was clearly deeply asleep.

But Harry was awake now, so he just looking at Carlos sleeping. His freckles were so stark in contrast to his skin, like…inverse constellations. Or something.

Evil.

Harry tried not to sigh too deeply, both to not wake the omega and to not inhale too much of the omega’s scent.

He was feeling more than he really ever had allowed himself to. But here in the shack, in this nest made of his own clothing by an omega who wanted to be with him, there was nothing to do but confront his feelings.

Harry was easily overwhelmed by his emotions, plain and simple. It was easiest to just be angry all the time, to keep anything else from taking over. Anger was easy; it was intimidating, controlled, and safe. But now, laying in this nest, Carlos’ breath grazing his neck gently, anger was absolutely the last thing he felt.

He really didn’t know much about the boy pressed against him. He knew his mother was a nightmare, but also not much of a villain. He knew the omega was smart, too smart for an Isle kid. And he cared about people, especially his pack. That was obvious from the interactions they’d had prior to this whole thing—Carlos deferred to them completely, even more than Gil deferred to Uma. Harry had sometimes wondered if it was a forced-to-obey-alphas thing, but after this, he saw it was a genuine trust. But it was also Carlos trying to survive.

Being an omega was a curse on the Isle, and only the ones who joined a pack really survived.

Everyone used Gaston’s omega as a warning.

LeFou had come with the alpha to the Isle, eagerly. He’d made it a few years, until Gaston had found someone willing to sire his children. Then he’d been turned out onto the streets. The omega hadn’t taken the rejection well at all. He’d wailed in front of Gaston’s home for a week before a sudden silence, when it was revealed he’d refused to drink or eat since Gaston’s rejection.

LeFou had other options, other alphas that approached him, their instincts worried for the stranded omega. But he refused to adapt, to survive without the alpha he’d been bonded to for years. And so, he died.

Now, as soon as someone presented as an omega, they worked their way into some kind of pack. There weren’t many omegas on the Isle, thankfully, so since Le Fou they’d all survived.

But of course, surviving didn’t factor in things like what Harry had pulled Carlos from, or other alphas getting power hungry.

Harry didn’t want to dwell on that too much, but he wondered how much of Carlos’s life was spent obeying orders just because his biology forced him to. Was Cruella an alpha? It would make sense, but Carlos never smelled like her scent…if his mother had never chosen to mark him, that was obviously a sore spot for the omega. Harry still carried his father’s scent, though now it mingled with Uma’s and his own. But as a child, smelling like his father gave Harry status, and guaranteed safety, until he presented.

He couldn’t remember when Carlos’s status had become known. All he remembered was one day the boy was shying away from everyone, and the next he was fully protected by the pack Maleficent’s daughter ran. It was abrupt, but that was life on the Isle.

Carlos shifted, his mouth now open and pressed against the tender spot where Harry’s neck met his collar bone. Harry keened lightly, unable to help himself, the moist air tantalizing his nerves.

“Harry,” Carlos murmured in his sleep.

“Here, love,” Harry said, his voice tight.

“Harry,” the omega said again, pressing more firmly against the pirate, trying to find skin to meet his own.

Harry bit his lip and stared intently at the ceiling, trying to keep his urges in check.

“Pup,” he said gently, shifting away from Carlos’ hot body. “I gotta move ye.”

Carlos’ head lulled as Harry shifted him off, placing the omega gently on the floor of the nest. He didn’t stir, but Harry cringed as a low whine rumbled through Carlos’ body. Harry reached out and began to run his hand through Carlos’ curls and the whine died out immediately.

Harry smiled to himself, pushing the sweaty hair off the boy’s forehead, detangling knots with his fingers gently.

One chore his father often gave to Harry was to comb and style his wigs, which were numerous and matted quickly in the Isle’s humidity. Carlos’ hair was nothing like Captain Hook’s synthetic wigs though, it was silky and thick, unlike anything his father owned. Harry admired the white ends that suddenly went stark black at the roots. It wasn’t the half-and-half Cruella herself sported, but it was distinguishing. Beautiful, even. 

Carlos purred in his sleep, nuzzling closer to Harry. Harry took a breath and maintained an arm’s length distance between their bodies, though he didn’t separate their faces. He let Carlos wiggle forwards until their foreheads were touching, their breath entangled.

Harry didn’t mind this. Not at all. He liked knowing that Carlos was safe laying with him, that nothing in the world could come between him and his omega.

Oh, evil. Not his omega. This…omega. That wasn’t right either. Carlos wasn’t his, but he wasn’t not his. He was…temporary.

Harry stopped combing through Carlos’ hair at that thought.

Temporary.

At some point, Carlos would return to his pack. To Jay and to Mal, alphas who had only protected the boy, never antagonized him the way Harry had done. Well, he had been acting as part of the pirate crew, but still. He’d battled and taunted and tormented Carlos during their skirmishes and turf battles. Never with a truly malicious intent, but still. He was not an ally. Just a momentary safety.

Harry rolled away from the omega, irritated at the pinpricks of tears gathering behind his eyes. He didn’t want to admit that he didn’t want the omega to ever leave his side.

It must be this trauma bonding Gil had described. There was no other reason for Harry to have such strong emotions towards…towards an enemy. When all was said and done, and all was safe…Carlos was an enemy. An enemy to Uma, to his crew, his pack. And that is who had to come first.

Harry got up, fully disentangling himself from the omega. He did not like these thoughts, these feelings. Everything was usually so clear to him, but Carlos…Carlos just complicated everything.

Carlos awoke for the second time that day, his body still weak from the herbs, but he sat up fully, reaching out with closed eyes for Harry.

But Harry wasn’t there.

With effort, Carlos pried his eyes open, squinting against the light trickling into the shack.

He was still in his nest…but Harry wasn’t.

Carlos looking around the room, the shadows dancing in the corners. But there was no Harry.

He felt his body freeze, like his ability to breathe had been torn away.

He hadn’t felt like this in a long time, and oh, Evil, how he hated it. He hated the way his skin went taught across his bones, the way his mind couldn’t think through the thick fog, how he wanted to scream but he could barely force a whisper.

The last time this had happened, Jay hadn’t shown up like he’d promised to, during Carlos’ heat. Jay was supposed to show up, and he was going to bring Carlos to Maleficent’s basement, where Mal said she would have set up a safe place for him to be for the rest of his heat. But no one came for him. Not Mal, not Evie. Not Jay.

And so Carlos spent the week alone, in his treehouse, writhing in pain, trying to keep out of his mother’s way. She’d noticed, of course, but hadn’t punished him until after his heat was over.

He still had the scars from that punishment. 

Carlos panted heavily, trying to stay focused enough to stand. But he couldn’t control his limbs, couldn’t focus his vision beyond the edges of his nest.

“Harry,” Carlos croaked, fully aware of how pathetic he sounded.

Then the edges of his vision went dark.

Harry didn’t hear Carlos call out for him. He just felt it, a tightening in his chest that pulled his attention back to the shack he was pacing outside of.

He pushed in, and saw Carlos collapsed across the edge of the nest, thick beads of sweat spilling from his forehead.

Oh, Evil. He’d fucked up.

Harry knelt next to Carlos and shrugged him up to a sitting position, though the omega’s head just fell onto Harry’s shoulder.

“Carlos?” Harry said, nervous.

The omega didn’t stir.

“Carlos, Carlos wake up,” Harry said, frantic.

Carlos’s eyes flickered open at an alpha’s command, though he wasn’t fully aware of what was going on.

“Carlos,” Harry breathed a sigh of relief. “Are you with me?”

Carlos blinked a few more times, then came out of his stupor. This was Harry’s doing.

“Yeah,” Carlos shoved aside Harry’s hands and sat up by himself. “But…where were you?”

“Just outside.”

“You can’t do that,” Carlos said softly, trying not to plead with the pirate. “You need to tell me where you are.”

“But I was just right outside,” Harry protested, still confused.

“You need to tell me!” Carlos said, standing up abruptly. “You need to tell me, that’s part of the deal, okay!”

“What deal?” Harry snapped, irritated that he hadn’t been performing well as an alpha and irritated with the idea that Carlos would be leaving him at some point in the near future.

“You’re my alpha right now!” Carlos pleaded, unsure how to express what his gut was begging for. “You need to take care of me!”

“I didn’t sign on for this,” Harry huffed, turning away from the shorter boy.

“Yes, you did,” Carlos said, tears coursing down his cheeks. “Yes, you did.”

Harry sighed and glanced at Carlos over his shoulder. Unbidden, Harry remembered stretching out a hand towards the boy stumbling over his own feet in the market, the rain pounding down on both of them. And then Carlos had looked up into Harry’s blue eyes with his dark brown ones, the same way Gil looked at Uma. And Harry had melted, or at least his heart did.

“You’re right,” Harry sighed, sitting next to the nest. “Carlos… I’ve never done this before. I don’t know what you need, or what is appropriate. And I’m overwhelmed, with emotions and urges and…”

Carlos was just looking up at Harry from in the nest with those same dark, big eyes. Harry took a deep breath and offered Carlos his hands.

The omega took them, and looked at Harry nervously, like he was waiting to be cast out of the nest.

“I don’t want to mess this up,” Harry croaked honestly. “I really don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Neither do I,” Carlos told the alpha, kneeling with relief he wasn’t being rejected. “Can’t we just take things as they come?”

“I guess that would be easiest.”

“Get back in our nest, please?” Carlos whispered, patting the spot just besides him.

Harry smiled and took a deep breath. He was here, in the moment. He was here, in the moment. And that’s what mattered right now.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Harry. I’m sure.”

So, Harry climbed into the nest once again, taking care to remove his sandy boots before entering.

The pirate let Carlos arrange his limbs, so they were enfolded around the omega.

“See?” Carlos said, his voice muffled against Harry’s chest. “This isn’t so bad.”

Harry had to laugh softly at that.

“Not bad at all, pup.”

Chapter Text

Uma came by that afternoon, her entire manner irritated.

Carlos immediately curled behind Harry, keeping the calmer of the two alphas between him and Uma.

“What’s going on?” Harry asked, keeping himself big. He didn’t want to intimidate Uma, though Evil her scent was bitter, and it made him want to react in kind, but he did want to ensure he was offering Carlos something safe to hide behind.

“The Heart’s gang tried to move in on our territory. They took the warehouse.”

‘How bad is it?” Harry immediately felt a harsh stream of fury run through him.

The warehouse was where they held full-gang meetings, distributed supplies, and tended to their wounds. It was the pirates’ neutral ground within their own gang territory—pirates, more than anyone else’s alliances on the Isle, were prone to internal disputes.

“Bad,” Uma sighed. “We lost the majority of our supplies. There’s a handful of them camped in the space now, so we need to move today to get it back.”

“Evil,” Harry growled, his left hand clenching around the empty space where his hook usually was. He had almost forgotten about its absence, but the idea of his turf being threatened made it painful, a phantom limb.

Carlos cowered stiffly behind Harry, not trusting himself to breathe, trying to be forgotten by the two possessive alphas. He smelled the intensity of Uma and Harry’s scents rising, both of them desperate to protect what was theirs. He hated it. And he hated turf-related things—alphas were vicious when it came to territory. For a rival gang to move into someone else’s space was basically an open declaration of war.

The last territory war had actually been between Mal’s gang and the pirates—Carlos had been fighting against Harry and Uma, the two people protecting him now. It hadn’t been pretty, to say the least. Every time he walked past the marketplace where the main battle had taken place, Carlos had to hold his breath to block the memory of the overpowering scent of spilled blood from that night.

Carlos only had one scar directly from Harry, surprisingly, after all their years of fighting. It had been a deep wound from a run in with Harry’s hook from that last territory battle, though he would never mention it to the alpha. It was an unspoken rule that what happened in battle stayed in battle. They couldn’t afford to hold grudges like that on the Isle. Everyone fought to wound and to win. Sure, the next day they could be the best of allies, but in the heat of battle, it was about making it out alive. That was how the Isle worked.

But Carlos couldn’t stop his thoughts from lingering on the way Harry’s hook had sunken into his flesh, the way the cold metal dragged through him like he was fabric, leaving a river of blood in its wake.

“Pup?”

Harry’ voice was testy, and Carlos snapped back to the present with a jolt. Harry must have been trying to get his attention for a moment, the way both alphas were looking at him, their eyebrows furrowed and energy impatient.

“Sorry,” Carlos muttered, fidgeting under their stares.

“We were just saying that with…the unique situation, that Harry’ll be staying here with you. But your pack won’t be able to visit until we get this solved.”

“Oh.”

Carlos knew that made sense, but his heart sank down to the floor below his feet, maybe even lower. He had really been hoping to get a moment of reassurance from the people he knew, the people he’d bonded with. They were his pack, the people who protected him day in and day out. He still was waiting for the other foot to drop, so to speak, for Mal or Jay to storm in, furious at him for betraying them by staying with Harry.

“We just can’t spare people to make sure they get in and out safely during a turf war,” Uma gently elaborated, though she couldn’t hide the relief she felt at not having deal with Mal visiting her territory.

“No, I totally get it,” Carlos rubbed his upper shoulder, where the scar from Harry’s hook was tingling. “It’s fine…”

He trailed off, reading Harry’s body language. The dark-haired alpha was standing, his whole body tensed, the hand his hook was usually in flexing around empty air. If Harry stayed with Carlos, he wouldn’t be able to defend his territory, which was his duty as an alpha…

“Harry…do you…I mean…you should go with Uma,” Carlos choked out, his instincts screaming to latch on to the pirate and never let go. “You need to fight, right? It’s your territory.”

Harry bit down on his lip, hard, to keep from answering the omega. He wanted to argue with them both—he wanted to go and wanted to stay, for such different reasons. He felt like his instincts were tearing him in half. He needed to protect—but what was more valuable to him, more vulnerable? His territory or this omega? His omega?

Uma raised an eyebrow, intrigued that the omega was putting Harry’s needs above his own. She could smell how much it pained Carlos to even suggest the idea of Harry leaving him, but he was doing it anyways. Was this an omega-trying-to-please thing? Or was this just Carlos, the son of a villain who would prefer he didn’t exist at all, trying to make his existence as small as possible? Or was this Carlos trying to show he cared about Harry?

What ever his motivation was, Uma wasn’t going to separate the omega from his alpha during his heat. Especially given the trauma-bonding thing that was going on between them, as Gil had identified. That would truly be a disaster, and she already had to deal with a turf war.

No way was she going to deal with a moody first mate coping with his feelings via blood. As Harry always did. She wanted this dispute settled as cleanly as possible, though she would kill if it came to that. But she’d rather it didn’t, and if Harry was at all distressed during a fight, he immediately went for the kill. So. He needed to stay with Carlos, tucked away on the beach, away from any of the fighting.

“He’s not allowed,” Uma said, before Harry got out a single syllable, taking charge as the alpha-alpha. “He needs to be here, with you. That’s his role as an alpha right now.”

Harry swallowed thickly, knowing he couldn’t—wouldn’t—disobey his Captain. He would be staying. For better or worse.

“I’m staying with ye, Pup. We’ve made it this far, right?” He gave Carlos a cheeky grin, trying to soothe the omega, who was literally shaking with nerves.

Uma nodded approvingly, her dark eyes shifting to thinking about the other things she had to do.

“Gil will drop you off food for the rest of the week tonight, but don’t expect to see anyone until this whole thing is over. Ideally, we’ll be done within a few days, before your heat is over. I’ll send word when things get a bit calmer.”

“Captain,” Harry said softly, stepping forward.

He and Uma shared a tender, yet brief, embrace. Though they were both alphas, and often competed with each other, they shared a very deep bond. And without any further words, they understood exactly what the other said.

Stay safe. Protect what’s yours.

Uma left as soon as she and Harry pulled apart, giving Carlos a small but genuine smile and a wink as she closed the shack door firmly behind her.

The two boys stood just outside the nest, the shack dark around them, silent and still for a long, heavy moment.

Carlos didn’t want to make any sudden moves—Harry felt like he was about to snap, his body vibrating with the desire to leap into action and draw blood from his enemies. It was kind of…sexy, Carlos had to admit.

Harry was one of the few children on the Isle who Carlos knew would become a real villain one day if he stayed on the Isle, where cruelty was rewarded with survival.

There were other villain children that were vicious, to be sure, but Harry…delighted in the misery he could cause others. No one in his pack got blood lust like Harry did, not even Mal who was the daughter of the Mistress of Darkness. No one he knew took such aggressive pleasure in victory like Harry did. Which was in complete contrast to what Carlos was currently experiencing with the alpha.

Carlos had to wonder what kissing Harry would be like. He’d thought about it, of course, especially since has heat had set in fully. Sure, the herbs he took controlled the major symptoms, but they didn’t suppress the biological need to be…satisfied.

On his end, Harry was trying to keep himself from bolting after Uma. He’d never sat aside from a fight before, especially one as big as a turf dispute. Hell, he was usually the one seeking out fights. He loved the game, the way he could play with a person until they either broke down or there was blood (theirs, never his). He wasn’t sure if it was an alpha thing or a him thing, but still. He shouldn’t want to stay here with an omega in heat while there was a battle going on.

But he did.

He wanted to stay tucked into the nest Carlos had made for them, stay close to the warm-bodied boy, let Carlos sleep next to him, with Carlos’s breath tickling his neck, and listening to the soft snores of the omega throughout the night.

It wasn’t even a want anymore—Harry didn’t think he could actually leave the omega if he tried. Yes, his body was itching to spill blood. But as soon as he turned to look at the shrunken omega behind him, he felt himself melt into someone who didn’t need violence to feel like an alpha. Taking care of Carlos was enough.

“Alright, love,” Harry said gently, breaking the tense silence between them. “How are you feeling?”

“Um, I don’t quite know,” Carlos said honestly, looking at Harry with his head cocked. A few seconds ago he had been sure the pirate would just take off after Uma without giving him a second thought. But now Harry looked ready, maybe even eager, to play the role of a domesticated alpha.

“Well, let’s start with the easy parts. Are you hungry?”

Carlos shook his head, a smile creeping on to his face. He liked when Harry was doing his best to take care of him. It was a bit clumsy, but it was earnest, genuine.

“Sleepy?”

“No, not really. Tired, but I don’t think I want to sleep.”

“Well, uhh…” Harry looked around the space to see what they could do. There weren’t many options. “We should stay awake anyway, until Gil comes, and you can take more herbs, right?”

Carlos nodded; pleased Harry remembered the schedule for the heat-suppressing herbs.

“Well, I could read to you?” Harry grimaced as soon as he offered, sure that a smart lad like Carlos would be offended by the idea of a pirate reading to him.

But Carlos’ face lit up like the first star of the night.

“Oh… would you?”

When they were younger, and Cruella had been particularly…cruel, Carlos would sneak over to Evie’s bedroom in Castle Across the Way, once her own mother was asleep, and she would read fairy tales to him in her velvety-princess voice until he was calm enough to sleep.

“Yeah, yeah,” Harry moved to the stack of books he had brought with him. Sure, he knew how to read—his father had made sure he was educated. But reading to someone…it was intimate. “Okay, I’ve got Blackbeard the Pirate, The Three Musketeers, and most of Myths and Monsters: An Encyclopedia. The second half got eaten by a rat.”

These were all books Harry’s father had found and given him, intended to expand his knowledge of piracy. He’d started Blackbeard yesterday but was unimpressed thus far. Reading about a pirate that had access to the open sea, the whole word…well, it was offensive. He was a pirate, and he couldn’t even sail past a mile from shore.

“Three Musketeers,” Carlos decided, settling back down into the nest. He was unfamiliar with this story and was excited to hear something new. Evie and he’d read her fairy tale book to the point where the pages were crumbling at the touch.

Carlos had settled in the nest, laying on his stomach, his chin resting on his hands, watching Harry pull out the book expectantly.

“Do you…” Harry gestured at the nest.

“Get in here, Hook,” Carlos said fondly, reaching up to pull Harry down next to him.

After a bit of situating, Harry was sitting up, leaning against the wall of the nest, the book in his lap. Carlos was propped up on Harry’s knee, his eyes alert and eager. Harry couldn’t help but blush a bit at the undiluted attention of the omega, those brown doe-eyes staring up at him with gentle admiration. Harry cleared his throat and opened the book.

“Ready?” Harry asked.

This is where they both wanted to be; they could feel it in their guts. Carlos nodded, a soft aura of pleasure and calm settling across his being.

“On the first Monday of the month of April 1625, the village of Meung, where the author of the Romance of the Rose was born, seemed to be in as total an upheaval as if the Huguenots had come to make a second La Rochelle. Many of the townsmen, seeing women fleeing along the main street, hearing children crying on the doorsills, hastened to put on their breastplates and, backing up their somewhat uncertain countenances with a musket or a partisan…”

Chapter Text

Harry did not like being away from a battle. He swore he could smell the fury of his crew radiating off their defensive stances, hear the grating of unsharpened swords dragged against one another, taste the tang of freshly spilled blood. His body itched to swing his fist against someone’s face and crunch bone, to drag his hook against flesh, to have fresh wounds scatter his own skin, to feel in control.

The white-haired boy buried against his chest gave a soft sigh and Harry froze. His heart rate settled as he let his senses be overwhelmed by the omega who was spending his heat by Harry’s side. Willingly. As a choice. Because he wanted to.

Carlos DeVil.

Carlos DeVil, an omega, was lying next to him, Harry, an alpha, in heat. Staying because he wanted to.

Harry let his eyes slide shut again, taking a deep breath to center himself. Carlos smelled like the sea—or what Harry’s father always said the sea smelled like: salt water and freedom. The water that entered the barrier smelled like dead fish. But Carlos…with his freckles as numerous as the stars on the other side of the barrier, his hair that crested like waves in white caps, his eyes the dark brown of a freshly painted ship… he was something else. Something that Harry would have never expected to be involved with.

Being an Alpha on the Isle was mostly about ensuring survival—for yourself, maybe for a pack if you joined one. But taking a mate was an explicit weakness that was easily exploitable on the Isle. Especially when the adult alphas attempted a power play. Those had been less and less frequent as the adults had gotten older, but still…

Harry wondered if Madame Medusa’s…thing with Carlos was part of a show of power. Usually people left the big-name crews alone, and Mal’s pack was one of the ‘biggest’ (it was only because Mal was the daughter of the “Mistress of Evil”, even though she hadn’t really done anything other than curse a helpless pathetic baby but that was a whole different issue). But if it had been, Harry wouldn’t have been the one to come across Carlos. Jay or Mal would have been there.

No, no, it was just a Carlos/Omega thing, Harry was sure of it. It was so unfair. He wondered if Omegas were treated differently in Auradon. If Alphas fought over them or if they were locked away or if they were just. Normal.

Not that Harry could really imagine what ‘normal’ would look like in Auradon. Where they had fresh food and consistent electricity and running water…and, and, and. The list was endless. Harry read the ‘popular culture’ magazines that washed up on shore—only because Gil liked the fashion articles, of course. The magazines loved to make ‘US’ and ‘THEM’ lists comparing Auradon and the Isle, as if they knew what life was like on the Isle. As if they knew how omegas died when alpha villains found someone more interesting, or how alpha children were forced to submit to their parents, no matter the parent status, or how once-respected alphas fought over the least moldy food now instead of territory. They never mentioned that in the magazines.

“Harry?”

Carlos’ soft voice jolted Harry out of his stewing.

“Hi, Carlos,” Harry said just as softly, leaning back to look down at Carlos’ face.

His eyes were barely open, just slits of warm brown, looking hazily in the direction of Harry’s voice.

“You’re worried about Uma. And Gil. And the other pirates,” Carlos murmured, dragging a hand from under his body to place against Harry’s cheek. Carlos’ hand was damp from sleep sweat, but Harry leaned into the touch eagerly. The warmth spread through his entire body with a tingle, and Harry struggled to respond to Carlos’ statement.

“Uh, yeah, I mean.”

“You like fighting,” Carlos continued softly. “You like to hurt.”

Harry went stiff against Carlos. He…he did. He liked to hurt people, to see their pain. He liked blood and gore and knowing his place in the world via his own power.

“No, like…Protect,” Carlos quickly amended, his brow furrowing. His sleep-muddled brain wasn’t saying what he meant. “Protect. Alpha. Alpha thing, to protect.”

“Oh,” Harry relaxed, but only slightly. Carlos hadn’t really been wrong with his first statement. But maybe his rage was rooted in protection. “Maybe.”

“You wanna be with your pack,” Carlos said, just barely keeping a whimper from escaping on the last word.

Pack. Uma usually referred to them as a crew, being pirates and all, so sometimes Harry forgot he was part of a pack. Once again, biology making things more intense.

“Yeah,” Harry admitted, shifting slightly away from Carlos. “Yeah, I wanna be fighting with them.”

“I know how you feel,” Carlos said through a yawn. “I’m glad you’re here, though.”

Harry hummed without meaning to, rubbing his face against Carlos’. He was pleased that Carlos wasn’t as upset about his own pack’s absence as he had been.

“Glad to be here, pup.”

Carlos was quiet for a long moment. Harry let himself slide back into the comforting fuzz of almost-sleep, teetering on the edge of dreaming. And then Carlos spoke again.

“Why do you call me ‘pup’?”

This was not a question Harry had ever planned for. He called Carlos ‘pup’ because Mal and Jay called Carlos ‘pup’. He’d never really thought about it beyond taking an existing nickname and using it to mock. But their situation had changed, so maybe now it maybe Carlos upset?

“Uh, I dunno,” Harry was honest. That was easiest right now, even though honesty went against his natural reaction (lying). “I heard Jay say it and I thought it was…fitting.”

Carlos huffed, squirming so his back was pressed against Harry’s front—spooning, he’d heard Gil call it. It was… coy. And a bit distracting in regards to his…bottom half. But he could deal with that later. Right now he wanted to know about Carlos and his nickname.

“Is there something you don’t like about it?”

This was the perfect chance for Harry to mine information to use against Carlos in the future. His pirate part was screaming to prod and drag unsavory memories from the omega’s brain. But the alpha part wanted to ensure the nickname didn’t bring Carlos any discomfort.

“I dunno,” Carlos said honestly, keeping his gaze straight ahead to the wall of his nest. “Jay heard it from my mom. And then Mal heard it from Jay and they made it less...evil…and then you heard it from them…”

“From your mom?” Harry’s breath caught in his throat. He’d never heard Carlos talk about Cruella.

“Yeah…when I was little…she treated me like a dog. I mean, literally.. I had a collar and everything,” Carlos forced a sharp laugh, though his body was stiffer than a corpse. “I think that’s how I survived infancy, because she thought I was a puppy that would grow enough fur for a coat…But even after it was obvious I wasn’t a dog, she didn’t let go of trying to get me to be one. Freckles kind of look like Dalmatian spots, you know?”

Harry didn’t even try to stop the deep growl that escaped his throat. He’d wanted to hurt a lot of people in his time and Cruella was now on top of his ‘Worst Parents Ever’ list, which was a very long list. His whole body ached painfully at the fact that Carlos had ever been hurt. Well, he knew Carlos had been hurt, but to be hurt by someone who was supposed to be your protector…no, that was just too much for Harry to fathom. Captain Hook and Harry weren’t on great terms, but Harry hadn’t ever suffered while under his father’s care.

“Woah there, alpha,” Carlos hushed Harry. He wasn’t looking for retaliation. “I just… you know, pup in the wrong context can be…not my favorite. So I want to know where you’re coming from, is all.”

“Oh, well…I heard it from Mal and Jay, and I assumed it was just an affectionate term I could, well, tease you with…but also I saw how you responded to them when they used it and I figured given our, uh, circumstances, it would be comforting.”

Carlos tucked his chin closer to his chest, chewing over Harry’s statement.

“Well, you’re not wrong in that when people who actually care about me use it, it doesn’t feel…wrong. But…”

Harry chewed the inside of his cheek, sensing where Carlos’ thought process was going.

“You’ve used it with me when we were enemies. When I was trying to hurt you and you were trying to hurt me. So, hearing it from you right now is just…confusing.”

“I’ll stop if you say so,” Harry quickly stammered, pulling his body away from Carlos’ in order to remind the other that they had agency in this whole thing.  

“I’m not saying that—I was just curious!” Carlos whined and wiggled his body after Harry’s, seeking the comfort of his chosen alpha. “Don’t go.”

Harry stopped shifting away and let Carlos press up against him again.

“I’m just not sure how to be a good alpha,” Harry said without thinking, pressing his face into Carlos’ curls.

Carlos gave a cackle at that, and Harry huffed, insulted and ashamed. He immediately began to sit up, getting away from the omega he’d been trying to please.

“No, no, Harry, stay!”

Carlos flipped over again, a fist gripping Harry’s shirt.

“I wasn’t laughing at you,” Carlos continued with a feeble smile. “It’s just…we live on the Isle.”

Harry stopped trying to leave Carlos’ nest.

“Yeah, and?”

“We live on the Isle, Harry. Being a good alpha isn’t something that our parents want us to do, or something that comes ‘instinctually’ like it’s supposed to in Auradon. You’re being an alpha is keeping me safe here, on the Isle. Safety is ~good~ on the Isle. I mean, that’s all we really can ask for, you know?

We’re Isle kids. We fight over the butt of moldy bread loaves. We fight each other for meaningless territory to prove ourselves to our parents who don’t even know what year it is. Making it to the end of the day is a huge success by our standards. And you’ve gone above that and beyond, for me. Someone who is technically your enemy.

You’ve fed me. You’ve given me things to make a nest. You let me make a fucking nest out of your clothes. You stayed, even though your pack is battling an enemy pack. You read me a book!…Harry. You’re a good alpha.”

Harry’s throat was tight, barley allowing him to choke out a grunt. He was entirely overcome with…emotion, he supposed. Though he really couldn’t name it, he’d never really felt this before. It was sort of…pride? Pleasure? Relief? Joy? It was totally new, and Harry didn’t really like it. But he also never wanted the feeling to end.

All Harry could think to do was press a gentle kiss against Carlos’ forehead, muttering a ‘thankyou’ as he pulled away.

Carlos tucked a smile against Harry’s collarbone, pleased to have rendered the toughest kid on the Isle speechless for once.

Chapter Text

Harry let himself relax as he held Carlos against him. He was unused to this kind of…tenderness. No, it was more than that. It was careful and kind and sweet. It was… He wanted to laugh at the absurdity of Harry Hook, blood-thirsty alpha, feeling…adored.

He didn’t want to put words into what he was feeling towards Carlos, but that’s the closest description he could think of. Adoration…or maybe even...

Abruptly, Harry caught the scent of someone approaching. Someone that wasn’t Uma or Gil. Someone that might hurt Carlos.

This was still the Isle. Bliss was always interrupted.

Harry was up on his feet in the blink of an eye, blade at the ready, standing between Carlos and whatever was out there. He let the growl pour out of his body at a steady hum, an emphasized threat.

“No, Harry,” Carlos’ voice was small, but firm. “It’s…it’s Evie.”

Harry didn’t change a single thing. Not until he felt Carlos’ hand on his shoulder. Then he dropped his growl to a low rumble, still gripping his knife tightly in one hand and his sword in the other. The unfamiliar scent was getting closer, and Harry was unable to form a coherent thought other than Keep Carlos Safe.

“Harry,” Carlos insisted. “Let me see her. Please.”

“No, no, not safe,” Harry hissed, not thinking, just reacting.

“It’s Evie,” Carlos was pleading, trying to move past Harry towards the door. “I need to see her. Please, please, Harry.”

Harry pinned Carlos against him, chest heaving, and clamped a hand over Carlos’ mouth, shifting his dagger to point towards the door and resting the handle on Carlos’s chin.

“Stay,” Harry hissed, the unfamiliar scent now within a few yards.

They stayed in that position for a moment, Harry locked tightly around Carlos’ struggling form, until Harry felt something dripping on to the hand he had clamped around Carlos’ mouth.

Harry looked down. The omega’s eyes were screwed tightly shut, his body heat skyrocketing, tears streaming down his cheeks onto Harry’s hand. His breathing was ragged and Harry new he had totally screwed up.

“Oh, oh…oh, Carlos,” Harry pulled away immediately. “No, I’m—sorry, so sorry, I’m so sorry.”

Carlos jolted out of Harry’s grasp immediately, settling into a stiff crouch, arms wrapped tightly around himself. His chin trembling as he refused to look at Harry, but he didn’t go any closer to the door.

Harry felt his entire heart fall to pieces. What had he done?

“It’s Evie,” Carlos whispered out his desperate plea, that high-pitched keen coming from the back of his throat again. “It’s Evie.”

“Yer right, yer right…I’m sorry Carlos…I just. Didn’t recognize her scent…” Harry trailed off as Carlos began to rock back and forth, still keeping his gaze trained anywhere but Harry.

“Let’s see her,” Harry tried to hide his guilt by keeping his tone light, though he knew Carlos could hear how heavy with emotion his voice was.

Harry tucked his knife away, lowering his sword to dangle non-threateningly at his side, and stepped towards the door, keeping space between him and Carlos. He couldn’t believe how badly he messed this up…though through the haze of shame, he swore he didn’t smell Evie’s scent approaching them. It wasn’t someone he could place. But if Carlos said it was Evie…

Harry opened the door of the shack.

It took a moment for Harry’s eyes to adjust to the gloom and drizzle, but he didn’t like what he saw.

Evie was indeed standing on the beach in front of them. But at her neck was a knife, pressed harshly enough against her pale skin to draw a thin stream of blood.

“’Ello, boys,” Charlton, child of the Ace of Spades (second in command of the Queen of Heart’s card guards), drawled, throwing a wink at Harry.

Harry pulled his dagger back out and raised his sword. He hadn’t been wrong, after all, and neither had Carlos.

Carlos.

Harry spun back around to see where Carlos was, only to find him standing right by his shoulder. The omega was vibrating with anger, poised to launch himself at the enemy and tear them to pieces. His white curls were already plastered to his forehead, from the rain or sweat Harry didn’t know. But Carlos glanced briefly at Harry to indicate that Harry was in charge, and that he would follow where the alpha led.

Harry was relieved to see that Carlos had come to the same conclusion he had—that they’d both been right. Maybe Harry had overreacted, but Carlos was clearly willing to forgive that since they were indeed facing an actual threat.

Part of Harry wanted to just scoop Carlos over his shoulder and run. Another part wanted to slice the omega in half for giving him an exploitable weakness. Yet another part of him wanted to stoop down and capture Carlos’ pink lips in his, ignore the threat at their front door and give into the urges he’d been suppressing since Carlos had first gone into heat. Thankfully the rain diluted Carlos’ scent just enough to keep the last thought from taking place. Harry shook his head to clear his thoughts. He was the alpha—Carlos’ alpha—and he needed to get this situation under control.

Harry shifted to battle mode without even thinking about it. Evie wasn’t seriously hurt, but that could change in a second. It was important to get Charlton away from Evie, then to get Evie to take Carlos somewhere safe while he delt with them. That was his plan. It would work as long as Charlton was somewhat amenable.

“What are you doing here, Charlton?” Harry spat.

Charlton pouted, shaking their black bangs out of their eyes.

“Well, I couldn’t find my favorite plaything at the main battle, so I had to hunt you down, silly.”

Harry snarled, baring his teeth. It was true that he liked to fight Charlton. They were unpredictable in their fighting style and that kept Harry on his toes. Harry had always liked a challenge. Sometimes they fucked after a particularly good battle, alpha versus alpha. It was always rough and satisfying, something that kept his ruts from becoming too intense. They weren’t an ally, but they weren’t usually a foe.

But right now Charlton was an enemy. Harry them as far away from him, from Carlos, as possible.

“And imagine my luck! Running into the blueberry who was on her way to make…” They yanked on Evie’s hair, so Evie’s head was resting against their shoulder, digging their knife deeper into Evie’s neck. “A delivery to a certain little omega…who happens to be spending his heat with my pirate!”

Charlton, like all Wonderland villains and their children, was a bit…unstable. Harry picked up quickly that she’d decided he was theirs, of all things, and was acting out of alpha possessiveness. Possessiveness that translated into retaliation, which meant that they was more interested in hurting Carlos than hurting him or Evie.

Which was exactly what Harry didn’t want.

“I’m not yours,” Harry spat, thoughts racing, trying to keep Charlton’s focus on him. “Never was.”

But Charlton didn’t take their heavy gaze from the freckled-boy standing next to Harry.

Harry’s original plan wouldn’t work now. Charlton was too focused; he could see it in their eyes. They wanted to hurt Carlos, to tear him to pieces, all to send a message to Harry.

Harry risked a side glance at Carlos, who was now fully snarling at the other alpha.

It was impressive, how well the pup was holding his ground against a territorial alpha while he was at his most vulnerable. He supposed it had to do with pack bonding, with Evie being in his pack and the desire to protect her overriding any hesitations that might keep Carlos from throwing himself into a fight. Harry couldn’t let that happen, though.

Carlos would never forgive him if Evie got hurt, but Harry would never forgive himself if anything happened to Carlos.

Harry made eye contact with Evie. Though she was distressed, Harry knew she understood the gravity of the situation. In a brief moment of pure clarity, Harry and Evie communicated perfectly without speaking a word or moving a muscle.

On three, Harry indicated, and Evie blinked in agreement.

One, two—

Fuck.

Charlton moved before Harry or Evie could enact their plan to keep Carlos safe. The Spade child moved with an easy grace, which Harry would usually take the time to admire. But not when their fury was focused on his omega, on his Carlos.  

Evie darted away from her captor in flash of blue, and Harry shoved Carlos in her general direction, bringing his sword to meet Charlton’s with a loud clang.

“That brat is going to pay for taking you away, Hook,” Charlton sneered, pulling back their sword and swinging at Harry wildly.

They were angry, angrier than Harry had ever seen them, and that made their attacks reckless. That was sort of an advantage for Harry—usually Charlton fought with finesse and calculated every move. But it also made them faster and stronger, so now Harry was doing his best to block every wild swipe of their sword.

“Harry!”

That Carlos—he sounded like he was in pain.

Harry turned to the direction he had shoved Carlos, more concerned about Carlos’ safety than whatever blows Charlton was dealing.

Evie doing what Harry had hoped she would do: get Carlos to safety. But she was struggling to wrangle Carlos away—away from the fight, from the shack, from the beach…from him.

Carlos was screaming incoherent words, trying to rip himself from Evie’s grip and run back to Harry. Tears were streaming down his face, mixing with the rain. Evie’s hands were stiff around his wrists, burning him like iron did Mal. The logical part of his brain was urging him to take off into the night, to run while he had the chance. To go back to his pack with Evie and grovel for forgiveness. To get away from the pirates who had tormented him for so many years. But the majority of Carlos’ brain just wanted Harry.

Despite it all, despite Evie, his pack, coming for him, and despite the outsider attacking them, Carlos needed to be with Harry. He felt it so strongly it was all he could think, all he could feel. That he would only be okay if he was back at Harry’s side.

Harry felt something swell from the pit of his stomach, something warm and overwhelming and pleasant.

Then Charlton brought their blade sharply down onto his shoulder and Harry remembered what was going on. His pleasant feeling was replaced with the sharp ache of a sword wound, and Harry cursed himself silently, returning his focus to the enemy at hand.

“Stupid bastard!” Charlton had been screaming insults while Harry had been distracted, and their barrage didn’t end as they hefted their sword from their victim. “Choosing a half-rate mutt over me! A fucking slave to his own mother! A pathetic little omega-slut! I’m everything, you absolute asshole! He is nothing! I’m everything!”

“Go!” Harry pleaded over his uninjured shoulder at Carlos, shifting out of another thrust from Charlton’s sword, which was now dripping Harry’s dark red blood. “Go, Carlos!”

Gil had appeared out of nowhere, taking in the situation. At Harry’s plea, Gil shouldered Carlos like a sack of potatoes. Gil gave Harry a quick nod and Harry nodded back in gratitude. He took a hold of Evie’s shoulder with his other hand and let her lead them out danger.

The three disappeared into the perpetual fog of the Isle beaches, and it was just Harry and Charlton in front of the shack.

Charlton let out an inhuman screech and dove at Harry frantically.

It was clear Charlton wouldn’t stop until they physically couldn’t fight anymore, and Harry knew when Charlton was focused like this it would truly be a battle to the end.

As long as Carlos was safe, Harry reminded himself. He was fighting to keep Carlos safe.

“I’ll kill you, Hook, and then I’ll kill your stupid little whore!”

Harry grit his teeth. He had to stay focused; he couldn’t afford to let them get under his skin, not with his shoulder wound aching and slowing his movements. Another good hit and he would be unable to stop them from going after Carlos. That could not happen, would not happen.

Harry steadied his stance as best he could in the wet sand, and let Charlton keep attacking. He could smell and feel the distance between him and Carlos, and he channeled the new emotion he was feeling from the growing space between them into fighting Charlton.

If he had the time, he would identify the feeling as a mixture of grief and longing. Harry knew that removing Carlos from the situation was safest. That if anyone else knew about their relationship, Carlos would be used as leverage in the current turf war between pirates and the Heart’s gang. But Harry still wanted to be curled up next to Carlos’ warm body in the nest Carlos had made of Harry’s clothing, listening to the rumbling breaths of the omega as he slept in the dark of the night.

Carlos made Harry feel…certain. Like he had a direction to move in, instead of pushing back blindly at the cards life had dealt him. Like he was fulfilling his role as an alpha with Carlos. Like Harry was more than a Hook child with a fiery temper and a penchant for bloodbaths, more than a legacy to fulfill, more than…more than a villain.

But Harry couldn’t sort through all of that because Charlton was unrelenting in their attack. Blow by blow, the two fought in the slick weather; Charlton to regain something that was never theirs and Harry to protect something he no longer had.

Chapter Text

“Harry! No, Harry!”

Carlos twisted against Gil’s firm grip on his legs, pounding his fists against the brawny omega’s back. But Gil just gave Carlos a small pat of sympathy on the back of his thighs as they followed Evie through the thick Isle fog.

Carlos lost sight of his alpha immediately, the last glimpse seared on to the back of his eyelids. Harry, bleeding profusely from his shoulder and blue eyes frantic, bringing his sword up to meet Charlton’s, their gaze vicious and unrelenting. Harry turning away from him, telling him to leave.

Why did Harry want him to leave?

“No, put me down!” Carlos wailed once more, trying to shove himself off of Gil’s shoulder. He only managed to shift himself into a more uncomfortable position, but Carlos needs to be back with Harry, if only to understand why Harry pushed him away.

It’s more than a need to go back to Harry. The farther they are apart, the bigger the hole in Carlos’ center is becoming. He’s drowning and burning alive at the same time. Each breath drags like razors through his body. He needs to go back and make things right. Submit to Harry, bare his neck, and plead for forgiveness for anything that he’d done to cause Harry to want him to leave. How could Harry want him to leave? He…and Harry, they were…bonded! Harry was safety, Harry was good, Harry was kind, Harry was…his. His alpha. Carlos felt like his mind was on fire, worse than any fever he’s suffered through. His omega instincts are screaming at him to go back, go back, go back!

But Gil’s grip is firm, and Evie is quickly leading them away, away, away from Harry.  

As Evie and Gil weave through the marketplace, the smoke from the battle between the pirates and the Hearts thinned back into the usual grey fog and Carlos knew with a sinking heart that he wouldn’t be seeing Harry for a while. He screwed his eyes shut and let his pain drown everything out, slipping into darkness.

“This is bad,” Gil murmured to Evie as they step into a quieter alley, pausing to check for pursuers. There are none, the first thing to go right that day.

“I know, I know,” Evie sighs, tucking her hair behind her ears. Her neck wound has stopped bleeding and she looks no worse for wear otherwise. But that doesn’t mean she isn’t nearly buckling at the overwhelming scent of Carlos’ despair.

“He smells,” Gil offered astutely, his frown deepening. “Worse than he did when Harry first found him.”

“Fucking Charlton,” Evie huffed, running a hand across Carlos’ brow. She jerks back at the blazing temperature. “Couldn’t leave Harry alone for one fucking fight?”

“Guess more people figured out about Harry and Carlos than we thought,” Gil grimaces, shifting Carlos’ sweaty body to his front. The Spade child’s obsession with Harry was well known but Gil was surprised to see it reach this level of possessiveness. Charlton must have caught wind that Harry was spending a heat with an omega and taken matters into their own hands. “Where are we going?”

“Just a bit further, to a meeting point where Jay will take Carlos the rest of the way.”

“Good, I want to get back to Harry. He’s not going to be doing too well either.”

Neither of them says what they’re both thinking—that breaking their trauma bond so forcefully and suddenly might have deadly consequences for the omega and alpha.

“As soon as this battle is…settled, send someone and we’ll figure out our next steps, okay?” Evie gave the tall omega a small smile that didn’t reach her eyes and lead him through the twisting alleyways.

Gil is relieved to deposit the shuddering, feverish body of Carlos into Jay’s waiting arms.

“Evil, ‘Los,” Jay nearly begins to cry as he looks at the small body of his omega shaking in his arms.

Mal is furious in a way that—almost—put Uma’s fury to shame. Gil slides behind Evie to let her explain what was going on. There was no reason to put himself directly in the warpath of an alpha, not when he had other, more important things to do.

Evie stood firmly in front of Mal, not trembling in the slightest as the purple-haired alpha growls and her eyes begin to glow electric green.

“Gil, thank you,” Evie says over her shoulder, giving the omega permission to leave. “Go take care of Harry.”

“Right,” Gil gives Carlos one last glance, his heart breaking at seeing the other omega once again in so much pain. Then he takes off into the rain and Evie turns to face her pack.

“What. In. Hades. Name. Happened,” Mal snarls, stalking forward.

She grips Evie’s chin in her hand and forcefully tilts the blue-haired girl’s head to see the extent of her wounded neck. Both alphas growl at the sight of it and Evie briefly leans into Mal’s touch. But they need to get Carlos someplace safe more than Evie wants to let her alphas fawn over her.

“Who?” Jay’s whisper is hoarse and taut.

“I’m fine,” Evie pushes Mal’s hands away. “We need to get Carlos somewhere safe, now.”

Mal takes in Carlos’ state, finally registering what was going on with the omega. Her nose crinkled and she fights back a gag. Jay looked like he was about to collapse, his body now trembling with rage and panic. Mal gathers herself and takes charge of her pack.

“Evil…Okay, let’s move.”

With Jay cradling Carlos like a broken bird, the pack picked their way to their second favorite hideout.

Their main hideout, the one that is the most well stocked and most frequented, is close to the marketplace. They usually use the second to spend heats and ruts away from people, its location tucked into a crevice close to Carlos and Evie’s homes. While the proximity to Cruella isn’t ideal, the closeness ensures that if Carlos is hit unexpectedly by his heat he can usually stumble to safety before the symptoms fully set in.  They only have one other neighbor, and former-Prince Hans is usually peacocking in town, leaving them a mostly private part of the Isle to hide out in.

The four enter the space in a frenzy, Jay laying Carlos gently in the nest they’ve got permanently set up at this location while Mal does a thorough but quick border patrol, and Evie immediately pulls ingredients for a potion out of the cabinets.

Mal stalks back in as Jay sets about peeling off Carlos’ sticky clothes, scowling at the fact that his omega is in pirate garb, then places a cool cloth on his forehead as the omega continues to shake, now whimpering feebly as well.

“Explain,” Mal barks, her alpha instincts scrambling to regain any sense of control.

“I went to take Carlos his herbs, as planned,” Evie begins in a quiet voice, forcing herself to place her hands on the table. She’s shaking, badly, and she can’t make the potion Carlos needs with unsteady hands.

“This is not as planned,” Jay hisses.

Evie fixes the alpha with a withering glare before continuing.

“I was supposed to meet Gil at Ursula’s, but Charlton intervened before I arrived. They,” Evie traced the cut on her neck with a delicate finger, “had me lead them to Harry and Carlos. They’re upset…that Carlos was spending his heat with Harry. They attacked, Harry had Gil and I get Carlos to safety.”

“Hmph,” Mal nods in mild approval at Harry’s course of action.

“How was the fight going when you left?” Jay asks, unsure if he wants Harry to win or not. He’s still grappling with the fact that another alpha had been the one to take his omega to safety.

“I don’t know,” Evie shook her head. “They’re so evenly matched and…I’ve never seen anyone that irrational…”

“Charlton? Or Harry?” Mal asks, moving to look at Carlos.

“Charlton,” Evie whispered, a shiver running through her as she recalled the wrathful gaze in their eyes as they took in Harry and Carlos standing together.  

Mal kicked off her boots and slid into the carefully constructed nest alongside Carlos.

“Hey, C, you’re safe, okay? You’re with the pack, me and Jay and Evie, we’re all here, okay? Nothing’s gonna hurt you.”

Carlos’ whimpers subdued slightly, though he still trembled as Mal gently tucked a blanket around him.

“This is all so fucked,” Jay spat, running a hand through his hair in frustration. “First, he’s assaulted by Madame Medusa, then he trauma bonds with Harry Hook of all people, then he’s in heat, and then! And then, Charlton shows up and puts him in more danger!”

“It’s not ideal,” Mal agrees with a deep frown. “Evie, what do we need to do?”

The two alphas turn to their beta. Evie was probably the most knowledgeable of anyone they knew in terms of their secondary biological presentations, since her mother had been expecting her daughter to be an omega, and thusly the perfect princess. So Evie had spent a lot of time reading and studying pack dynamics, especially alpha and omega bonds.

Evie had returned to griding herbs into a thick paste, adding a splash of liquids here and there, but now she paused and joined the other three in the nest.

“Well,” Evie ran a hand through Carlos’ unruly curls. “To be honest, he probably needs to get back to Harry.”

“What?” Mal and Jay squawked in protest.

“Separating them for too long…could be fatal,” Evie murmured, her jaw clenching. “With Carlos’ heat putting him in a vulnerable mindset, plus the trauma bond from… his time with Madame Medusa, he is only going to feel safe and at peace if Harry is nearby. Especially while he’s still in heat.”

“But shouldn’t his heat be almost over?” Mal huffed.

“He’s nearing the end, yes, but the separation might have extended it.”

“Why?”

“His instincts are telling him his alpha rejected him, even though that’s not what happened. So he’s going into desperation mode. Alphas tend to respond more favorably to omegas in heat, due to their drive to protect and mate. If an omega wants to regain the favor of an alpha, their heat may occur off-cycle or become extended until the omega feels they have succeeded in proving their submission to the alpha.”

“So how does affect C if we don’t—can’t—get Harry and Carlos back together?” Jay asks, glaring at the pile of clothes he had taken off the omega. The pirate clothes reeked of Harry, of a threat.

“Carlos’ body will continue to be in heat, which will drive him into a severely weakened state. You’ve seen how little he can do during a ‘good’ heat—this will be the worst he’s been through, but even more so. Eventually his body will determine that he’s thoroughly been abandoned, and will shut down…”

“He’ll die,” Mal whispered, horrified.

“Would this happen if they weren’t trauma bonded?” Jay demanded. “Because we’re his alphas, he has us!”

“No, he would still have a tumultuous heat but the presence of you two would negate any of the more drastic effects. But the forced trauma bond…it plays havoc with an omega’s system. It turns them into a sort of…”

“Prisoner?” Mal offered softly.

Evie grimaced but nodded.

“Prisoner to the alpha. They become completely dependent on the alpha that quote-unquote rescues them. Hence the towers and dragons scheme for mainland heirs. It ensures complete loyalty.”

“Okay. We need to get Harry and Carlos back together to prevent C from dying. But then what? Is Carlos going to be bonded—” Jay spat out the word “—with Hook for the rest of their lives?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Evie sighs. “I don’t know what happens when other pre-bonded alphas get involved, or how Isle life in general will affect Carlos’ omega dynamics. I think we just have to wait and see.”

“Carlos won’t abandon us, Jay,” Mal says firmly. “Hook or not, he’s part of our pack.”

“Things might just have to be a little more…friendly between us and the pirates,” Evie offers her alphas a meek smile, knowing that is the last thing they want to hear.

“Only if that is what Carlos wants,” Jay says reluctantly.

“Agreed,” Mal huffs, tucking the blanket back around Carlos’ toes where he’d wiggled them out.

“You’re doing exactly what you should,” Evie said gently, reminding Mal and Jay that they don’t have normal lives. They don’t have the luxury of choice; they only have survival. And sometimes survival means packs have to put up with something they don’t necessarily like.

“Didn’t something similar happen with the Tremaines?” Mal considers.

“Mmm, sort of,” Evie remembers. “After the Isle’s creation, Anastasia was forced to re-bond with her mother and sister for survival, even though she’d intentionally left them for her husband while on the mainland. But she and her sister are betas, so it wasn’t as severe.”

“Maybe we can ask her for advice?”

“I’ll see what Dizzy knows,” Evie stood, returning to her potion. “After Carlos is more settled. I’m almost done with this potion. It should reduce his fever and help him sleep.”

“And reduce the smell?” Jay asks hopefully. Not that he minds Carlos’ scent, usually. But this is so…dense and murky, Jay has to force himself not to inhale too deeply or else he knows he’ll lose control of his anger, and Carlos is the last person he wants to lash out at.

Evie nods and finishes making the paste.

“Sit him up, it has to go under his tongue,” she instructs.

Between Mal and Jay, they manage to prop Carlos’ limp body up and work his jaw open.

“I’m gonna give you something to help, C,” Evie promises as Carlos tries to thrash out of the alphas’ grips, still in a fitful coma state.

She manages to get the spoonful of goop into his mouth and Carlos dutifully swallows at Evie’s gentle coaxing, though he immediately coughs aggressively.

“Water,” Mal instructs, pressing a canteen to Carlos’ lips.

That he greedily sips, his eyes blinking open slowly. His gaze is unfocused and it’s clear he’s not quite present.

“Hi, Carlos,” Jay murmurs, shifting so he’s fully in Carlos’ line of vision. “It’s Jay. You’re safe, okay? You’re with the pack.”

Carlos just blinks in response, his brows furrowing as he tries to orient himself.

“You’re safe, we’ve got you,” Jay repeats, clearly concerned.

“Do the soothing noises,” Evie nudges Mal, who obliges and begins to make a deep rumbling sound. Jay does the same and Evie picks up repeating, “You’re safe, Carlos, you’re safe.”

The omega nods slowly, his eyes drooping shut again. Jay gently guided him back to a laying position, still rumbling gently.

“Take shifts,” Mal decides, slipping out of the nest. “I need to go see what I can find out about Harry.”

“No,” Evie shakes her head, catching Mal’s wrist. “He can’t have any more disruptions. I told Gil to send someone when the fight is done, so we all stay and wait.”

Mal was unhappy with the plan but settled back into the nest with her pack. She’s relieved to have them all in one place again. Since Carlos had been…absent things had felt weird. She and Jay had been bickering more than usual and Evie had been intentionally quiet when she would usually speak her mind. They really did need Carlos to keep them all balanced.

But Carlos was back now, he was safe and right where he was supposed to be.

Chapter Text

The morning of the fourth day of battle breaks over the Isle in a soft pink haze. It's unusual for the Isle's gloom to be faint enough for the sun to appear but Gil isn't complaining. It's a good omen, a sign that his crew might finally win this battle.
Though it can't be considered much of a win at this point.

The warehouse the Hearts had taken is a smoldering wreckage, a treasure trove of necessary supplies gathered over years reduced to smoke and ash. And still, the clang of swords and shouts of pain from both sides echoed through the early morning air. The battle was waning, but the aftermath was going to shake the Isle’s already brittle foundations into dust.

Because of Harry and Carlos.

Because of an alpha and an omega.

Because Charlton challenged an alpha that was protecting their trauma-bonded omega while they were in heat.

Because Charlton was dead now.

Because that wasn’t enough for Harry, and the bodies of his fury were scattered down the Isle’s beach.

Because Harry was bloodthirsty.

Gil didn't feel much remorse for the death of the unstable child of the Ace of Spades. They'd never been one to play fair—even though “fair” on the Isle was skewed to all hell, there were still rules, real rules. Things that kept the non-original villains alive year after year.
Charlton had thrown that all away. Broken an unspoken treaty that was forcing the conflict to continue.

The Hearts and the pirates had been locked in a deadly battle for days now, unable to break away without declaring full surrender.

Sides were being chosen and alliances were more explicit than they’d ever been.
Mal’s gang, the Dragons, had shown up on the second day, taking the side of the pirates, though their leaders (Mal, Jay, Princess Evie…and Carlos) were notably absent from the fray. The extra numbers were welcome, but Gil was mostly glad to not see the core four. Knowing they were taking care of Carlos made it easier to focus on fighting. Not that Harry would see that logic, given his current state.

The middle child of the Hook trio was currently sitting in Uma’s cabin, clenching his jaw so hard it was a miracle his teeth weren’t splintering. Their resident medic was stitching up a wound on Harry’s shoulder, frantically swabbing it with the last dregs of their distilled alcohol in a futile attempt to prevent the infection already blistering at the edge of the wound.  If Gil remembered correctly, the wound came from the Charlton fight. Which was not something Gil ever wanted to remember.

He tried to block Carlos’ screams from his memory, which was mostly easy given how many other screams had filled the air since then. Gil was no stranger to blood, to shoddy blade hacking against living flesh, to stepping on dying bodies as he fought to keep from becoming one.

But Gil couldn’t get forget the scents that singed his entire throat, the scent of an omega being forcibly removed from their sanctuary. The scent of an alpha forcing that removal because there was no other choice.

The abrupt split of Harry and Carlos’ trauma bond had been... traumatic, to say the least. Which was funny in the way that life on the Isle was—every time you tried to do right, to do good, the Isle chewed you up and spit you out worse for wear.
Gil needed this stupid fight to end so he could get Harry and Carlos back together. His gut was screaming in fear, anticipating the lethal consequences—he knew Harry's wounds wouldn't heal if he was forced to stay away from the omega. Not to mention Harry’s extended bout of bloodthirst, which was never a good experience for the alpha, but that combined with losing Carlos would definitely lead to certain destruction. And not knowing how Carlos was faring was distressing even Uma.

“Harry,” Uma was standing at Harry’s side, arms crossed and expression stormier than the ones that whip up against the barrier—lighting and ten foot waves that never touched the stagnant waters of the Isle, never pushing anything but gloom into their world—her voice barely avoiding reaching a plea. “Harry. You’re in no shape to fight anymore. At this point…”

Uma paused and Gil flinched, knowing what was coming. What used to be the only thing that kept Harry out of a fight, until Carlos.

Gil remembered the first time the word had been used, how they’d need to go to Dr. Facilier for a dictionary. It’d been Captain Hook, leveraging the word at Smee in the midst of his mourning. It wasn’t…cruel, just honest in the way that Captain Hook always was, and Smee had immediately left the Jolly Roger, only returning when he felt he could fully perform his duties as first mate.

But Harry had fixated on the word, not understanding what it meant or how it had reached Smee in the depths of his despair, motivating him to return to the real world for the first time in months.

So they’d looked it up, and now it did the same for Harry whenever he was trapped in the frenzy of his bloodthirst.

“You’re a liability,” Uma sighed, letting the word wash over Harry like an ice storm.

She didn’t like using the term against her first mate, her truest ally, her Harry. It was their last resort, the final bargain—last time they’d had to use it was when he’d broken both legs trying to chase Jay across the market, missing the last foot of a leap between buildings and landing too wrong to brush off, and then that same day he’d tried to defend Gil from Gaston.

But Uma knew he wouldn’t stay out of the fight unless she appealed to that weird part of him that would only step down if he was a danger to his allies, the people he cared about. And she needed to get his bloodthirst back under control, needed the red of his eyes to switch back to icy blue, needed him to rest and put down his sword. If he continued as he had been…getting the Harry she cared about back would be next to impossible.

Bloodthirst was a common villain mental illness, usually brought on by ugly situations. The Isle had no shortage of ugly, but Harry had inherited his madness from Captain Hook, meaning he was more easily triggered than someone who didn’t already have it worked into their DNA. And that meant the chances of losing his sanity entirely were much, much higher.

Besides inciting an aggressive and single-minded drive to hurt others by any method available (thus the blood aspect), bloodthirst also created paranoid delusions that were hard to break out of. The illness preyed on vulnerabilities and fears, drove men of sound mind into the depths of obsessions. Captain Hook was the textbook example—the crocodile and the eternal boy were the enemies of his bloodthirst. No logic or reason could convince Hook of anything but that.

Uma had helped Harry come down from bouts of bloodthirst before. But this was different, this was tied to someone else—someone he had been protecting…an omega in heat. Killing wasn’t satisfying him like it was supposed to, making him angrier and more vicious. More inclined to turn against his own crew if he thought they were keeping him from his omega.

“You’re going to stay on the ship until this battle is done,” Uma inflicted her tone with an alpha command, something that the two of them rarely used on each other.

Harry growled at Uma, deeply and in warning. His eyes were unfocused, deep red irises bouncing around the room frantically. His breathing became heavier as he yanked his shoulder away from the medic, strands of thread dangling down his arm.

Uma jerked her chin and Gil hustled both himself and the medic out of the room, closing the door behind him. Uma needed to challenge Harry for primary alpha, and anyone else being around was ensuring injury for all parties. Gil gave a silent wish to the Second Star on the Left that Uma was able to help Harry, then he shooed all remaining crew members onto the deck, away from the alphas.

Uma pulled herself up to her full height, which wasn’t much, but she knew how to take up space. She had to prove her dominance, prove her alpha-ness was in Harry’s favor. Or else, best case scenario, Harry wouldn’t listen to her command. Worst case, she would end up dead.

She hated alpha-versus-alpha dominance fights. They were unavoidable given how many villains were alphas, but the dominance struggles always dragged her back to childhood, when she tried to push back against her mother’s will. Uma never won against Ursula, and had the scars to show it, but against Harry she always won.

Except Harry was snarling, body rigid with tension, red eyes darting furiously to the room’s exits.

Well, shit. He usually started to back down by now, the roles they had both agreed on so long ago overriding his own alpha urges, allowing him to submit to her. Which meant that she had to take more drastic measures. She did not want to fight Harry, especially with his festering shoulder wound. And of course, the bloodthirst.

So, time to play the scent card.

Uma let her alpha pheromones seep heavily into the small room, attempting to smother Harry’s scent. He always smelled… different when he was bloodthirsty. It was off-putting, tinged with something rotten. It was one of the earliest indicators he was about to dip into his bloodthirst, and usually she or Gil would notice and bring him back to himself before it fully set in.

But there had been no warning, no chance to diffuse the situation. There had only been an alpha and his omega.

Omega. Carlos…of course. Uma put out a particularly strong wave of her scent, then began speaking in a low, measured tone.

“Harry, you need to calm down and stay here. That’s the only way you can see Carlos; if you let me finish this battle he’ll be able to come see you.  Let me get you back to him. Let me help you see Carlos.”

Harry growled, softer than before, as he breathed in deeply, letting Uma’s scent ground him. He always had been more in tune with, and thus susceptible to, scents than other alphas she fraternized with, and she made sure to use that to her advantage. She kept her scent as open and commanding as she could without overwhelming Harry.

“Carlos is okay, he’s with his pack…but you can see him soon, okay? As soon as you’re okay, we’ll take you to him. But right now, he’s okay. Carlos is okay.”

“They wanted to hurt him,” Harry said, both a rageful hiss and a mournful whimper. “I had to protect him.”

“And you did, Harry. Carlos is safe, because of you.”

There was a tense stretch of anticipation, Harry’s body quivering as his instincts fought against each other. She couldn’t tell which part of Harry would come out on top so Uma kept a hand on her dagger, ready to move into action if need.

Then, the red in Harry’s eyes slowly faded back into blue, not quite to his usual icy glare but close enough. Uma sighs in relief, letting her scent diminish in waves—it always took a lot of energy to overpower another alpha’s scent, but she would rather that than have to result to actual blows.

Harry didn’t say anything, just looked at her with those dull, weary eyes, and nodded.

Uma moved to clasp his forehead to hers, and they both leaned against each other for a moment. The past…however many days had kept the two apart for much longer than they were used to. Uma didn’t really know what the future held, in terms of Harry and Carlos, but she would always be there for him. Bloodthirsty or lovesick, he was hers.

On the other side of the Isle, Mal read a hastily scrawled message with a frown, her free hand dragging through Carlos’ curls gently. She didn’t like how tangled they were; she was struggling to pry her fingers through the clumps without hurting him, but she forced herself to continue small, tender movements since it was her fault his hair was mess anyways.

It was her fault that he’d been attacked, her fault a pirate had rescued him, her fault he’d trauma bonded with Harry Hook, her fault there’d been a move from the Hearts on the pirates, her fault he’d been torn away from Harry, her fault he was now trapped in a heat that was slowly but surely killing him.

“No,” Evie’s voice broke through Mal’s hazy thoughts with a crispness that rivaled the Isle’s winter winds. “It’s not anyone’s fault, okay? I know it feels like it. But it’s not.”

Mal hadn’t realized she’d been speaking aloud.

“My fault,” Carlos murmured under her hand, glassy brown eyes blinking up at her blurrily. “Mmmthe one. Got me here.”

“No, C,” Mal immediately cooed. She hated cooing, it was so…nice. But Carlos brought out a side of her she couldn’t ignore. So she let herself coo over the omega. “If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s King Beast’s, yeah? For making the Isle in the first place.”

Carlos snorts, and Mal is pleased at the positive reaction. It was more than Carlos had managed since they’d gotten him back.

“…would love… to tell him that…sometime,” Carlos responded, a mischievous twinkle flashing through his eyes despite the heavy fever wracking his body.

“Oh, I’ll get you there, C,” Mal grinned, all sharp teeth and wishful thoughts.

Carlos grins back, loosely like he can’t quite get all his facial muscles to be where he wants. Then he squeezes his eyes tightly shut and takes a deep, shuddering breath.

The thing about Carlos is he’s good—really good—at hiding his pain. Living with Cruella would do that to a person. But the thing about having a pack bond is that the other people in the pack know he’s hurting even when he’s trying not to.

So of course, Evie and Mal share a meaningful glance as soon as Carlos lets out his calculated breath. And of course, they are going to do something about it.

“Mmm, more medicine time!” Evie said in a sing song voice, stirring Jay from where he was sleeping soundly under Carlos.

“Wassgo…” Jay’s eyes cleared immediately, taking in his surroundings and the state of his packmates before giving a small groan. “Stinks, E.”

“Yeah,” Carlos echoes. “Stinks.”

Usually, Evie would nip Carlos’ bratty behavior in the bud. But for the past four days he’d been mostly unresponsive so if he had enough energy to be a smartass? That was a huge improvement, so she would let it go and match his energy. Or at least try to—she and her two alphas have been standing on the edge of a ledge they didn’t even know existed the past few days, ever since Carlos went missing. So yeah, they can try and force normalcy or they can just. Make sure Carlos stays alive.

“Too bad!” Evie huffs, a huge smile giving away her mood. “It’s good for you!”

“Good is for Beast,” Carlos weakly huffs back, but takes the spoonful of paste Evie gives him, only burying his face into Jay’s chest once it’s been swallowed fully. He sticks a hand out from the pile of limbs a moment later, and Mal presses the water bottle into his palm. He drinks quickly before shoving his face back into the crook of space between Jay’s neck and shoulder. Jay focuses on letting his scent exude calm and safe, while Mal runs a soothing hand up and down Carlos’ sweat soaked back.

The other three wait until Carlos’ breathing has evened out before speaking again. Mal pulls her hand away and squints at the note again, deciphering letters around smudges and dirt.

“What’s the note, M?” Jay yawns, tucking a broad forearm around Carlos, who snuggles deeper into the embrace in his sleep.  

“It’s from the pirates…the battle is almost done, according to Uma…it’s been messy.”

“How come?” Evie asks, settling back into her spot in the nest delicately. While she may be a healer, that doesn’t mean she particularly enjoys it—sweat is something she particularly despises, and Carlos has been so sweaty the past four days. But he’s hers, her omega, and she won’t deny him anything just because he’s sweaty (so, so, so, very sweaty).

“He’s…bloodthirsty.”

Mal avoids using Harry’s name because every time it comes up, Carlos breaks down in body-wracking sobs that take hours to calm down. So they’ve been referring to Harry as ‘He’, which Carlos would catch on to if he was more coherent. But he’s not, so He it is.

“Fuck,” Jay surmises eloquently.

“Oh, that’s not good,” Evie adds, less helpfully.

“Yeah,” Mal mutters, glaring at the note in her hands. “Yeah.”

Carlos gives a deep sigh and shifts into a more comfortable position but does not reawaken.

“As of right now, Uma has the fight under control. So another two days before it’s safe to travel.”

“Another two days before we can fix this,” Jay sighs callously.

Evie wanted to argue, but “fix this” was the best plan they had right now. No matter how many ideas or rehashes or theories the three of them came up with, there was only one thing that could help Carlos: take him to see Harry.

It was a full day later before Harry was fully himself again, waking with a jolt in his bunk.

His entire body was screaming with pain—but it wasn’t physical. It was emotional.

“Carlos,” Harry hissed as he fought to sit up, a deep pull in his gut urging him to seek out the omega he’d been protecting.

Gil, who had nodded off in the corner, shook himself out of his slumber at Harry’s plea.

“He’s safe, remember?” Gil said, moving slowly to place a wet towel on Harry’s forehead. The wound on his shoulder had continued to fester even after being cleaned and treated, leaving Harry in a feverish state. It was a sign that Harry was at his lowest that he let Gil tend to him without even a snide comment.

Gil bit his lip as he looked at his second-in-command, his best friend. Harry, pale and sickly, sweat plastering his black hair to his forehead, his eyes still dim. Gil was clinging to a meager hope that maybe Harry would survive, but things were only getting worse. And there was no word from Mal, meaning Gil didn’t know if Carlos was alive or dying in the same way Harry was.

“Safe?” Harry repeated with sharp clarity, and Gil hoped this time he would remember it. The single thought seemed to take all of Harry’s energy, and he sank back into his pillow with a loan moan. “Carlos…”

Gil frowned as Harry’s eyes fluttered. He was under strict orders from Uma to keep Harry awake as long as possible. The more the alpha was away from the omega, the less likely he was to heal—not to mention the lingering strands of his bloodthirst that might take over if he continued to experience such extreme emotional distress.

“Harry, listen to me…” Gil hated lying even the smallest amount, but Harry’s life was at stake. “Carlos can only see you if you stay awake. He can’t visit if you’re sleeping, you know.”

Harry did stir at that, forcing his eyes open to blink wearily in Gil’s direction.

“Carlos is going to come?”

Gil swallowed his guilt and nodded enthusiastically. While he had no idea what state Carlos was in, Blue Haired Princess Evie had made a promise to reunite the alpha and omega as soon as possible. And Gil knew Blue Haired Princess Evie would never go back on a promise like that. So he wasn’t really lying, Gil reasoned, and he plunged ahead.

“Yes, as soon as you’re both able,” Gil rinsed and re-wet the towel for Harry’s forehead.

“The battle…”

“We recaptured the warehouse. The Hearts retreated. Everyone is okay.”

“Except for Carlos.”

“Carlos is safe,” Gil repeated, worried that Harry wasn’t able to retain information. “He’s with…his pack.”

“Then he won’t come back,” Harry said with a stark awareness he hadn’t displayed since the separation.

To me. He won’t come back to me.

Harry left the last two words of his sentence die in his throat. He insistently turned away from Gil, facing the wall of his bunk and tucking his limbs against his torso, shrinking in on himself as his thoughts began to race. Harry had known this moment would come. Maybe it was a blessing that they’d been parted in such extreme circumstances—Harry knew that he wouldn’t have been able to let Carlos leave him otherwise. How could he? Why would he ever let Carlos go?

Harry felt something ripping in his chest. His entire body was pleading to go to Carlos, to run to the white-haired omega and cradle him to his chest. To check every millimeter of skin for new wounds, to listen to that soft rattling in his chest as he breathed, to feel the dull thudding of Carlos’ heart.

But Carlos wasn’t here, wasn’t safe because of Harry.

Harry had failed. As a pirate, as a villain, as an alpha. As a person.

For those brief few days with the pup, Harry had felt…alive in a way he hadn’t before. He felt the way his father did when he spoke about the open sea, when Ursula murmured about the depths of the ocean, when Smee remembered Bree. He’d felt like he found the thing that made him real. Made him more than his father’s offspring, than Uma’s second-in-command, than his reputation, than another kid stuck on the Isle of the Lost. He’d made Harry a person.

Carlos had made him Harry.

Chapter Text

The smoke from the warehouse fire still lingered in thick swatches over the Isle, now added to by the funeral pyres burning steadily on the beach and deeper inland. It kept most inhabitants inside, and those who bothered to venture out spent most of their time outside bent over in coughing fits.

Evie simply tied a clean-ish cloth over each of her packs’ noses and mouths before they left their hideout and began venturing their way towards the piers.

Gil had sent notice the day before that the fighting was officially over—and that Harry was unable to leave the ship. Carlos was a little more transportable, mostly because of his size, so the packs agreed to meet on The Lost Revenge.

Mal and Jay were more than unhappy with the idea, but Carlos hadn’t been getting better like they’d hoped. And since Uma’s ship is where this whole thing had started, it made a twisted kind of sense to bring the omega back there.

Carlos was once again carried delicately in Jay’s arms as they moved cautiously through the town. His fever still hadn’t lessened, and each breath was matched with a weak whimper. Jay was doing his best to keep Carlos’s face tucked into his chest to avoid attracting attention. Evie had done her best to neutralize Carlos’s scent, but it was still noticeable if anyone bothered to try. So Mal was oozing aggression as she stalked through the town, leading her pack into possible danger.

At the moment, their biggest threats were a revenge attack from the Hearts and one of their parents showing up looking for them.

So far, the smoke kept most Isle residents inside—even Cruella, who had her own personal smoke cloud hanging around her at all times, refused to venture out of Hell Hall to look for her son, who had now been missing from his role as her servant for two weeks. It was a blessing, or as much of a blessing as they could get on the Isle, so no one dared mention their luck.

Halfway through the market, a squad of eight pirates fell into step around the pack. Mal curled her lip in annoyance at the escort—she could protect her pack, thank you very much—but didn’t say anything. And if anyone were to attack, Jay couldn’t fight since he was carrying Carlos, and while Mal knew she and Evie were good fighters, the lack of sleep and constant terror made them more vulnerable than normal. Their priority was Carlos. And Harry, she supposed. He was their priority now because he would help Carlos. So Mal gave a jerky nod at the pirate closest to her and let them lead her pack to the docks.

Uma was standing at the top of the boarding plank of the Lost Revenge with her arms crossed. Everything about her body language screamed “Hostile Threat Approaching”, but Mal could still pick up the subtleties of Uma’s scent.

She and Uma were enemies on principle—being the oldest children of the most prominent female magical users on the Isle was a guaranteed rivalry. Never mind the fact that once upon a time they’d been the best of friends, right up until they both presented as alphas (how had they ever thought it would turn out any other way?). But they both knew each other still, mirrored each other even though they both refused to acknowledge their reflections.

So Mal knew Uma’s scent, always so aggressively guarded with confidence and disgust, was actually dripping in fear, in guilt, in loss of control.

Because hers was too.

Because Carlos was hers and Harry was Uma’s. And they had to get these two boys back together, so maybe, hopefully, the alpha and the omega would live.

“Dragons on deck!” the lookout shouted from the crow’s nest as Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos boarded Uma’s ship.

Every crew member stood tersely at attention, hands resting obviously on weapon hilts, as the other pack stood uneasily on the top of their ship. Uma couldn’t find it in herself to relax either, even though she knew this was literally a life-saving visit from her archnemesis and their crew. It was hard to break old habits.

“Hi, guys!” Gil had no such trouble, bounding forward with a half bow to Evie and then shaking Mal’s hand. “Boy, I’m glad you’re here.”

Mal snorted and Jay swallowed a scoff as Evie returned Gil’s pleasant greeting.

“Thank you for having us here. I know this is far from ideal, but we do have a common goal,” she gestured towards the trembling bundle in Jay’s arms.

Evil, that girl was insanely diplomatic. If they had to spend more time with Mal’s pack, maybe Uma would ask Evie for pointers.

“This way,” Uma crooked her finger and lead the relevant people down towards Harry.

Harry, who was still tossing and turning like a man possessed in his bunk. Harry, who still hadn’t shaken off the dregs of his bloodthirst episode and whose eyes were still dull instead of icy. Harry, who still woke up every other hour begging for Carlos.

“How do we wanna do this?” Jay asked curtly, standing in front of the closed door to Harry’s cabin. The scent of Harry’s distress was thick and clotting, a rot that made anyone who got this close to the door want to puke. Jay subconsciously clutched Carlos closer to his body as he sneered at Harry’s door. His face was twitching in a way Uma had never seen. “I can’t go in there. I don’t want to go in there.”

“Give him to me,” Evie said, stepping forward again. “We can’t let any alpha or other omega scents get involved with their reunion. So I’ll take Carlos in.”

“How do we know Harry won’t kill him on sight?” Mal snapped.

“How do we know Carlos won’t kill Harry?” Uma snapped back, insulted.

“Nope, not right now, okay?” Evie commanded everyone’s attention while still sounding…bubbly. Evil, Uma really needed her skillset. It would reduce stabbings on the ship by 67%. “Not until our pack members are better. And to do that, I need to take Carlos in to see Harry.”

With an aggressively arched eyebrow in Jay’s direction, Evie shortly had Carlos draped against her as she shooed everyone back from Harry’s door. After a quick adjustment, Evie pushed open Harry’s door and maneuvered Carlos inside, closing the door behind her with a well-aimed kick. No one dared move from their shoo-ed to spot.

A few moments passed, with hushed whispers from inside the room, then Evie re-emerged. The blue-haired girl shut the door to Harry’s cabin behind her with a firm click and a deep nod.

“We have to let them figure this out now. Their bodies are already starting to heal, so there’s nothing else we can do for them. Let’s go back up on deck.”

“But—”

“No,” Evie cut Mal off. “We will only make things worse if we just stay here and wait for their biological and emotional shit to get sorted out. We need to trust our pack members, okay? Trust that they only want what’s best for each other right now.”

Every alpha in the hallway let out a harsh scoff, but Gil smiled warmly at Evie.

“That makes sense to me. I trust Harry, and I know Carlos needs this. So, yeah. Evie’s right. Let’s go,” Gil declared, gently running a reassuring hand down Uma’s arm.

Evie gave Gil a grateful smile and began moving towards the stairs back to the deck. Gil bounded after her with a sense of relief billowing through him. He knew that having Harry and Carlos reunited was the best thing that could happen to the pair, so it was time to let them sort it out for themselves.

Given that their beta and remaining omega were quickly departing the scene, Jay, Mal, and Uma all obediently followed them away from the cabin, leaving Harry and Carlos to their own devices.

Carlos came back into his own body with a jolt, suddenly surrounded by the one scent he’d been craving, missing, aching for—Harry Hook’s.

He was draped haphazardly on Harry’s bed and on Harry himself.

Harry, who was drenched in sweat and sporting a very infected shoulder wound. Harry, who was stirring, cracking open his eyelids to reveal those icy blue irises Carlos had been dreaming about. Harry, who was squinting in the way he did when he wasn’t quite sure what was real and what was fake, the way he had done every morning they’d woken up together. Harry, who was slowly moving a hand up to touch Carlos’s face.

Carlos instinctively leaned into Harry’s touch, the pirate’s calloused fingertips tracing the constellations they’d imagined together over the pup’s freckles. Carlos felt himself settle further into Harry’s presence, fear and stress melting away from his marrow with each second he was back with Harry.

Carlos didn’t realize he was purring until the vibrations from his chest were making the thin hairs of Harry’s new and unfortunate mustache tremble.

“You need to shave,” Carlos murmured, maneuvering so he was more evenly cuddling closer to Harry, pressed deeper against him. Against his alpha.

“Oh, hello to ye too,” Harry cackled softly, the ragged edge to his voice mirroring Carlos’s and betraying how ill Harry had been since their separation.

Since their separation, Carlos recalled suddenly and forcefully as his brain made its way back online.

He remembered smoke and a threat and blood—blood on the sand, too far up for the Isle’s meager waves to wipe away. Blood on the sand and his body screaming to stay, to stay, to stay—with Harry.

“Harry…” Carlos doesn’t really know what he needs to say. He doesn’t know what needs to be said.

His body feels like its molecules have all agreed on the same orbit again, all his cells and atoms spinning towards the body next to his. As in, he feels real for the first time since he left Harry—no. Since he was forced to leave Harry.

That’s what he really needs to ask, to know. But his body is reacting before he can formulate the question, that high-pitched whine is making its way out of the depths of his throat—Harry pushed him away, made him leave. Is Carlos even wanted here right now?

No, that’s not what’s going on here and Carlos knows it. Carlos knows what living on the Isle is, knows that circumstances arise that force choices. And Carlos knows what choices Harry makes, he knows what type of person Harry is.

Carlos doesn’t gamble, doesn’t guess—he loves a theory, a fully explored hypothesis. And even though he’s been too fever-ridden to sort through his evidence and data, he knows that what he wants is what Harry wants too. He just needs a chance to prove it.

“Hey, no, no, Pup,” the nickname soothes Carlos’ nerves as Harry’s hands move to cradle Carlos’s face, gripping his jaw gently to prevent him from turning away, as if Carlos would ever leave now that he was back with Harry. “Me making ye leave…No, I didn’t wanne that. I wannae you—you, always you. But to keep ye safe, ya needed to go. Charlton was out of bounds, in so many ways, and they…they wanted to kill you. And once you were safe, I killed them first. I made sure they could never, ever touch you, Carlos, ye hear me? I won’t let anyone ever touch you again.”

Everything Harry’s saying confirms what Carlos knows, but then Harry pulls his hand away from Carlos suddenly, and Carlos is confused.

Harry pulls his hand away from Carlos’ face, his eyes roaming over the omega with growing worry, gripped by the fear that Carlos is hurt, that everything he’d done to protect the omega was all for nothing. Carlos leans back and watches him with furrowed brows.

“Yer okay, yeah?” Harry croaks, not quite if he’s asking the right question, but needing an answer.

Carlos tilts his head in that way that drives Harry crazy, clearly not following Harry’s train of thought. But that’s okay, Harry knows what he needs to know—he simply maneuvers the two of them, so Carlos is straddling his lap, their chests pressed together. Carlos’s flush is sweet, the little gasp he makes as he settles on Harry’s lap nearly sinful.

But Harry is focused, checking Carlos’s body for wounds. He cataloged every wound the pup had during their time together, knows what’s a scar and what’s a freckle, knows that Charlton never laid a hand on his pup, but he still has to check. He has to check that he actually protected Carlos, that he was good enough. He checks each arm, turns Carlos’ head side to side, traces his hands down Carlos’ legs while gauging Carlos’ reactions.

“Oh,” Carlos breathes out in understanding. “I’m okay, Harry, no one hurt me.”

Except for me, Harry adds on in his head, but Carlos catches his hands and pulls them to rest on his chest.

“I’m here, and I’m safe. Because you took care of me, Harry. You kept me safe.”

Carlos’s heart is beating steadily under Harry’s palms, and Harry feels himself fully relax for the first time since the beach. His body’s constant aching is melting away, the wrenching of his heart loosening. Carlos is safe, he’s here with Harry.

He’s here.

Meaning that Carlos was with his pack, but he came back. Carlos came back to Harry.

But that…that wasn’t what was supposed to happen, was it? Carlos was supposed to go and Harry was supposed to stay, and then that was the end of it. There wasn’t ever going to be a Harry-and-Carlos, there was only going to be a Harry and a Carlos. An alpha and an omega, who were once upon a time trauma-bonded and maybe…maybe falling in love. But stories didn’t get happy endings on the Isle—Harry didn’t get happy endings. Carlos deserved to, but his happy ending couldn’t be Harry. Not when Harry was, well, Harry.

“Carlos…”

Carlos can tell Harry’s still addlebrained and starting to spiral—his scent is starting to grow more potent, more taught. So when Harry draws a short breath and starts talking again, Carlos does the only thing he can think of, the only thing he’s wanted to do for the past two weeks.

Carlos DeVil kisses Harry Hook.

He kisses him fully, pressing a slightly open mouth onto Harry’s partly open lips, breathing in the air Harry is letting out. Then Carlos presses further, presses his entire existence against Harry’s, hoping they mesh the way he instinctively knows they will.

And they do.

Harry kisses Carlos like a dying man looking for a cure, which he is. He kisses Carlos like he was dying without him, because he was. Because they both were—one dying without the other, bonded beyond trauma and into fate.

Because neither of them knows how to say it, how to say I Love You, not when they’re both from the Isle and survival is the best ending they can ask for.

But when they’re pressed face to face, body to body, heart to heart, there’s nothing that needs to be said.