FicWad

Two days later and Corinna was no better. She complained that it hurt her chest to cough and even breathe, and Quinn feared she may have bruised a rib. The book had warned of that.

She decided to have dinner with the rest of the Crew for the first time since the sickness had started. Sitting with the Sailors and Jukes, she heard the news from the rest of the island. As she had realized from the blond boy – Carlos – all gangs were suffering, especially those with younger members. Quinn hoped with all her heart that they had enough past knowledge to deal with this. She had been so focused on the Crew she had not given much thought to other VKs.

However they tried to avoid the topic, it was always there in the periphery. Contact between groups had greatly diminished, so Nia and Annabelle Tremaine, who had just started a fling, were separated.

“It just kinda sucks, you know?” Nia said. “We still hang out, but a ways apart.”

“Not quite the same when you can’t have your tongues down each other’s throats, huh?” Jukes asked.

Nabil groaned. “You didn’t have to put that picture in my head!”

Jukes grinned and slung back the last of their drink. “Hey, Hugo, where’s your kid brother? He’s usually hanging all over you.”

Hugo shrugged. “As long as he’s not following me around, I’m happy.” Still, he looked around with some concern; Harper was nowhere on deck.

Cyrus had recently come back from the shop, so Quinn called over to him, “Hey, Cyrus, is Harper hanging around the shop again?”

He shook his head. “I haven’t seen him all afternoon actually.”

Just then, Jade ran onto the ship, out of breath, eyes terrified. Jax, who had been sitting with Saoirse and Blake, was on his feet in an instant, crossing the deck towards her. “What is it, Jade?” he asked when he reached her.

“Harper, he went to get medicine for Corinna,” she gasped. Before she had finished, Hugo had bounded towards her. Quinn felt her heart sink as she remembered their conversation before Corinna fell ill. “He said Maleficent was hoarding the medicine,” Jade continued.

“The little idiot’s going to get himself killed,” Hugo said, stalking to the armoury. In minutes, the Crew was ready to go.

Jax pulled Quinn aside. “Quinn, I know you want to help but –”

“I’ll stay at the shop,” she said. “I’m of more use there.” She kissed his cheek. “Be safe.”

He nodded and led the Crew into the city.

•••

“Quinn!” came the desperate call.

Quinn rushed down the stairs into the shop. The door opened and she saw that it was Hugo, Nia, and Nabil, carrying someone that looked awfully small.

It was Harper.

They laid him down at her feet, blood streaming from a wound in his chest. Hugo’s face was desperate, face covered in tears. “Please, Quinn, can you save him?”

Quinn looked down at Harper’s pale face, scrunched up with pain. I’m not an actual doctor, she thought desperately.

But she quickly knelt at his side, pulling away the scraps of a shirt that still clung to his body.

“I need alcohol, needle and thread, and bandages from the first aid box upstairs,” she snapped at Nia and Nabil.

Using the scarf that someone had thrust at her, Quinn mopped up some of the blood. Nabil pulled a flask from inside his jacket and she quickly opened it.

“Now, Harper,” Quinn said quietly, touching his face gently. “This is gonna hurt, but I need to disinfect the wound.”

Harper nodded quickly.

“Take his hand,” she told Hugo, who did so.

Quinn poured the contents of the flask over the wound and Harper cried out in pain. She winced at the horrible sound but willed herself to continue.

Nia appeared out of the darkness and pressed a needle and thread into Quinn’s hands, which she doused in alcohol.

Her hands were shaking. The thread would simply not go into the eye of the needle.

A pair of hands took them from her and deftly threaded the needle. Quinn looked over to see Jax kneeling beside her. He looked a little beat up, but otherwise alright.

He gave her back the needle and squeezed her shoulder. “You can do this,” he said quietly.

Quinn nodded and leaned over Harper again. She had never done anything like this before. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the needle into the side of the wound. Harper’s entire body tensed up, but he stayed silent.

In and out.

Back and forth.

Just like sewing clothes, she told herself.

But he was still bleeding.

After she was done stitching up the wound, Quinn wrapped his chest up in cloth as tightly as she could. But before she could feel relieved in any way, the make-shift bandages were already soaking through with blood. Harper coughed suddenly, blood dribbling between his lips and down his cheeks.

“What’s happening?” Hugo exclaimed, looking up at Quinn from where he knelt at his brother’s side.

“I... I don’t know,” she said, sinking to her knees again. “Maybe... he has a punctured lung?”

Harper coughed again, more blood coming up.

“Well, fix it!”

Quinn stared at Hugo’s face and then at Harper’s. Harper was paler now. Checking his pulse, she noticed it was fainter. His breathing was growing shallow. His eyes began to close, his eyeballs begin to roll to the back of his head.

“No!” Quinn exclaimed, taking his face in her hands. “Stay here, Harper!” She could feel Jax’s arm around her shoulders, gripping her tight.

“What?” Hugo cried. “What’s happening?”

“Come on, Harper,” Quinn said, tears blurring her vision. “Fight!”

“Quinn!” Hugo’s voice was desperate and he choked back sobs. “Do something!”

Quinn stared at him, the tears in her eyes threatening to escape. She let go of Harper’s face. “I– I don’t know what to do,” she whispered. “I can’t– I don’t know how to save him.”

Hugo’s face broke, collapsed into itself as he desperately grabbed at his brother. “Harper? Come on, man. You can’t go!”

Quinn just stared, helpless, as the life left Harper’s eyes, leaving them glassy and empty. Hugo sobbed over his small bloody body.

Such a small body.

Jax was trying to pull her closer, to ask her if she was alright but she pulled away. Her entire body was trembling and there was a sob stuck in her throat. Jukes was trying to catch her eye but she turned away.

Quinn stumbled away from the crowd and then began to run. She sprinted down alleyways until she reached the edge of the city. There, she crumpled to the ground, the far-off lights of Auradon blurring through her tears.

And she screamed.

She screamed for Harper. She screamed for Hugo. But most of all, she screamed for every VK on this godforsaken island.

She screamed until her throat hurt.

And then she screamed some more.

Jax found her a little while later, kneeling on the broken concrete, her face in her arms on an old crate.

“Quinn,” he said gently, sitting down beside her. “Quinn, we’re going to do the goodbye ceremony.” His hand gripped her shoulder. “I know you’ll want to be there.”

•••

The entire crew was present, standing on the main deck of the Jolly Roger, which was situated as far out to sea as was possible. The magical barrier glistened slightly in the sunlight.

Harper’s body was wrapped in white and lay on the deck. Jax made his way to stand beside it. His face was solemn.

“Today we say farewell to a loyal member of our crew,” he said in ringing tones. “Though he was only a Powder Money, he was always ready for anything and fought bravely.”

Hugo – trying to put on a brave face – and a man Quinn recognized as his father, Hans, stepped forward. They each picked up either end of the white bundle.

“We salute you, Harper,” Jax continued. “And set you free from this prison.”

Hugo and Hans swung Harper’s body over the railing. The barrier quivered as the body passed through it and the splash sounded muffled on the other side.

Quinn’s realization of the harsh truth of life on the Isle seemed punctuated by that splash: the only way to leave was to die.



Quinn slipped away before anyone could see the tears forming in her eyes. Up on the roof, she sat down at the edge and just let herself cry. Harper was so young, barely twelve, and already he was a victim of the violence and lack of resources on this island. How could anyone live a happy life here?

Hearing footsteps, Quinn quickly tried to wipe away the tears but then looked up to see that it was Jax coming towards her. He sat down beside her.

“You left pretty quick after the ceremony,” he said. “I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m fine... it’s just... He was so young.” she turned to him. “Is this the fate of every VK, dying in a fight?”

“It is a noble way to die,” he said, not meeting her eyes.

“There has to be a way to change it.” Quinn wiped her tears away again. The time for crying was over, now it was time to think ahead. “This island needs to have proper medical care. That would have saved him. There need to be better resources here: doctors, police, teachers, psychiatrists, children’s protection services.”

“You’re forgetting one thing.” Jax looked at her. “Auradon doesn’t care about us.”

Quinn sighed and leaned her head against the wall behind her. “There has to be a way to convince people. I’m sure the Sherwood group would get behind it, the Undergrounders probably too.”

“Nothing’s gonna change, Quinn, because they won’t listen to a bunch of VKs,” said Jax. “We know that.”

“What if it could?” Quinn sat up straighter. “What if we could somehow communicate with Auradon and negotiate some things for the Isle? We could start to mend the relationship, at least with the children of the villains. I’ve always thought it ridiculous that the children have to share the punishment, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one.”

Jax looked at her with a sudden realization. There was sadness in his eyes. “You have to go back.”

“What?”

“You’re the only one who can help us,” he said quietly. “You’re the only one who has been on both sides. You could be in Auradon without attracting attention. You understand us but you also understand them.”

Quinn felt her heart sink. “But it’s impossible, otherwise others would have made it to Auradon before.”

“No one has ever succeeded in making it to Auradon because they didn’t have help on the other side,” Jax said. “You do.”

He was right. Of course, he was. Quinn knew it was selfish of her to want to stay when she knew her presence in Auradon could help the kids here. And yet. “Jax, do you have any idea how long it could take to change public perception of VKs?” If it ever happened at all, she could not help but think.

“I know,” he said. “But, the sooner we start planning, the sooner it’ll happen.”

Quinn nodded, already feeling the ache in her chest at the thought of having to say goodbye to Jukes, the Sailors, the Crew. And Jax. “Jax, I –” She looked up at him.

He smiled sadly. “I know.” He took a breath and stood up, holding out a hand to her. Quinn took it and he pulled her up into a hug.