Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

"The rest of the year in detention! A full year of this!"

Uliana is fuming. In fact, she's never been this mad. Even to her friends, she's intimidating. Morgie and Hook have to run to keep up with her, and even the usually cocky young pirate doesn't dare interrupt her furious rambling. They stride into the forest and straight to their lair. It's late; they have only just come out of their first evening of detention, Hades and Maleficent have disappeared somewhere (probably in the girl's room), but Uliana isn't about to let the nocturnal hour or the absence of two of her group stop her. She has a revenge to plan.

And she knows exactly where to start.

In the past 24 hours, since they've been discovered in Merlin's office, she's noticed something strange. Red and Chloe are nowhere to be seen. They haven't been to class, or at recess, their rooms seem deserted (she checked), and she overheard Bridget and Ella wondering where they might be. This complete disappearance, right after the cookbook showdown, feels suspicious.

But if they think they can hide eternally, they're wrong. She's a sea witch; she has her way of knowing things.

"What are you waiting for? Light it!" she barks at the boys the moment they reach the lair.

Hook and Morgie light the fire that she uses to communicate with the spirits. Without Hades' hellfire, the process takes longer, as the flames struggle to grow in the damp atmospere. Uliana is pacing and grumbling as they struggle. At last, though, the fire is strong enough for the familiar streaks of magical smoke to come pouring out of the altar.

The two boys watch as the sea witch casts her spell, then unscrews a tiny vial in her pocket and pulls out two hairs — red and blue — which she throws into the fire. They don't dare ask where she got those. The smoke intensifies, and rises in the lair, filling up the whole room, but giving no answer. Soon Hook and Morgie have to cover their mouths and noses with their sleeves.

"I think it's not working, Uli!" Morgie wheezes.

The sea witch is getting increasingly frustrated. She screams in rage, dropping from her levitation and back in front of the altar.

"I can see that!" she screaches at Morgie before turning back to the altar. "Come on, why aren't you working? Find them!"

In what looks like one final effort, the smoke twists, tangles over itself, gathers in one huge floating smoke ball, and explodes. There's a ring similar to that of a nuclear energy, and for a fleeting second, they can see the faces of Red and Chloe on the staircase of Merlin Academy, holding a small object which they click before disappearing. Then the smoke clears and the image disappears. Morgie and Hook turn to Uliana, coughing. The sea witch is panting and has to steady herself on the side of the altar, but she has the firm, determined look of someone who isn't about to give up.

"They're gone", she admits through gritted teeth. "They're nowhere within reach. The last time they were anywhere in this realm was yesterday night. The thing they were holding, did you see what it was? Ugh, useless", she mutters as the boys shake their heads. "Okay. Again."

She straightens herself, turns back to the altar, and casts her spell again. It's easier this time, now that she knows where and when to search. Again, the smoke fills the room, and this time, the image is clearer, more stable. The three of them watch the scene taking place before their eyes.

"This belongs to you", Chloe says, her voice weirdly distorted by the effects of the smoke, pulling an object from inside her coat and handing it to Red.

The rebel takes it and looks at it for a moment before raising it between them. This time, the three villains can clearly see what it is — a golden pocket watch, rather large in size. They watch on, in search for more clues, as Red asks, "Ready?", and Chloe responds "Ready", resting a hand on the pocket watch, on top of Red's hand. They click it, the air around them seems to distort, there's a golden aura around them, and then they're gone.

"A pocket watch!" Morgie exclaims. "It was a pocket watch."

"I saw that, idiot!" Uliana snaps back. "The question now is where did it take them."

She starts pacing again, thinking out loud.

"Did they change realms? That would explain that my detection spell didn't pick up on them. But they didn't feel like they came from another realm, I would have sensed their aura. Of course they might have simply teleported, but then how can they evade me?"

"We could ask Maddox", Hook suggest casually.

He's sitting in an armchair with his feet on the armrest, polishing his hook. He doesn't look at Uliana as he speaks, but when she stops pacing, indicating that he's got her attention, he shoots her a side glance.

"Maddox?" Uliana repeats warily.

"The son of the Hatter", Hook explains. "He's a freshman."

"Huh! That explains it, I don't talk to freshmen. What use would he be?"

Hook takes his feet of the armrest in one smooth, graceful movement and stands, leaning on the back of the armchair, looking at her with a slight smirk.

"Well, he's got this whole thing with clocks and time and all. Maybe he would know what that thing was."

Uliana stares at him. The boy returns her gaze.

"Fine. Let's ask him."

Hook kicks himself off the armchair with a smug grin.

***

Maddox Hatter is a quiet kid, not in a shy way, but rather in a calm and composed way. He doesn't waste words, and when he speaks, he speaks in a matter-of-fact, to-the-point tone. He doesn't particularly stand out, neither as a popular kid nor as an outcast. His classmates are used to his demeanour and he gets along well with them, without being particularly close to any of them. He doesn't particularly enjoy high school, but he doesn't actively hate it either; he's just getting through it. Sure, he's got a bit of a weird obsession for hat fashion and clocks, but compared to some of the grandiloquent personalities around him, he remains in the range of "fairly normal".

In short, Maddox Hatter isn't a particularly noticeable kid.

Therefore, it comes as a huge surprise to him when, late at night, the self-proclaimed Queen of the School, Uliana, and two of her crooners come knocking at his door.

The moment he opens the door, he is faced with wide, friendly grins. A vague sense of dread and unease awakens inside of him. The reputation of these three preceeds them.

"Hi!"

Uliana's grin makes him think that this girl just never learnt how to be friendly. She feels like an alien trying to learn how to copy human behaviour. It's somewhere between sad and uncanny — at any rate, not encouraging.

"We, ah, wanted to pay a visit to our dear friend Maddel!"

"Maddox", Hook corrects her.

Uliana laughs, in a demonstration of what is probably meant to be humor but just looks maniacal instead.

"Maddox, Maddox, of course." She snaps out of it and leans towards him, glancing around the corridor. "Can we come in?" she whispers in a secretive tone.

No matter how wary he is of these three, and how weirdly they're acting, Maddox knows what's good for him, and saying no to Uliana definitely doesn't fall under that category. He shrugs indifferently and steps back to let them in. The three bullies sneak into his room quickly, closing the door behind them.

Maddox' room looks more like an inventor's lab than a student's dorm. Every flat surface, from the floor to the top of the shelves, is littered with gears, springs, wires, crystals. Many of his attempted or half-finished creations look like some sort of clock or watch, ranging from wrist watches to huge cuckoo clocks. There's a sun dial on one side of the bed, leaving just enough space on the matress for the boy to curl up at night. Uliana looks around, then raises her eyebrows appreciatively. Hook smirks at her.

"Told ya."

"Hey, it's a little birdie!"

Morgie has picked up the bird figure from the cuckoo clock and is showing it to the others.

"Um, please don't touch stuff", Maddox requests, holding out his hand towards the bird.

All of a sudden, he has a sinking feeling that this might be exactly why they came — to destroy his stuff, or worse, mock him because of it. It would be pretty fitting to what he knows of Uliana to act all friendly only to stab you in the back the next second. But to his surprise, when Morgie glances questionningly at his leader, she gives him another grimacing smile and nods.

"Go on Morgie, give it back to our friend", she prompts.

Somehow, this makes her even scarier.

Morgie makes bird noises — he can imitate a bird surprisingly well, Maddox notices — and flies the little figure gently into the younger boy's palm. Maddox sets it back on the workbench (aka, his desk) and, in one smooth, all-encompassing look, makes sure that everything else is still in order.

"Look at this", Uliana orders behind him.

He turns around to find she is pointing at a sheet of paper Morgie is holding, with such childish pride radiating from him that it's impossible to doubt he is the author of the drawing. The picture, remarkably elaborate, is that of a pocket watch.

"Please", Hook adds, elbowing the girl.

Maddox takes the drawing from Morgie and studies it carefully, but he can't see anything special about it. Somewhat confused, he looks up at the other three.

"Well?" Uliana insists.

Maddox wonders if they're stupid.

"It's a pocket watch", is his tranquil response.

"I can see that!" Uliana snaps.

Hook seems to decide it's time to step in. He kicks himself off the side of the shelves where he's been leaning and steps in front of Uliana.

"We just saw someone click it and disappear", he explains. "As in, fully disappear, untraceable."

The boy's apprehension melts away as his curiosity is peaked. Distrustful as he is of the three teens, he can't resist the call of mistery.

"Untraceable by a detection spell?" he clarifies.

Hook nods.

"Well, there could be magic infused into the pocket watch. They could have changed realms…"

"Why would they do that? And which realm would they go?" Uliana interrupts, in a tone that indicates she's thought about this before, and hasn't found the theory satisfying — in blunter words, she thinks he's stupid, judging by the mixture of exasperation and impatience.

Maddox shrugs and goes on, ignoring the interruption.

"…or they could have travelled through time."

"Oh, oh, because it's a watch!" Morgie exclaims, raising his hand as if begging a teacher to call on him.

Uliana's eyes light up with an obsessive spark.

"Time travellers? Yes, that's it! That would explain why they felt so off", she thinks out loud.

She steps towards Maddox, who doesn't budge, though he leans away from her slightly.

"Can you find out where they went?"

"Not from a picture. I'd need some traces of the magic they used."

"Traces?"

He grabs a device on his desk that looks like a very complex wrist watch. It has several small dials, tiny hands and buttons all around.

"This can trace and measure magical activity. Do you know where they were when they used it?"

"Yes! Yes we do!" Morgie exclaims happily.

"Alright, let's go", Maddox decides, stuffing the magic tracer in his pocket.

The four of them creep out of the room and Maddox follows the other three to the courtyard, where Uliana indicates an outside staircase.

"There. They were standing right there."

Maddox pulls out the tracer and starts configurating it.

"The sooner after the magic was used, the better", he explains, carefully tweaking buttons. "When did they use it?"

"Yesterday evening."

Maddox grimaces as he holds up the tracer.

"That's almost too late. It would take really powerful magic to leave readable traces even— woah!"

The tracer whirrs and its hands start turning so fast the device heats up. Beeps and whistle sounds emanate from it with an intensity that Maddox has never seen it produce, then the device stabilizes, and it does so with such certainty and precision that Maddox finds himself thinking it knows that magic. And then I know that magic. Yet it's not a magic that he's ever encountered; the values are completely unfamiliar to him. No, that knowledge feels different, instinctive, more intimate. It's like a deep, emotional recognition.

Maddox Hatter, what's going on with you? It's not like him to get caught up in emotional speculation. He's got a mystery to solve. And behind him, Uliana is getting impatient.

"Well? Did it work?"

Maddox nods.

"Where— When did they go?"

"Here", he replies, reading the values. "But not now. About thirty to thirty-five years in the future."

"That's it?"

Uliana lets out a cry of rage.

"You don't know when, or who they were, or how we can get to them? God, why am I surrounded by so much incompetence?"

"That's what I've got. Take it or leave it."

"Ugh!"

Uliana turns on her heel and storms away. Hook rolls his eyes and follows her — Maddox gets a fleeting feeling that eye roll wasn't meant as an insult to him, but an expression of annoyance towards her. Morgie looks between the two of them and Maddox with visible uncertainty. Eventually, he gives the other boy a sorry look.

"That's really the best you can do? She's gonna be in a horrible mood for days if we don't find them. And when she's in a bad mood, she's mean to me…"

"Isn't she always mean to you?" Maddox notes, cocking an eyebrow.

Morgie shrugs.

"Ehh. Sometimes she's nice."

He pauses.

"When she needs something from me, mostly."

Another pause.

"And when other people are mean to me. But that doesn't happen anymore. Everyone's too scared of her."

No wonder, Maddox thinks. Then he thinks, I have some thoughts about your understanding of friendship. But he's not going to dig into that now. He nods in understanding, then glances at the tracer again.

"Don't tell her this yet, but I think I might be able to replicate the magic. To take us to them. Emphasis on might."

"You mean… Time travel?"

"Ideally. I'm not sure, though, so don't get your hopes up."

Morgie doesn't seem to have heard the last part of his sentence. His eyes have gone from "sad puppy" to "overexcited golden retriever". He's bouncing on the balls of his feet, giddy with excitement.

"That's so cool! We're going to time travel! Even Uli's magic can't do that!"

"I said maybe", Maddox insists.

"Time travel! Time travel!" Morgie chants, happily jumping around.

"Shh! It's past curfew, if people hear us we're gonna get in trouble!"

The boy quiets down, but continues chanting "time travel, time travel, time travel" under his breath. Maddox gestures him back towards the dorms, and the boy follows. There's something about him that decidedly screams golden retriever. Even when he turns into his corridor, leaving Morgie to climb the stairs to the junior's dorms, he can still hear him whispering to himself:

"Time travel, time travel, time travel…"

Chapter Text

He's almost there. It's taken him weeks, he's behind on his homework, and he's pretty sure he could hibernate for a month and still not be caught up on his missing hours of sleep, but he's so close. He's built an effective teleporter, figured out a way to copy the temporal coordinates from the tracer, implemented a protective shield (teleportation can have weird side effects if one isn't careful), and narrowed down where the girls went to the span of a few months.

So close, but not there yet. He still lacks the one thing without which the device can't function: a power source.

And finding the right one is no easy feat. It has to be sensitive to magic, stable enough to not explode in their hands, and at the same time, powerful enough to take four people some thirty-five years into the future.

(Of course he's counting himself in. He's too involved to back out, at this point. Plus, it's for research purposes.)

He's been thinking about it for two days straight, but he just can't come up with anything. Uliana's magic isn't related to time, as Morgie brought up. Morgie himself, though he's related to the most powerful fairy of their time, hasn't seemed to inherit her powers. And Maddox is pretty certain he himself can't craft a battery both strong and stable enough from scratch. That sort of magic is way above his—

"Maddox Hatter! Do you consider yourself too smart for us, or are you going to grant us the privilege of your attention anytime soon?"

He jumps as his history teacher appears in front of him.

"Sorry, Sir", he mumbles quickly.

Now isn't the time to draw attention to himself. He raises his gaze to the PowerPoint and forces himself to stay focused for at least thirty seconds — long enough for the teacher's suspicion to dissipate.

"As I was saying", the man continues, "at the core of Merlin Academy is a powerful magic source. Where exactly it comes from is an information that Professor Merlin carefully keeps to himself, but it is infused in every magical artifact around this school, and in the walls of the school itself. Have you never noticed, for instance, how steps become extra easy to miss when one is running late? The stairs have a very particular sense of humor."

Maddox stops listening again, but this time it's for a different reason. Merlin's magic! A powerful magic source beyond comprehension — powerful enough to bring an entire castle to life! Distilled everywhere around him, at the tip of his fingers! A fraction of that power would be enough to take them all into the future. But how can he encapsulate that power within the device? Peeling off a strip of paint or a wooden shard won't be enough. It's the castle that's magical, not the materials themselves — those are much, much younger than the magic source.

Unless…

The teacher mentioned artifacts. That would be the ideal solution: the magic already contained into an object, all he'd have to do would be wire it to the time traveling device…

He shifts his focus back to the lecture.

***

"I need to break into Principal Merlin's office and steal something valuable without him noticing."

To him, the sentence sounds crazy. To Uliana, Hook and Morgie, on the other hand, it seems to be the most natural thing in the world.

Morgie wasn't able to hold his tongue for long. After three days (longer than Maddox expected, if he's being honest), he slipped up and told Uliana about the time traveling machine, and that very evening, the sea witch came knocking at his door, smiling like nothing had happened. Her smile felt less uncanny that evening — maybe she was trying less hard now that she was assured of his participation, maybe she was genuinely excited that there may be a solution. Either way, he's been less intimidated by her since then.

"Easy", she shrugs.

"Uh, last time we did we ended up frozen and in detention", Hook protests. "And I lost my shoes."

"That was these girls' fault! They tricked us into opening the book. This time, no one touches anything that looks remotely magical, and—"

"Yeah, that might be an issue", Maddox interjects. "What I need is a magical item."

"What kind?"

"Whatever. Something small enough to fit in the pocket watch, to use as a battery."

The three villains oooh in understanding.

"So you've figured it out?" Uliana asks.

"I think so. If we can just get our hands on an artifact to use as a power source, I think it's going to work."

The sea witch tilts her head back and cackles with glee. Morgie bounces up and down and chants "time travel, time travel". Only Hook doesn't take part in the celebrations.

"If we can get our hands on a magical artifact", he reminds the other two. "Does it have to be from Merlin?"

"Ideally, yes. Merlin's magic is infused in the entire castle, which means all my devices are automatically sensitive to it since it's the environment they've been built in. Any other magic source, I'd have to attune it first, and that would take much longer and would be far from guaranteed to work."

"Come on", Uliana argues. (Maddox has noticed she argues with Hook, but gives orders to Morgie.) "If this works, we'll have our revenge in no time."

"And if it doesn't?"

"Who cares? We're already in detention for the rest of our lives!"

"My parents, Uli. They care."

"Pfft! They don't count! And anyway", she goes on, "once the time machine is complete, we'll be thirty-five years away from them."

"It might not work."

Uliana changes her strategy.

"You're really gonna bail on me like this?"

Her expression is weird, unreadable. It could be disappointment, or threat, or something else entirely. The pirate sighs.

"You know I'm not. Alright, I'm in."

He mumbles something else that Maddox doesn't hear. Uliana gives him a look that Maddox has never seen on her — she looks almost… sympathetic? But she doesn't comment and, instead, turns back to the inventor.

"Meet us outside Merlin's window at midnight."

***

He's there in time, and so are they. Uliana leaves Morgie in charge of keeping watch, despite his moaning that it's always up to him and that he never gets to do anything fun, and she, Hook and Maddox creep into the dimly lit corridors of Merlin Academy. A soft blue glow comes from the principal's office, but all is quiet. Maddox can feel his heartbeat quicken. The sound of his own breathing is deafening.

Uliana whispers a spell; the necklace around her neck glows gently, a little streak of magic, almost like smoke, escapes it and slithers into the lock, and the door swings open.

Merlin's office surely is something special. The walls are lined with bookshelves, all of which look more magical than the next. On either side of a massive marble fireplace are two perches, and on one of them sits an electronic owl. In the middle of the office is a round table with gently glowing swords, complete with an intricate sculpted centerpiece.

"Tada!" Uliana whispers triumphantly. "See? Easy!"

"We still have to find an artifact", Hook reminds her.

They sneak into the office, close the door behind them, and start looking around. The moment they approach the round table, however, the owl on the fireplace lights up with magical blue energy and turns its head towards them. They fall into a defensive stance, Hook pulling his sword and pushing Maddox behind him, but the automaton doesn't do anything. It merely watches them. After a while, it hoots, the sound terrifyingly loud in the dead of the night.

"Let's get out", Hook suggests, lowering his blade.

Uliana shoots him a murderous look.

"Not without the power source!"

Still keeping a wary eye on the owl, she starts looking around the room, but is interrupted by the clicking of a lock.

"What was that?"

"The door."

Maddox' voice sounds calmer than he feels. Hook goes over to the door and tries to open it — to no avail. An expression of panic creeps across his face and he half-runs to the window, which he tries to open in turn, again with no success.

"We're locked in!"

The sound of flapping winds and the feeling of movement close to them alerts them. They wheel around with a yelp, but it's just a bat flying in through the chimney. Except… Around the bat, a whirlwind seems to form, growing in size and intensity until it's around the size of a grown man. It dies away and reveals Principal Merlin.

"Well, well, well", he begins matter-of-factly. "You didn't think I was going to let you repeat your recent adventure, did you?"

His eyes fall on Maddox.

"Mister Hatter, I'm disappointed. I expected better of you. You really should choose your friends more wisely."

He sighs deeply.

"I guess you shall be joining them in detention, then. As for the rest of you, I have no choice but to inform your parents."

***

"Where's Hook?"

There's seven of them in detention that day — Uliana, Morgie and Maddox of course, Hades and Maleficent, the rest of Uliana's gang, for breaking into the office last time, and two sophomores for a reason Maddox doesn't care to know. But the pirate is nowhere to be seen; Maddox can't remember seeing him at recess, either.

Morgie grimaces in return.

"His parents picked him up. They didn't seem happy."

"Why would they do that?"

"Hatter and Le Fay, quiet!"

Morgie just shrugs in response and the two of them focus back on their work. Or, well, look down at their notebooks. Maddox isn't really thinking about the recipe of love potions that they're supposed to be copying right now. Instead, his mind wanders back to Merlin's office, scanning his own memories in search of any detail that could help find a power source. It's safe to assume that everything in that office is magical, but what could he use for the time machine? And more importantly, how do they get their hands on it, with all the protections surrounding the office?

His photographic memory has always been his father's greatest pride. When Maddox was younger, he used to make him remember and reproduce complex decorative arrangements on top of hats, and Maddox would always get them right, down to the type of gears or feathers, the glue or thread that held them together, and the exact position of each item. That's also one of the things that makes him so good at tinkering: he has a solid memory of what the mechanisms should look like and can imitate them with ease.

What would the Hatter think if he knew what his son is using this gift for now? He hasn't been told of last night's incident — as it's Maddox' first misdemeanor, Merlin decided detention was punishment enough and his parents need not be informed. And Maddox isn't about to tell him about it himself.

Which is another reason why he isn't keen on breaking into Merlin's office again. He doesn't need his father involved in the whole project. Poor old Hatter has enough trouble already…

When the dinner bell rings, they're finally released from detention. Hades and Maleficent head off god knows where, hand in hand. Uliana, Morgie and Maddox wait until the two sophomores, as well as the janitor, are gone, before slowly making their way to the refectory. None of them speak for a while.

"Hook's parents suck", Uliana says all of a sudden.

Maddox snaps out of his mental reviewing of Merlin's office (the fourth one in an hour). Uliana's tone is shaking with cold, contained anger, the kind of anger that she's been keeping in for years.

"Your question from earlier", she clarifies. "They suck. They don't think detention is enough. That's why Hook's not here."

"What do you mean?"

But the sea witch refuses to elaborate any further.

"Just find that damn power source, and then we can all get out of here."

The owl from Merlin's office flies above their heads, making them jump and interrupting their conversation. It circles them once or twice, flying back and forth in the direction of the refectory. Uliana glares at it.

"What, is Merlin spying on us now?" she shouts at it.

"It isn't called spying when a professor makes sure to keep his most misbehaving students in check."

Professor Merlin appears behind them without a warning. They jump again.

"You three should really go to dinner instead of loitering in the corridors", he adds in a pleasant tone. "Have a good evening!"

He doesn't move, arms crossed, waiting for them to head to the refectory. Maddox is the first to leave. Morgie pulls a furious Uliana with him.

"Come on, Uli, let's go."

"Let's keep our heads low for now", Maddox whispers as they walk away. "The less he suspects us, the more leeway I have."

Uliana lowers her voice, but still won't be fully calmed.

"Damn owl", she mutters under her breath.

Maddox reflexively glances over his shoulder at the bird, who is watching them with its glowing blue eyes. He pictures it again in Merlin's office, sitting on its perch next to the fireplace, and…

He gasps softly. He knows.

He waits until they're sitting at a table in a corner of the by now almost deserted refectory.

"The owl", he whispers. "In the office, there were two perches. Where's the second one?"

Uliana racks her brain.

"Oh, I saw it last week!" she remembers. "It was broken. The girls threw something at it, I think."

"The eyes are artifacts", Maddox explains. "If we can find the broken owl, we'll have our power source."

"Right. The question is how do we find it?"

"Can't you use a detection spell like you did for the girls?"

"They only work on humans. Great! Now we're gonna be searching through trash?" she groans, in a tone of exasperation that Maddox has learnt is directed at the situation in general, not him personally.

"Um, Uli, can I say something?" Morgie pipes up.

"Not now, Morgie!" she snaps. "I don't wanna be going through all the trash in this school like a—"

"I know who can help us."

She stops mid-sentence and stares at the boy. Maddox' focus is on him, too. Morgie's cheeks go pink at all this attention directed towards him.

"Sometimes, when I'm alone, I talk with the rats", he explains in a quick, low, uncharacteristically embarrassed voice. "It's my secret. There."

He takes a deep breath, pulling on the hem of his sleeve.

"They, um, they might be able to find the owl."

Chapter Text

It takes Morgie's rats two days to search through the trash and find the broken owl. And then it takes Maddox another week to figure out how to carefully extract the fragments of the stones that formed the eyes, glue them back together one by one, and reactivate the magic that was shattered with the stones.

"If you can make magic", Morgie asks one evening as he watches the stones light up with the familiar blue glow, "why didn't you just do that in the first place?"

He's curled up in the armchair, Mr. Rat asleep in his lap. Mr. Rat is, as he put it, his rat best friend, whom he introduced to Maddox after he revealed his secret to him and Uliana. Ever since, Maddox has noticed Mr. Rat in more and more situations — a shadow in the corridors, whiskers sticking out of Morgie's locker, a slight bulge in his pocket. The pet doesn't come out unless they're alone, though, like tonight, comfortably settled in Maddox' room as the boy works on the time machine. Uliana is probably arguing with Maleficent — their relations have been tense lately.

"I'm not creating magic", he explains, raising the artifact to the light and observing its blueish glow. "Think of it as a defibrillator. I just forced the magic to restart."

Morgie hold out his hand and Maddox carefully places the blue pebble in it so he can take a closer look.

"It's pretty", he breathes.

Maddox watches the boy. He seems fascinated, admiring the small artifact as if it's the most extraordinary thing he's ever seen. It's weird to Maddox — Morgie is Morgana's son, after all. You'd expect him to have experience with magic.

"Morgie, how come you're so unfamiliar with magic?" he asks after a while.

The boy shrugs and hands him back the pebble.

"I'm not good at magic. Mom always tells me to keep away from it because when I was a kid she tried to teach me and I kept making a mess. I guess I just don't have her powers."

He looks down at the sleeping rat in his lap, thoughtfully.

"Except the animals. They talk to me."

"All of them?"

Morgie smiles and nods.

"Yes. Except for the angry automated owls."

They both chuckle. Mr. Rat shifts in Morgie's lap, and the boy runs a finger between the little creature's ears. Maddox returns to the pocket watch.

"Maddox?" Morgie asks after a while.

"Hm?" he mumbles, absorbed by his work.

"What are your parents like?"

Maddox pauses, sets down the soldering iron and the wire he was holding. He turns to face the blonde boy.

"I don't know my mom. My dad raised me alone. He's a hatter."

"A hatter called Hatter", Morgie points out.

Maddox smiles a little.

"Yeah. He works hard, you know. He's good at his job. But it's difficult to raise three kids on a single income. He's struggling. He tries to hide it from us, but I see him. I know he's so proud of me… I don't want to be anymore trouble for him, you know?"

Morgie nods.

"Is he proud because you're an inventor?"

"Amongst other things."

"Although that's got nothing to do with hats?"

"Yeah. Why?"

Morgie looks away. His index finger runs back and forth along the back of the still sleeping rat.

"I don't think my mom's proud of me. For the animals. She wanted me to be a dark fairy like her."

Maddox doesn't know what to say. They're quiet for a while. Then:

"Are Hook's parents really that bad?" he asks.

"I don't know. He never told me. I guess that's his secret", Morgie adds after a beat. "Like me and the rats."

Maddox hums and returns to the pocket watch.

"I didn't tell my secret because I was scared Uli would laugh at me. Do you think he's scared, too?"

"I don't know. It's hard to tell without knowing what the secret is."

Mr. Rat wakes up and lets out a gentle squeak, something the freshman has learnt means he's hungry. Or thirsty. Or he just wants a snack. Something along those lines, at least, but of course Morgie understands the details better. For a while, the only sounds in the room are the chitter of Mr. Rat eating a piece of cracker, and the sizzle of the soldering iron.

"Do you think he'll come back?" Morgie asks.

Maddox considers.

"If he doesn't, once the pocket watch is done, we'll go pick him up."

***

It's the most complex, most extraordinary, absolute craziest tinkering project Maddox has ever taken on. And it isn't until it's done that he fully realizes it. He closes the protective case around the artifacts, unplugs the soldering iron, puts his tools away. Then he takes the pocket watch in both hands and stares at it for a solid five seconds.

He's done it. He's created a functional time machine, powerful enough to take four people thirty-five years in the future. At least, he's 86% sure of it. Okay, maybe 78%.

But that's not what he's going to tell the others. He doesn't think Uliana or Morgie would even care, to be honest. As for Hook…

Yeah, Hook would care. If he were there.

It's been two weeks now since they've last seen him. Maddox has tried questioning Uliana again, but she hasn't told him anything beside what she said after their first night of detention. Which leaves Maddox with a bunch of questions and, if he's being honest, concern.

It's not like he loves the pirate boy. Out of his three accomplices, Hook is actually the one he knows least. He enjoys Morgie's company a lot, and he likes to think he has a sort of understanding of Uliana, as unpredictable, aggressive and straight-up mean as she can be. Hook was always more distant, unreadable. He's courteous, flirty, elegant, dangerous. There are always at least three layers to what he says and Maddox can't begin to decipher the first one.

But he's part of the group, he's been involved from the start, and it would feel too weird to Maddox to go into the future without him. Besides, he knows Uliana wouldn't leave without her second-in-command.

Which leaves them with one option, the one he pitched to Morgie a few nights ago. It's not like him, but he's in too deep to back out at this point. After all, he broke into Merlin's office; what can be worse?

It's past curfew already. He sneaks out of his room and into the junior's dorms.

And that's how, in the middle of the night, Maddox with the pocket watch tucked under his shirt, Uliana, Morgie and Mr. Rat find themselves sneaking around the ships in the harbor. The sea witch and the Fay boy fit in easily; their clothes, their hair, their attitude, everything about them screams the same careless outcast confidence as the sailors lurking around the docks. Maddox, on the other hand, feels horribly out of place, with his clean straight suit with worn sleeves, and his top hat decorated with a bunch of gears and springs. He tries to copy the laid back attitude of the other two, but he feels like some sort of alien creature in an unknown world. Maybe this is the kind of feeling Uliana gets when she tries to look friendly, he thinks to himself.

The Jolly Roger is anchored at the very end of the docks, waves lapping gently against her hull. The three misfits crouch behind a pile of crates from where they can see the deck. There are two men keeping watch. Below deck, everything looks quiet; there isn't a single light coming from the windows. One of Uliana's tentacles points at a window towards the back of the ship.

"That's his cabin", she whispers.

"How are we going to get in?"

"Along the side. Imma swim. You two hold onto the railing."

She quietly slips out from behind the crates and into the sea, assuming her magical form as her body hits the water. Morgie and Maddox watch the quick progression of the dark mass under the surface, then the hatter nudges his friend.

"Come on. Our turn."

Making sure the lookouts aren't looking their way, ducking to keep out of sight, they hurry over to the mooring. Morgie makes sure Mr. Rat is safely tucked away in his pocket, Maddox takes his hat between his teeth, and they start climbing along the mooring until they reach the hull of the ship. A thin sculpted ridge, just a few inches wide, runs along the side. Morgie progresses with the ease of one used to acrobatics; he drops his legs, holding onto the mooring with only his hands, waits until he's stopped swinging, then carefully reaches one foot towards the ridge. He shifts his body weight closer to the hull, grabs onto the lower part of the railing, and starts progressing along the hull of the ship. From above deck, only his hands are visible between the vertical bars of the railing. Maddox wonders what would happen if the lookouts suddenly decide to look at that exact spot.

He stops wondering about that, and about anything else, the moment it's his turn to climb onto the ship. He glances down at the surface of the ocean; all of a sudden, it seems dreadfully far away. It dawns upon him that he's dangling from a rope between a ship and the dock, and that he's supposed to let go so he can balance on a surface that's barely wide enough for him to fit his toes. Suddenly, the air around him feels harder to breathe.

Morgie notices that his partner in crime is having issues. With infuriating ease, he creeps back towards him and gives him an encouraging nod. Maddox shakes his head (and the hat between his teeth), tightening his grip on the rope. Morgie doesn't lose his joyfully confident look. Casually, he lets go of the railing with one hand (he lets go, balancing on that thing, when Maddox is unable to even let himself hang with both hands!), takes the hat, places it on his head, then reaches out again, offering a helping hand. Again, he smiles and nods, eyes sparkling with the excitement of the adventure. Maddox closes his eyes.

He's too far in to back out now, he tells himself, for the hundredth time in the past couple of weeks. If he's going to solve the mystery of the two time travelers, he has to get through this.

The legs, just the legs. That's all he needs to do: unhook his legs from around the rope and let himself dangle from the mooring. He can do this.

He takes a deep breath, forcing his lungs to expand back to a normal size, and holds it. He tightens the grip of his fingers around the rope. And he drops his legs.

Gravity catches him, he falls — but not for long, and his body swings a little more wildly than he would have liked. Morgie's hand lands on his back, stabilizing him. Maddox forces himself to breathe normally again.

Next step: the ridge. Morgie's hand still on his back, he scoots as close as he can to the hull, and extends his leg as far as it will go. He manages to touch the ridge, but loses his balance, his foot slips, and he finds himself dangling from the mooring again. Morgie, his good humor undefeated (Maddox doubts that anything can wipe that smile off the boy's face), motions for him to try again. This time, when Maddox' foot reaches the ridge, he places his own foot over it, pressing his ankle to the hull. The pressure of his hand on Maddox' back turns a little more firm as he guides him closer. One after the other, the hatter's son shifts his hands to the railing, then his second foot to the ledge.

Morgie gives him a thumbs-up, then resumes his progression. Maddox forces his muscles to keep moving. He can't freeze now. Foot, hand, foot, hand. Inch by inch, he makes his way across the hull. Morgie is already far ahead of him.

Uliana, her upper body floating above water below Hook's window, is urging him on with an impatient frown. He can almost hear her complaining about his incompetence. He forces himself to look away, focusing only on the ledge and his grip on the railing. Foot, hand, foot, hand…

At last, he makes it to their level. His muscles are shaking, straining, and he feels like his fingers are about to give out. Morgie grins at him, and Maddox can almost see his refrained impulse to clap and cheer.

Uliana raises a tentacle and knocks at the window. Nothing moves, so she knocks again, a little more persistently. After a few seconds, the window creaks open, and Hook's sleepy head appears (or at least, Maddox assumes he's sleepy by his messy hair, which is the only thing he can see from above).

"About time! Let us in", Uliana demands.

Hook looks up and notices the two boys. Morgie gives him a cheerful wave. Hook looks somewhat upset, but he pulls back from the window frame to let them in. Uliana, still in her magical form, levitates above the surface of the water and hovers in front of the window. Morgie easily drops from the ledge so that he's now holding onto it with his fingers, swings his feet inside the window, and disappears inside the ship. Maddox finds himself alone on the ledge, with Uliana staring at him in impatience and his heart pounding.

How in the world did Morgie manage that move? Maddox feels like his fingers are turning to ice, clasped around the railing. It was hard enough to drop his feet from the mooring — but drop his entire body from the ledge, let go of every solid grip, and fall for the full height of his body before somehow catching himself again? The move seems impossible. If only he didn't—

A tentacle wraps itself around his ankle, pulls him off the ledge, and before he can do anything beside suck in a breath, he rolls on the floor of Hook's cabin. Uliana smoothly pushes herself in, her tentacles vanishing as she passes through the narrow opening.

Maddox stands and dusts himself off, making sure the pocket watch is still tucked carefully under his clothes. Morgie, pleasantly, sets the hat back on his head. Hook's room is like him: clean, dandy-like, revealing absolutely nothing. There's a bed, a desk, a wardrobe with a large mirror. There's nothing lying around, no sign that anyone actually lives there beside the unmade bed and the boy's hook and sword on his bedside table.

Hook closes the window behind them. Decidedly, he doesn't exactly look happy to see them. Instead, his expression is a mixture of apprehension and resentment.

"What are you guys doing here?"

Although he keeps his voice barely above a whisper, his tone and his stare reveal his upset.

"We're rescuing you!" Morgie responds happily, apparently unaware of his friend's anger.

Hook's jaw tightens and his eyes darken. He looks from Morgie to Maddox to Uliana. Then he turns away, leaning onto his desk with his back to them.

"I don't need to be rescued", he states coolly. "I don't need your pity."

He glances over his shoulder back at the sea witch.

"And Uli — what exactly made you think it was okay to rope them into my personal life?" he asks through gritted teeth.

"For the record, I didn't tell them anything!" she protests.

"No, you just brought them straight here!"

Their conversation is interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps down the hall, along with the clanking of a walking stick on the wooden planks. Hook's eyes widen, and his anger isn't enough to hide the fear that creeps onto his features.

"Hide!"

He ushers them under the bed and they dive into the hiding place, something about his tone warning them not to argue. Maddox' hat rolls off his head and onto the floor, and Hook is just in time to kick it back towards him before the door opens. From their hiding place, all they can see are a pair of heavy leather boots and the tip of an intricate mahogany stick. Maddox also notices the slight twitching of Hook's ankles.

"James."

The voice is deep, smooth, refined, yet laced with menace. Hook's voice trembles slightly when he responds.

"F-Father."

"Who were you talking to?"

"No one. Myself."

The man takes a few steps across the room. His gait is regular and well-balanced; he doesn't look like someone who needs a walking stick.

"You were talking to yourself? At this time of the night?"

Hook's feet inch closer to the bed.

"I had a nightmare."

His father sighs. The leather boots take several steps closer; Hook takes one step back. The tip of the mahogany stick lifts off the ground and disappears from their sight. Then comes a muffled, repetitive tapping — the stick lightly beating into the man's palm, Maddox realizes.

Hook's parents suck. Uliana's words come back to him. They don't think detention is punishment enough. All of a sudden, he gest a sinking feeling of what she meant by that.

"Again? James, you know what we've said. You're grounded; we don't want to hear you."

He speaks clearly, stressing each word with a slap of the stick in his palm. Hook steps back again. His ankles hit the side of the bed. Maddox inches back, reducing his line of sight, but also the risk of being seen himself.

"I'm sorry, Father, I didn't mean to—"

"Quiet!"

The sudden bark takes all of them by surprise. Hook jumps, and so do the three under the bed.

"Kneel."

Maddox glances at Uliana. She isn't looking at him, or at Hook. Her head is turned to the side, and she is perfectly still. As quietly as he can, the Hatter whispers in her ear:

"Hold onto me."

Uliana glances at him and frowns. He gives her a pointed look.

There's a tremor in Hook's muscles. Slowly, reluctantly, he turns around, facing the bed, and kneels. The tension is agonizing, but it gives Maddox just enough time to wiggle the pocket watch out from under his shirt. Uliana, at last, understands. She grabs Maddox' elbow and signals for Morgie to do the same. Maddox holds his breath. Three, two, one…

The pirate boy's knees hit the floor, Maddox' right hand shoots forwards and makes contact while the left presses the button on the clock. He is vaguely aware of one of Uliana's tentacles shooting out from under the bed, a sound of surprise from Hook's father, then a golden glow surrounds them, the air distorts, and the ground under them vanishes.