Choosing Family

Chapter One

Hades looked over his shoulder at the bundle in Maleficent's arms, his soon to be ex-wife glaring at him as he prepared to walk out the door.

"Go on!" She growled, her eyes glowing green. Had she been able to access her full power, Hades might have felt nervous for Mal. "Leave! But know this, if you go, you'll never see hide nor hair of Mal again!"

Hades stilled, before turning to square off against his wife, towering over her smaller form. "I'm taking her with me," he told her, his voice low. "She's my daughter Maleficent. If you think I won't get my hands on her one way or another, you've forgotten what got me tossed on this hell scape of an Isle in the first place."

"She'll have powers you'll never understand," Maleficent told him. "I"m the only one who can explain them to her, even if she can never use them."

"Oh, so you'll be able to explain her godlike powers too or were you going to brush those under the rug? Maybe pretend like they were your Fae powers?"

Maleficent rolled her eyes. "She won't know you exist nor will she have access to them while she's under the barrier so what's the point in explaining those?"

"The Isle's not the biggest," Hades pointed out, his voice low with a slight growl. "We could run into each other."

The two stood off for what felt like an eternity but was more realistically around five minutes. Maleficent broke it first, shoving Mal into Hades' arms.

"Fine, take the little brat!" She growled. "With a weak father like you, there's no chance she would be anything to be proud of."

"You and I have very different definitions of what would make us proud of our daughter," Hades told her before walking out of Maleficent's lair, Mal being supported the best he could. He knew it was a risk, walking out into the Isle with an infant but he had no choice. His lair was on the exact opposite side of the Isle from Maleficent's and there were no underground tunnels connecting the two, the way there might be if he had an alliance with Maleficent.

And there never will be any tunnels to the Dragon's lair, Hades thought, a glare keeping some of the underlings from approaching him. Some even dove out of his path to avoid his rage. However, that didn't stop others from trying.

"Ah Hades!" Gaston greeted him with a wave, Captain Hook his only company, at the half way mark of Hades' trek to his lair. "Come, have a drink! I'm celebrating after all!"

Hades rolled his eyes but walked over to the hunter despite his better judgement. "What are you celebrating?"

"The birth of my son of course! A boy, strong like his father! He'll be running around with Gaston Jr and Gaston the Third in no time."

"Let me guess the name for this one. Gaston the fourth?" Hades ventured.

Gaston sighed. "Sadly no. I got the news too late so Claudette had already named him. Gil, on account he was born near the water and Claudette likes fish. Serves me right to leave that decision up to a woman."

"Aye, I've been blessed with a son myself," Hook nodded while Hades rolled his eyes at the hunter's not so creative names for his sons. "Harriet's not the happiest lass in the sea but she'll get over it."

"Well congratulations," Hades said dryly. "If you'll excuse me, I need to return to—"

"What's that you got there Hades?" Gaston asked, finally noticing the bundle in Hades' arms. "Laundry? Give it to one of the scullery maids around here and grab a drink!"

"Laundry doesn't move, you idiot," Hook sighed.

"I knew that!"

Hades rolled his eyes at their banter but before he could say anything, Mal cooed from her blankets. The noise caught the pirate and the hunter's attention.