HANSEL

‘Come on, come on…’ Gretel mouthed out, knowing she wouldn’t mess up her chance of a sneak attack by giving herself away just yet. Right when she thought an opportunity arose, Cruella rolled out of the way and her shot was gone. Not that it mattered since she kept her gun trained on the wolf as she continued to be patient; anxious sure but patient all the same since her chance would come.

Gretel silently nodded her head when he motioned for them to split up. Her guns stayed at the ready and she moved swiftly through the trees towards the sound of fighting. There were muffled voices but whatever was said couldn’t be heard over the growls and snarls. As Gretel settled against a tree, perfectly hidden and aimed her gun, she could see Cruella in her wolf form on top of Rapunzel and Ursula facing off against Mim. Quietly she clicked her tongue, annoyed that she thought even for a second that things would be quiet the night before the big battle. Bringing her gun up, she started to take aim but quickly noticed it would be difficult to fire right off the bat with how much the four of them were moving around. 

“Yeah, I know. I’ll just have to find someone to settle down with too so it’s more even when we all hang out.” Gretel was smiling the whole time, trying to show that she was happy for her brother. It would be hard not having him around but she’d have to get used to it. She knew at one point they wouldn’t be the only ones in each other’s lives. Of course that didn’t make her feel any better either since she knew even now that she’d miss him terribly. 

“We’ll have time to figure everything out after tomorrow though. Maybe we’ll get one last vacation just the two of us before things change.” She doubted it but she wasn’t given much time to continue her thought. Not when she heard the bells jingling in the air that Mim told them to be on the listen for. Now that she had her powers back, Mim had made sure to set some strong traps to ensure they’d know if someone snuck too close. “Someone’s here.” Her gun was pulled out and cocked within the two seconds it took her to say someone was there. Her eyes trained on the trees, the gun pointed at the ground for now as she inched forward. 

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Gretel said as she looked over each of her hand guns again. Much like her brother, she was stocked with as much ammo as she could carry without being weighed down; some was hidden away just in case her belt got torn from her. A girl had to be prepared for anything after all. The mention of the vacation had her chuckling and almost instantly nodding. “Gods yes, we need it after all of this shit.” Who knew that taking on a mission from the White Queen would have turned into such a mess. One wrong move and the world would pay the consequences. 

Gretel didn’t want to think of that right now though, so instead she just gently nudged her brother’s arm playfully. “It’s going to be a different vacation this time though, isn’t it? It won’t just be the two of us like before now that you have Mim.” Even her tone was playful since she still thought the two of them were cute together and liked to tease Hansel about it. It’d be a bit lonely if they really did the vacation but she’d have to get used to it. 

Hansel needed it before this mission. It hadn’t really dawned on him that the dynamic would be different now that Morgan was in the picture. It had him pause for a moment, thinking how he’d want the vacation. It had always just been him and Gretel and at times that is how he wanted it to stay. Change was hard, but Morgan also made him really happy. 

Hansel held the hilt of his shot gun firmly while he walked through the forest. In his life, he’d been part of many battles, but none like this. The consequence of failing to win a war had never been this high before. Self doubt and his anxiety was nearly too much to handle, though he did a great job convincing his comrades differently.

“Are you ready?” Nervously, he check over his ammo for the third time. How much he had on himself and what was already loaded into the barrel were all accounted for. It was the same as the last fifteen minutes go, but he had to continuously check. “Also, we get that vacation we’re always talking about after this, right?” Hansel smiled over at his sister. 

“Hmm.” Morgan hummed as she looked around them, taking note of where Hansel pointed out might be best. She didn’t really see any other place that looked like it would fit what they were looking for even after doing a quick but thorough look around the area. There was a spot by the tree on the opposite side that maybe would work but it wouldn’t be as good of a spot. So taking the items out that she’d need for the next trap, she stepped away from Hansel so that she could set up the trap by the bush in a similar manner to the first trap that she’d set up. 

“There.” With a smile once it was done, Morgan stood up and twirled back around to regard Hansel again. “Traps are all set, so now we can focus on the main part of the fun: the hunt.” Her brows wiggled playfully as she walked over to him. “I’ll be following your lead since I’m still not that confident yet. So where should we start our search?”

Hansel let her think it out and decide. No poor choices there, so he kept mum while she set up the final trap. Hunting really wasn’t on his mind. He’d much rather be back at camp with Morgan, doing, well anything. Some quality time that wasn’t centered around the constant drama that had consumed their lives. 

Light was probably for the best, Morgan nodded her head in agreement with that. Not running from a bear seemed like a bad idea to her but she was used to just flying away or scaring them with another form. Something she couldn’t do anymore. “Okay, so be scary and bigger and don’t run. Seems easy enough.” Probably not as easy as it sounded but hopefully they wouldn’t run across anything like that while they were out. 

Morgan felt more at ease when he held her closer as they walked and a smile grew on her lips. “All right, if you say not to worry then I’ll believe you.” She nuzzled against him for a brief moment after speaking before turning her gaze around them again. “So where should we place the next trap then? I think we’re getting pretty good into the woods to be able to find something…right?” Based on what he’d taught her, she felt like maybe she was reading things correctly. But she still second guessed herself since she wasn’t confident in hunting just yet.

Hansel nodded. The summarization was spot on. It wasn’t like they were going to be very far apart at any moment. Before letting go, he gently squeezed her, kissing her on top of her head. Acorns were scooped up, a few in hand as he glance around. This wouldn’t be a bad spot to set up the second trap. Holding out the acorns, he handed them off.

‘Wasn’t bad’ for the location, which meant it could have been better. Morgan took note of that for the future so it could be something that she worked on. A nod was given when he mentioned where another trap should be set up. Even though she was listening to him speak, her eyes were searching around them in case there might be another spot that looked like it might be good for a trap. 

“Do you think we’ll be able to catch anything that might be bigger? I’d hope for a deer but what if we run into a bear or something?” She asked as she glanced towards him, slightly moving some hair out of her face in the process. It was tucked behind her ear so it could hopefully not be in the way again for at least a little while. “I don’t know how confident I’d be if we ran into a bear or a bobcat in these woods.”

“Think a deer is all as big as we need to go. Otherwise, that would be too much meat to carry. We want to stay light.” Hansel weighed out how he wanted to respond on what to do if a bear, or bobcat appeared. “Honestly, just stay the hell out of their way. If a bear notices us, don’t run. They’ll instantly go after you. Try to make yourself seem bigger and scarier.” Hansel shrugged. “Pretty similar with a bobcat too, but with the two of us, I’m not sure it would try anything unless we’re close to a cub or food.” 

“Tickling is cheating.” Morgan protested with a pout despite the smile still on her face. She was going to answer his question but his compliment caught her off guard and she found herself blushing instead. For a moment she fumbled on her words before she set her hands on her hips and turned so she could focus on what she should be doing. “Still cheating.” It was all she could muster to say at the moment. But she did spare him a glance when he said she was free. There was an almost challenging look on her face as she wondered if he might try something again. 

“I’m watching you, Hansel.” She finally said with a grin, two fingers pointing to her own eyes and then pointing towards him. With one more look towards him, she turned her focus to her bag so that she could pull out the trap that needed to be set up. It was simple enough, having already been made earlier before all the things that had happened. It took a few seconds to find a good spot to set it up, one that seemed to be some animal’s trail somewhere. The string was tied up at one end to create a noose of sorts before she attached it to the end of the trap. It was propped up with some extra sticks that also doubled to help it blend in a bit more to hopefully keep the animal from seeing the trap. After working for a few minutes, she did one last look over before straightening with a smile. 

“There.” Morgan turned to Hansel with a warm smile again as she motioned to her handiwork. Not nearly as good as what he could do but she still hoped she was getting better at it. “What do you think? Did I miss anything?”

“C’mon. I’m a man of my word.” Hansel grinned back, his a little more mischievous than usual. As he concentrated, his smile faded as he watched her work and set the trap without any help. There was small hesitation in picking the spot, which wasn’t his first choice, but not the worse. Besides that, it was set up flawlessly. His arms crossed over his chest as he nodded proudly at her work. Morgan certainly caught on quickly

A whole thirty minutes with his baby. The thought made her giggle a little more as he agreed about the amount of traps they should lay out. Hopefully they’d be able to catch something good though so they could have a nice meal together. Even Aine and Fia, although they could just take the food and eat somewhere else. The further away the better for her. She had enough of them for one day. A pout formed on her face as she looked at him, a hand going to her hip. “Of course I remember how to set them up!” Morgan was still grinning a bit despite the pout that grew. 

A pout that was quickly replaced as she couldn’t help the giggles as his fingers found her more sensitive ticklish areas. “S-stop!” She managed to get out between the giggles, already trying to wiggle her way out of his hold. Somehow she managed to get a light grip on one of his hands so she was quick to lace her fingers with his before managing to step away from the other hand. “That’s cheating! Meanie!” She stuck her tongue out at him, though she kept an eye on that other hand not in hers in case he tried to do it again. “If you keep distracting me then I won’t be able to set one up properly. You’re already distracting enough as it is, you don’t have to tickle. Because then you’ll have to do aaaallllll the work if I’m too distracted.” 

Tickling had never been something he’d done in the past with the other girls he’d been intimate with, but with Morgan it was hard to resist. Her laughter was like music to his ears and she was beautiful as ever with her giant smile she couldn’t help but make. Still he found it in himself to stop when she insisted on so, lacing his fingers with hers willingly.

“Cheating?!” Hansel’s brows furrowed in confusion at the accusation. “I’m doing no such thing.” He laughed, shaking his head at her notion of him being too distracting. “How am I already distracting? Before you say my looks, than you’re even more distracting.” Hansel turned to look her in the eyes, smiling wide.

A startled noise left her lips when she was suddenly swung around, followed almost immediately by a laugh. She hadn’t expected that but she held him close and enjoyed every moment of this. Not just the playfulness but being close to him. “Definitely the bow. I don’t want to take away your favorite toy.” She spoke in a teasing tone since she knew by now what he preferred. She was honestly more comfortable with the bow anyway the last couple of times she had attempted. 

She knew of course that they should get started right away, at least with the traps, but she still moved to stand in front of him. Her arms draped over his shoulders as she lifted up to kiss his lips softly. “How many traps should we lay out? I’m thinking three in different areas, just in case I scare off all the deer.” Even as she asked, she was walking backwards still keeping her arms around him and a warm smile on her face. The antagonizing that Aine and Fia had done earlier far from being on her mind in the moment.

“Welll, just for you, I’d part with my favorite toy... for like twenty mins.” Hansel could be over protective of his prize weapon, not even letting Gretel help clean the shot gun when they were in a rush. Hansel smile widened as she came close. “Thirty minutes at tops.” He said avoiding eye contact by looking at the sky, pretending like Morgan was really trying to persuade him to part with the shot gun. Arms wrapped around her waist, he smiled down at her, chuckling before he was pulled down into a kiss. 

“Of course I would love to come along for some practice.” Morgan smiled a bit more with her words even though there was just a slight problem she could foresee. “Just be warned I might scare off the better game if we aren’t careful. So just tell me if I need to do something, okay?” Leaning up a bit, she pressed a kiss to his cheek tenderly. As much as she knew she was almost useless right now, at least she was still trying. Maybe one day she could be good with a blade or a gun like he and his sister were. It was a good goal that she had for herself at least. 

“Rest well, Cheshire. And thank you for getting us back here so quickly.” Morgan quickly spoke to the feline when he announced what his intentions were. With the group splitting up a bit, she wrapped her arm around Hansel’s and gave it a squeeze before stepping away towards the direction they would be going in. “What do you think that we should try to get?” She asked curiously as she glanced back at him, for the moment their hands still laced together. Soon they’d have to be quiet and focused but for the moment she wanted this the way it was currently. More so since the two pestering witches weren’t here to rile them up any.

Hansel was smiling for the first time, in a long time. The fact that she was most likely going to scare away a lot of the game didn’t even bother him. He was good enough to get something for them to eat, before night time arrived. Hansel waved goodbye to Cheshire, know the man wanted nothing more than to snuggle up next to Rapunzel and nap. He deserved for carrying all their asses home. 

As Fia said it was found, Morgan found she couldn’t hide the smile that had grown across her lips. She easily leaned into Hansel’s touch, more than relieved to know he was all right and the gesture as well. This was one of the things she had missed the most during their off moment. When Cheshire told them to come closer, she did as she was told and waited for him to gather them all around. The teleporting felt a little off this time, maybe because of how much he was exerting himself. Aine didn’t seem bothered once they were back in camp and was already starting to lead Fia away from them. 

“Will you be all right, Chesh?” Morgan asked with concern in her tone, only to be waved off quickly. For a moment she found herself pouting but by this point she knew it was just how he was. He didn’t like showing weakness in front of others so he tried to play it off. “Well…don’t push yourself too hard.” She had done that too many times before so she could understand why he did. Her attention then turned to Hansel as she asked, “What should we do now? It’s light enough for us to make dinner easily. We could do a little celebratory one since you all were able to successfully get the pendant?” It was a suggestion of course. For something to celebrate, they’d need to actually send someone to hunt so they could have some proper meat instead of the rations they had leftover. But it was doable she thought, if they wanted to.

Hansel watched the pair, pay no mind to them and walk off. It was aggravating and he had half a mind to say something, when the blonde chimed in. It was nice not to be on the receiving end of her smart remarks and snotty attitude. See it used against a common frenemy instead. That would be a sight to see, Rapunzel at their throats. His attention turned to Morgan when she suggested celebratory dinner. That was something they probably needed to lift their spirits after all that has been going on. 

“Yeah, I hope you’re right.” Morgan nodded her head a little, still unsure though of just how big of a start they actually had. The witch had been on a mission when getting to the house so maybe she had already known about someone entering. It was a thought for another time as she felt herself tense when something moved in the nearest bush. Hearing Cheshire’s voice caused her to relax a bit and soon the others were in view. Almost instantly she walked closer to Hansel and eyed him a little to make sure that he was physically all right. She felt a little bad that they would have to be relying on Cheshire to get them out of here but it really would be the safest bet for them. Especially with the witch hunting for them even as they spoke. As they were talking about leaving, she quickly glanced to Fia and asked, “Did you find the stone?”

An arm was wrapped around Morgan, pulling her to his side instantly. The top of her head was kissed as she seemed to be physically alright, which caused him to sigh in relief. The blood stone wasn’t worth her life and he’d been upset if that was what they had to sacrifice to get it. Either woman, really, but he wasn’t going to admit out loud he somewhat respected Rapunzel. 

Cheshire remained quiet as he listened to what was around him; not so much the white noise of the witch and her complaints but he was trying to pinpoint if he could hear either Mim or Rapunzel. Anything to let them know they were on the right path to meeting up with them. After a few moments, he finally heard it and turned towards the sound of the noise. It was slightly off path, almost indicating they had been going in the direction behind the house. Probably to get a better view of everything. 

“Follow me” He mouthed to the other three before turning off the path they were walking only slightly though. He made a motion to still be mindful of where it was that they were walking so they didn’t draw the witch’s attention any particular way. 

Cheshire was eyeing the windows that they past but only once did he catch a glimpse of the witch. She moved quickly and with purpose it seemed. A part of him wondered if maybe she had caught on that something was wrong. “That’s going to take too long.” He voiced his own opinion as he glanced first to Hansel and then to Aine when she caught on to what he was implying. “I don’t think I can, I know I can. There’s a difference.” He corrected her and motioned for the two witches to get closer. 

Right as a sound of a door being opened could be heard, Cheshire had a solid touch of Hansel and Aine, in turn Fia as well, and vanished with all four of them leaving no trace of them having been in the home. He reappeared some distance outside of the home, a little ways off the beaten path so that they could still be hidden if the witch were to suddenly come barging out. “Let’s find Mim and Rapunzel quickly so we can get the fuck out of here before things turn out worse than what we want.” It was only a matter of time before the witch found her stone stolen after all. 

Immediately Hansel knew where this was going and was grateful. He’d never push Cheshire to do it, knowing it took a toll on him when he transported everyone. However, in this instance it seemed like the witch was going to catch them if they didn’t get out right there and then. Hansel stood next to Cheshire to make it even more easier on him. 

Still wasn’t his favorite way of traveling and the woozy feeling still him. It probably would have effected him more if his mind wasn’t on Morgan and her safety. She didn’t have her powers to protect her anymore. In this situation, Rapunzel wouldn’t be much help. The witch would be too much for the both of them, which is why he found him self on his feet and ready to move. 

Cheshire watched as both witches came into the room, one by one. While Aine stayed a step back, it was Fia that ended up coming to examine the stone. Naturally it would be her since she was the one that needed it. He took in a slow breath as he almost nodded, shifting a little uncomfortably. A part of him didn’t want to give her the necklace. Like maybe he could use it to keep them off of their backs for a while but he knew it wouldn’t be wise. It would just cause them more problems if he did that. 

So he dropped his hold on the chain and let it fall into her hands. “Good, now let’s get out of here before-” he couldn’t finish his sentence before he heard it. The sound of a type of bird calling out from further away. The others would probably hear it too but he wasn’t sure they’d be able to tell it was Mim like he could. “We need to get out of here, fast!” He gently pushed Fia forward in an attempt to get her to move her ass quickly. They wouldn’t have a lot of time if the witch was already almost here.

Hansel heard the bird call too. Internally he groaned. Nothing they ever did could happen flawlessly. There always had to be trouble around the corner. He was less worried about them and more about the girls. It was just the two of them against the witch. Their odds were better against the woman.