Playing In Pan's Game

Chapter 4

Ace's POV

I sat up in a tree, not having made it very far from the tree house.  It had been a while since I left the tree house, and normally I could've reached the beach by now if I wanted to. But something stopped me, something held me back. As much as I wanted to go with Peter to inspect this "danger", he had every reason for not wanting me to go. I was his weakness, he didn't want to lose me. And ever since Hook was around before, he was super overprotective. Sure it was annoying sometimes, but he cared.

I guess I could see where he was coming from, if something were to happen to him I'd be worried. But the difference was nothing could happen to him. He's Peter Pan, nobody can defeat him unless they have a death wish.

I sighed. Of course I could still go, still not listen and help them fight. Peter had seemed... different today, though, and that worried me. So, for the first time in a while, I actually listened to Peter and went back to the tree house.

I think Peter was surprised I listened as well, because when he came back he just looked at me before laughing.

"What happened to you, usually I find out you snuck into another fight," he laughed.

I shrugged. "You asked nicely."

He laughed harder. "That's never worked before." He walked over to me and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me in close. "But I'm glad it did now."

I laid my head on his chest. "Is it something really bad?" I asked.

Peter remained silent for a moment, as if thinking about how he could approach the situation. "Nothing we haven't been able to deal with before," he whispered.

I removed myself from his embrace and took a seat on the bed, holding out my hand for an apple. I took a bite and tried to read Peter's facial expression. He seemed tired and... scared? No, Peter Pan never got scared.

"What's that look?" I asked, taking another bite.

"What look?" He was trying to act normal but it wasn't working.

"I know you better then even Felix does, Peter, what are you so afraid of?"

"I'm not afraid!" he snapped. He took a deep breath. "I'm not scared of anything. I'm just worried about how I'm going to handle this situation."

"We're going to handle this situation," I corrected.

"No, how I am."

I looked at him. "Peter you do this every time someone bad comes around, it never works."

"I'm serious this time, though. There's no one else that can handle this one but me, at least, I won't let anyone else but me handle them."

I laughed. "You can't stop me from fighting."

"I can't, but somehow I did today. Ace please just listen to me, ok? Let me handle this one," Peter said.

"Its not everyday trouble comes around, I want to have a little fun," I told him. What was he so worried about? Who could possibly be on the island to cause him so much concern? The only enemy we've ever had much trouble with was dead.

"I know, I just..." he trailed off. Suddenly, his eyes widened. "I'll be right back, I need to talk to Felix." Peter quickly turned to walk out.

"Again? Didn't you just talk?"

"Yes, but I realized something!" Peter exclaimed. He sounded determined, and extremely pissed off. "And it turns out we might have more trouble then we expected."

Peter's POV

I reached the ground and stormed over to Felix, mad. That traitor! How else would Hook have gotten into Neverland?