juliet •peter pan•

SIXTY-FOUR

After what felt like hours of walking, the three arrived on the beach. 

"So, what exactly is your plan?" Gold asked Neal, who was looking around for something. He put down the arrow carrier. 

"You know if you hold a shell up to your ear, you can hear the ocean?" He bent down to pick up a shell. "With certain shells, the ocean can hear you." He held the shell up to his mouth and blew. A loud noise emanated from the shell, and a ripple waved through the water. 

"Why would we need the ocean to hear us?" Gold asked, and Neal pointed out to the sea. "What have you done?" A giant squid came out of the water. 

"Give me the spear." Gold tossed Neal the spear, and he chucked it at the squid. It pierced the squid just above its eyes. The three started pulling on the rope attached to the spear. They pulled until the squid reached the shore.

"A squid?" Gold turned to Neal.

"That's right. I believe you know how to extract ink from one of these bad boys?" Juliet caught on to what Neal was talking about. 

"Squid ink?" She asked. Gold folded his arms. 

"So this is your plan?" Neal nodded. 

"It can immobilize the most magical of creatures. At least for a little while. Even Pan." Juliet sighed. She did not like this idea. But she also wanted Henry safe with Regina and Emma. Gold looked at Neal.

"I have some experience with it." 

"Can you get it out?" Gold nodded. 

"Indeed. But how do you plan on getting close enough to use it?" Gold looked at Juliet, who scoffed. 

"I am not being bait." Neal shook his head. 

"I don't need to get close." He grabbed the crossbow. "All I need is one clean shot to get Henry back." Gold sighed. 

"Leave that to me." 

When they got to the camp, Gold blew some of the powder he kept at the Lost Boys. All of them, including Henry, fell limp. This left Pan the only one awake. He stood up. 

"We have a guest." Juliet's breath hitched. It had been so long since she heard his voice. "No doubt someone who knows how much I like guessing games." He looked around. "Who could it be? I guess..." He waved his hand, and the fire lit up, showing Gold. "The Dark One. Came to save Henry, have you laddie? How exciting. The Dark One ready to sacrifice his life for his family." He looked over at Neal. 

"Speaking of family..." He waved his hand, and the torch near Neal lit up. "You can come out now, Baelfire." Gold sighed. 

"I'm not here to sacrifice myself." Juliet, still hiding behind the leaves, tilted her head. Whatever Gold was doing was not part of the plan. Pan smirked. 

"Then why are you here?" Gold stood straight. 

"Im here to make a trade." Without turning his head, he called out to Juliet. "Come join us, dearie." Juliet poked her head out from behind the bushes, and made eye contact with Peter. As soon as he saw her, Pan's smirk dropped. Juliet walked over to stand in line with Rumple. 

"Juliet?" The redhead smiled and went to go to him, but Gold grabbed her arm. 

"I will trade you Juliet... for Henry." Juliet snapped her head to face Gold. 

"What?" She asked. Gold kept his gaze on Pan. 

"If you don't give us Henry, I will kill Juliet. Right here." Juliet's eyes widened. 

"WHAT?!" She and Neal both yelled. Pan's expression turned to worry, but he masked it. 

"You're bluffing." Gold tightened his grip on Juliet's arm. 

"Maybe. Maybe not." He held out his hand, and a fireball formed. Just then, Neal shot an arrow at Pan, who grabbed it before it could hit him. 

"Clever. I suppose Juliet was the distraction. But we've been through this before, Baelfire. Have you remembered nothing?" Neal shook his head. 

"I remembered plenty." Pan dropped the arrow. "That's why I didn't coat the tip." Pan looked at his hand, which was covered in squid ink. The magic travelled until he was frozen in place. 

"Grab Henry." Gold whispered to Neal, and they ran over to Henry. Juliet just stood there, looking at Pan. 

"Well, how about that? I'm impressed." Neal grabbed Henry and slung him over his shoulder. "Are you sure you're really saving him, Bae?" Neal nodded. 

"What could be worse than leaving him here with you?" Pan scoffed.

"Why don't you ask your father?" Neal and Juliet looked at Gold. "Sometimes the people we should fear are the ones closest to us." 

"What is he talking about?" Neal asked, but was quickly dismissed by Gold. 

"You mean you haven't told him?" Pan asked, a smile on his face.

"Told me what?" 

"Why, about the prophecy, of course. The prophecy that says you've been tricked. Your father isn't here to rescue your son. He's here to murder him." Gold waved his hand, and the three went up in smoke, transported away. 

As soon as they landed, Juliet turned around. 

"Where are you going?" Juliet stopped. 

"I'm going back." Gold folded his arms. 

"Why on Earth would you go back?" Juliet turned to face Gold, eyes full of rage. 

"I haven't seen him in almost thirty years, and you ruined it by saying you were going to kill me." She stepped forward, almost yelling. "I told you I wasn't going to be the bait, and look what you did. You turned me into bait." She looked down at Henry, who was still unconscious. "I'm glad Henry's okay, but I'm not staying here with you." She turned back around and started heading for the middle of the island.