Peter Pan Imagines (Once Upon a Time)

Magic Finds Magic

Peter Pan is leaving Neverland. Worse, he's leaving Neverland alongside Snow, Emma, David, and Hook. In terms of traveling partners, this has got to be the lowest of the low. However, the sand in Peter's immortal hourglass is running out, and his first attempt at prolonging his life with the heart of Henry Mills didn't exactly go according to plan. It's this or nothing, even though Peter is starting to wonder if it would be better to just die than put up with these people any longer.

Never in his life did Peter Pan think he'd be working with the good guys. But never in his life did Peter think he'd be dying, either. A few compromises will have to be made in the name of preserving Peter's everlasting life, and if that means he has to put up with some princesses and pirates for a few days, so be it. In no time at all, his immortal life will be restored, and he can go back to Neverland and put all of this behind him. Hopefully.

Peter was supposed to die back on Neverland. He was running out of time, anyway. He had set up the perfect scheme: kidnap Henry, disorient the boy's rescuers on his island long enough to win the Heart of the Truest Believer, and cut the organ out of the boy's chest if necessary. He'd almost gotten away with it, too, except he was foiled at the last minute. Heartbreaking. So unlike him.

For some reason, though, he hadn't been left to die in the caverns of Skull Rock. Emma and the others had needed him, for some odd reason, and although none of them trust him in the slightest, they do trust Peter's single-minded selfishness to keep himself alive. So they claim, at least, and so they had gotten a spell to give Peter one more week of life in exchange for help. If this plan works out, Peter will have a way to continue his immortal life without needing to murder Henry. If it doesn't, or if he betrays them, he'll die anyway.

He can feel it now, the pang of his close call with death. There's a pain in his chest that wasn't there before, a certain weakness in his lungs. Peter gets tired more easily. He feels– well, he feels like Henry and Emma. He feels mortal. Like he could die at any moment.

Peter has, obviously, thought about double-crossing them, maybe even triple-crossing them, but it's no use. He feels shakily mortal right now, and Peter does not much enjoy the possibility of his own demise. This is the closest he's ever come to being beaten, and Peter hates the feeling. He'll have to play along for now, but after that, he will have his revenge.

First, though, Peter has to do what the others want. They've been careful to reveal as few details to him as possible, but the idea is solid. There's a magical person somewhere in the modern world, in a city far from Storybrooke. This person is like the embodiment of a true love's kiss spell, designed to renew hope in storybook characters through small acts of power that ultimately drive two needed people together. They're like a guardian angel of those on the brink of destruction, which is exactly what Peter needs right now.

Peter has plenty of time to mull this over. They've forced him into a terrible, small room with awful carpets– an apartment, Emma called it– while they talk out what to do with both him and their missing spell-person. Peter is trying to focus, but he's getting stared at by Henry Mills again, which is absolutely ruining his mood.

"What do you want?" Peter asks, glaring at the boy.

Henry just goggles back at him. "Don't you feel bad for trying to kill me?"

Peter snorts. "Why would I do that?"

Henry shrugs. "You pretended you were my friend. I know you like the other Lost Boys on your island, I thought you would have felt bad for killing one of them. I guess not."

"I don't feel bad about killing someone so I would live," Peter says, then wonders why he's arguing with a child. "Go preach your morals to someone who wants to listen."