Forget Me Not (OUAT: Pan. Sequel)

Chapter Two

        "That was so weird" Lucy breathed as she and Neal entered first period Science.

"You're telling me. What was Tom Macalison doing saving you're ass" Neal dropped his bag and plopped down at their lab table "from Jack no less."
"Think Jack'll leave us alone now?"
"With him? Who knows." Neal pulled out his notebook "Did you do the homework?"
Lucy winced "Knew I forgot something"
"Seriously" Neal groaned "Okay well you'll be fine, it's not due till tomorrow... I just wanted to see what you got for number-"
"Everyone settle down I've got to call role"
"-five"
"Right" Lucy sighed she glanced out the window and noticed a bunch of crows sitting on a telephone wire, that was normal. However sitting admixed the small back birds was a huge hawk and if Lucy didn't know any better she would of thought it was looking at her.... The science teacher walked past her and Lucy called out "Mrs. Stevens"
"Yes?" the older woman turned to look at the brown haired girl.
"Is that normal?" she asked gesturing to the hawk.
"Well yes, crows often sit on telephone wires. You're a smart girl I'm sure you knew that."
"But-" Lucy turned back to the window but the hawk was gone and Lucy found herself confused to say the very least.
"Today class we'll be talking about Earth, our planet and it many layers. At the end of the class you'll be spit into pairs for you're project over said layers." Mrs. Stevens' said as she pulled up a power-point.
--

Fear settled into him as he stared down at the cat in his lap. Had he really, truly settled so easily into civilian life? No, easily was not the word. Peter thought he would've gone mad at first and he did till he found her. Though in hind sight that might have been a mistake. Lucy as she's know by here was happy and content without him. In fact she barely gave him any mind. Ironically it wasn't her who was higher up on the pyramid, it was him.
Tom Macalison the gang leader of a bunch of punk kids...fun. It wasn't as appetizing as it first seemed. There was power in being feared, but he wanted to be loved by one person in particular.
"Tom?" Luke entered the yard and the stray cat leaped off of his lap, gone in a flash. It was just as well, Peter didn't have any need for it. "Oh there you are, was looking all over the house couldn't find you"
"The reason being?" Peter raised an eye brow.
"The ferns" Luke shrugged "they're big enough to admire"
Peter nodded "I see," he stood from where he'd been sat leaning against an apple tree. "To the greenhouse then"
The 'ferns' (which of course weren't actually ferns) presided in, a greenhouse which was located in the middle of the forest. The two boys climbed into Peter's car and headed to the remote location. Once he got the hang of it, Peter found that cars were a definite perk of this world considering the fact he seemed to no longer posses his magic.
Weed or cannabis was what they were growing...a surprisingly profitable business. Peter didn't smoke the stuff mostly because he saw it as profit he had a very rich buyer who was probably more of a drug lord than Peter. But there was another reason as well: while affected by the plant people seemed to be out of it not entirely there and he knew that he couldn't leave himself vulnerable like that.
When they reached the greenhouse Peter noticed the blue pickup truck outside Mark was on duty. Peter wasn't aware of Mark's Neverland name, he didn't even vaguely remember him. Peter just assumed he wasn't of any use, till now of course. Maybe he wasn't even a lost boy..... Regardless the boy knew his plants so Peter didn't care much. They entered the greenhouse but Mark was nowhere to be found.
"Mark?" Luke called hesitantly poking around the plants.
Peter walked down an isle looking through the shelves full of plants when a purple one caught his eye. It looked like the rest but it was blueish and seemed to....glitter? He stridded toward it.
"Neat huh?"
Tom jumped and whirled around to see Mark grinned sidelong at him. How had he snuck up on him? That should have been impossible! Peter stalked up to the boy grabbing him by the front of his shirt "Don't do that Mark" He said through gritted teeth "I'm sure you'd rather not wear your insides on the outside"
Mark blinked at him and chuckled, but it wasn't out of nervousness, he genuinely thought Peter was being funny. "You've got a weird sense of humor Tom" he stepped back thinking nothing of Peter's hand.
"There you are" Luke said emerging from a set of rows "You had something to show us?"
"Oh right" Mark moved and lead the way down the isle the opposite way. "I've been making some adjustments to the chemical compound of the weed." They approached a lab table that held a microscope and a bunch of plant samples. "As you know I've been trying to create hybrid plants. Usually combining cannabis with assortments of plants that affect the human body. And so of course this beauty was born." he picked up a leaf off the table it of course belonged to the mysterious plant.
Peter nodded studying the plant. This was intriguing but of no value unless it does something.
"Oh. And I also made these" Mark grinned pulling a plastic bag out of his pocket. Inside was something that resembled a blackberry but it had odd coloring. "It's a combination of a black berry and a raspberry. I call it Black Rasp."
Behind him Peter could here Luke snort out a laugh "Sorry sorry." Luke cleared his throat "Carry on"
"Well it's not the only option for names." Mark defended quickly "I've got a list right here" he picked a notepad from the cluttered desk "Swirl Berry, Fusion Berry, Mixed Berry-" he looked to Tom "You know like the flavor? Blasp Berry- it's like a mix of the two berry names sort of like a ship name-"
Peter nodded stiffly suddenly a bit confused (ship name?) and irritated "So you've just been sitting around trying to name purple fruit?" he tried to sound as menacing as possible and it nearly worked. Mark flinched back a tad sitting his pad back down.
"Well no, not just that. Tom, there's a lot of work that goes into each plant." Mark attempted to explain "I've got to combine them at the cellular level this takes time."
"Then stop worrying about the damn berry and focus on the real work. Get the ferns ready for delivery" with that Tom turned on his heels. Leaving the greenhouse he called back "Call me when you've made some real progress." and then he was gone.
Mark looked to Luke who shrugged grabbing one of the hybrid berries out of the baggie. He popped it into his mouth before Mark could protest. "Mmmm those are good. Nice work." and after a few short strides he was gone as well.

--

A hand shot up from the back of the class "Yes?" Mrs. Stevens asked.
"Do we get to pick our partner?"
"No of course not." The science teacher shook her head "I'm too smart to make that mistake." she glanced at the clock "Speaking of which class is nearly over. So" she grabbed a clip board from her desk "I will tell you your partner and you will begin brainstorm for your presentation. I expect a rough outline by end of class tomorrow. Now here we go:"
Neal and Lucy exchanged glances they worked well together and could easily be put together and have been before in numerous classes. However Mrs. Stevens liked to mix up the social groups by putting preps with nerds and head cheerleader with the resident goth. Lucy thought of her and Neal as those who fall through the cracks not popular but not a super nerd. Not goth nor skater just average.
"-Neal and Veronica" Neal shrugged at Lucy apologetically before picking up his stuff and moving to sit beside the long dark haired girl. Of course Neal would be partnered with her. Veronica, though not a friend certainly wasn't a foe. She was a nice enough and though slightly more well known than Lucy was smart and easy to get along with. Veronica just fell within a different circle of friends. She just so happened to be the only person left who fit those requirements and hadn't been partnered yet.
"-Lucy and Emma, Marcus and-" Okay who was Emma? Lucy didn't recognize the name her eyes cut through the room feeling increasingly awkward. No one in this class was named-
Clunk
Lucy turned to see a blonde haired girl now sitting in the seat beside her. Ah now that explains it. New girl. This girl who was apparently Emma hadn't been at school long enough for Lucy to asses her. There was a possibility that she was the same type as Veronica but Emma still had the equivalent of the new car smell of high school. Everyone had a slight interest in her and yet didn't seem to know what to make of her yet.
Lucy didn't know what to make of her for that matter. She'd been stuck in this back road town her whole life and yet she didn't seem to know what to make of over half of her classmates. And that was another thing: Why had Emma moved here in the first place? What type of business could her family possibly have in Storybrooke? No one in there right mind would move here especially not now with all of the gang activity. The whole place was a war zone and yet it some how kept it story book charm....Wait Story book. Storybrooke?...Nah.
I guess I should introduce myself Lucy thought after realizing she been quietly studying Emma for too long of a time "Hi I'm uh Lucy"
Emma seemed to eye her as suspicious for a moment before shrugging it off with a firm nod "Emma"