Once A Lost Girl | Once Upon A Time Story | Peter Pan

03x04 - Reality - Present

        After a good thirty minutes of trying to calm myself down, I wiped away my tears and stood. A roll of the neck and a deep breath later I started to trudge my way back into the camp. From my vantage point in the wooded outskirts, I could see Henry. He was sitting on a log, just watching. I could only hope he still believed we would come for him.

       Pan was sitting next to him. I knew what he was doing. He was trying to convince Henry to join him. After a moment, Pan rose and glanced back in my direction. He didn't bother to head my way and walked off. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. I couldn't hide from Henry forever. I walked over and sat down.

        "Hey, Kid," I said. Henry glanced over me before wrapping his arms around me in a hug, "are you okay?"

        "I feel like I should be asking you that. No offense but you look like crap," my brother pulled away and I laughed. I really laughed.

        "I feel like crap, but it's worth it knowing you're okay. I'm just sorry you had to get mixed up in all this."

        Henry shook his head, "it's not your fault. How did you get here anyway?"

        "Pan," I said, "He wants me to convince you to help him."

        "Should I?" he asked. If I do one damn good thing in my life it's going to be protecting Henry in whatever way I can.

        "No. You shouldn't." I leaned in closer, "you can't trust him, Henry."

        "He says he's saving magic," he furrowed his eyebrows, looking down, "why shouldn't we save magic? Is it so bad? Magic brought my family back together. Magic woke you up from the curse."

        "You woke me up from the curse, Henry. You brought your family back together, and you didn't need magic to do it, but that isn't what Pan is really after. He isn't trying to save magic--Henry? Henry!"

        All of a sudden he went limp and fell into me. I thought he was dead until I realized it was a sleeping spell. Why wasn't I affected? I looked up and Pan was behind me, waving his hand. I almost thought it was him, but the magic felt too different.

        "For your sake, Love, I sincerely hope he didn't hear what you said before he fell asleep," the entire camp was silent. Pan wasn't casting, he was protecting me from it. I almost felt touched. "We have a guest! No doubt someone who knows I like guessing games. Who could it be? I guess..." Rumplestiltskin appeared before us. He glanced at me and I couldn't tell if it was because of Henry or the fact that I was here. "The Dark One. Come to save Henry, have you, Laddie?" Laddie? "How exciting. The Dark One coming to save his family. Speaking of family," I could practically hear the smirk on Pan's face, "You can come out now, Baelfire."

        Bae emerged from the brush, "name's Neal now." he corrected, pointing a crossbow in Pan's direction. He gave me a solemn look.

        "Hey, Neal. Nice to see you again. I hoped under different circumstances," I shifted how I was holding Henry. Neal gave me a small smile.

        "New name, same old tricks," Pan spared me a glance. His eyes had shifted. I wondered how long ago Peter died... or if he was even alive when I'd met him. It's just my luck, isn't it? "It's heartwarming to see father and son working together, especially after you abandoned him, Rumple. This is a real family reunion."

        "What are you waiting for?" Gold asked.

        "I got this," Neal took the shot. Pan caught it. My breath caught in my throat. Damn it! Unless... I broke into a smirk. Neal you clever bastard.

        Pan laughed, "clever, but we've been through this before, Baelfire. Have you remembered nothing?" The demon dropped the arrow.

         "That's why he didn't coat the tip," I said. I wished I could have seen the realization cross his face. I'm sure it was great.

         Peter Pan's body glowed purple as the squid ink did its thing. I stood as Baelfire came over to grab Henry. We made it over to Rumple and I looked back to Pan. He was firmly frozen in place. For the first time since being back, I felt relieved. I could actually get away. We had a shot. It was a nice weight off of my shoulders.

         "Well, how about that? I'm impressed. But are you really saving him, Bae?" Pan spoke. I recognized that look in his eye, the mischief was practically coursing through his veins.

         "Don't you dare fucking start, Pan," I seethed, "we just need to leave." I turned to Neal.

         "I agree," Rumple said.

        "What could be worse than leaving him here with you?" Neal turned to walk. I started after him.

        "Why don't you ask your father?" and bait set. I could only hope Neal wouldn't fall for the trap.

        It was useless. I saw the look in his eyes. It was the same look he had so long ago, back when we'd first met. The look he had every time he tried to convince himself that his dad was coming for him. My heart broke seeing that again. I tried to pull him out, tugging on his arm, "Neal let's go."

        "What's he talking about?" Neal shook me off. It was all falling apart; all at once. I shot Pan a glare. He merely smirked.

        "Ouch, Love. That hurts," Cheeky bastard.

        "Don't listen to him," Rumple looked distressed.

        "You mean you haven't told him?" Pan instigated. My pulse kicked up. There has to be a way to diffuse this.

         "Baelfire, how many times have we been through this with him? We don't even know if--" he cut me off.

         "Elyssa we both know he doesn't bother making things up. He prefers real chaos. What haven't you told me?" the last part was directed at the Dark One.

          Pan answered for him, "why, the prophecy, of course!"

          "Peter!" I shouted. The tree to my side started withering. I was too worked up. I needed to calm down before I accidentally hurt someone. I started scratching my wrist as my stomach tied into knots. Pan just looked impressed watching the tree crumble.

          "What prophecy? What's he talking about?" Neal tightened his grip on his crossbow. He looked like crap too. What did he do to get here?

          "The prophecy that says you've been tricked. He's not here to save your son. He's here to kill him." The damage was done. I clenched my fist. I felt like I was going to throw up. A little bit of truth with a lie. Classic Peter Pan. The problem was figuring out what the lie was.

          I pulled at Neal's arm one last time, "Bae, let's go. We don't have the time if we want to get Henry out of here." He let me lead him out, before turning and going ahead. Rumple chased after him. I lagged behind, "I sincerely hope you're okay with what this means."

          "More than okay," he laughed, "everything is falling into place."

          "Yes... yes it is, isn't it?"

OOOO A DOUBLE UPLOAD THIS IS NEW. Okay, all caps aside, I made this and the last as one chapter but then I felt like it was too long and I was able to split it up into two. Figured I'd post both while I have them. Next is a past chapter (which technically this was supposed to be but oh whale). 

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Yours truly, The Black Rose <3.