As another warning, please be advised this story does not focus solely on a heterosexual romance and does have romantic situations between homosexual partners as well as heterosexual partners, even threesomes (if the fancy takes me that way, it's not set in stone.) This is not what I would consider a Captain Swan story, more of an experimental love triangle between Emma, Hook and Peter if this hypothetical situation occurred.

Oh and to clarify, Peter and Henry did NOT switch bodies. :)

Emma hadn't exactly known what was going on, but she had a feeling. It was the kind of feeling that always had her looking over her shoulder, the kind that cradled that soft, cold tingle at the base of one's spine… Worst of all, it was the kind of feeling a mother received when she knew her offspring was in danger. Trusting her instincts, she'd gathered up her mother and father, Snow and Charming also known as Mary Margaret and David as well as Rumple and Belle. They had taken Pandora's Box and went to the city limits. This would be the end of it all. Finally, Emma would be able to sleep at night, finally that cold, nagging feeling would go away and finally she could stop checking over her shoulder.

"There's no magic beyond the town line. If we release Pan outside Storybrooke, he'll be powerless to fight back," Rumple said walking in toe with Belle.

"Ah-ah. I'm doing this," Emma said as she rounded on Rumplestiltskin. Her gaze was stern but pleading. She needed this to be over. She needed this all to be over for Henry. For everyone.

"I can cross the town lines and keep my memories," Rumple defended pointedly.

"It's not about that. There's no magic over there. All due respect- the real world's my expertise."

Rumple gave her a long, contemplative look, one that attempted to hide his yearning for this to be over as well, but Emma could see right through him. He gave her a resigned look as she moved with her gun across the town lines, determined to get this all over with. Pan needed to die… He needed to go away so Henry and her family would be safe again, hopefully forever. "I'm going to deal with Pan on my terms," she said over her shoulder.

"He is my father," Rumple responded quickly.

"My hunch!" Emma defended, going back and forth on her legs as she shuffled her weight. "If I fail one of you are more than welcome to pick up the pieces."

"Emma!" Snow said, worry laced into her words as she stood close to her husband. "Be careful."

She nodded at her mother, and then looked to Rumple who activated the Box, placing it on the other side of the town's line. Emma's heart raced. It would have been a lie to say that it wasn't entirely free of trepidation, but it was mostly anticipation. It was so close to being over… She steadied her gun, watching the red smoke form into a body.

Her finger threatened to just slam down on the trigger as she saw Pan, lying there looking around before standing up; his back facing her. As he turned around, fear clouded his expression and Emma could see his chest begin heaving as he gasped in air.

"Wait, don't!" he exclaimed. "W-who are you? Where am I?"

"Don't listen to him! It's one of his tricks!" Rumple shouted.

Emma hesitated. Something was different. The boy before her didn't have the same menace in his eyes, didn't have the same dull shaded orbs of a being much older than its appearance. Those eyes were young, inexperienced and so very afraid.

"Who am I? What's that?" He backed up, pointing to Emma's gun.

"Shoot him!" Rumple said angrily. Belle merely placed a hand on his arm to calm him.

"Who are you?" Emma said, still holding the gun raised. "You're Peter Pan! This is a gun!"

Peter dropped his hands, cocking his head to the side. "What did I do to you?" His voice quivered, like a child cowering in the night from a movie his parents had explicitly told him not to watch, but he had anyway. This wasn't the Peter Pan Emma knew, not by a long shot.

Emma felt her fingers tingling. This was supposed to be easy, it was supposed to be over!

"The line!" Belle shouted. "What if it erased his memories? The queen didn't have another life for him planned."

Peter looked over to Belle, his eyes round in panic, still breathing heavily. "The queen? N-no memories? I don't understand. I don't know… Who am I?" Tears began streaming down his cheeks as he crumpled to his knees.

"You can't do this!" Belle said, stepping close to the line.

"So he forgets who he is now. And how can we be sure he's telling the truth?" Rumple disputed.

Charming and Snow shared worried glances, holding each other tightly. "Emma?" Snow said.

"I know." Emma moved over to Peter, kneeling down in front of him and reaching out to the boy's chin. He jerked away before realizing she wasn't doing him any harm, and then he met her gaze.

"Do you really not know who you are?"

Pan swallowed hard, choking back a sob. "No…"

Emma closed her eyes, her heart was thumping wildly in her chest as her lungs released the air that she'd been holding in for far too long. She looked up at her family, at Rumple and Belle. "He's telling the truth."

"We can't do this," Charming said. "It's not right."

"What does it matter if it's right or not. Pan needs to die!" Rumple said.

"No… Not like this," Snow said. "We're taking him home."

All eyes turned to snap upon Snow's frame. Emma couldn't even believe what she was hearing.

"We have to. This way, we can keep an eye on him, and protect him all at the same time," Snow explained. "We can't just abandon him."

"Oh, but he can abandon me?" Rumple said through gritted teeth.

"He isn't the one who abandoned you," Snow said as she pointed at Peter's frightened frame. "He can't be held responsible for those actions."

Emma reached out her hand to Pan. She watched as he looked at the gesture, deciding if it was a good idea or not. "Peter…" she said softly. "I'm sorry this happened to you. It wasn't you I was after…"

Everyone looked at her in astonishment.

"You look like someone else. Someone who was very cruel to our family. But we were wrong. Come home with us and I'll explain to you everything."

Peter sniffled. He softly took her hand, standing up with her. She offered him a warm smile, though it didn't reach her eyes. It was all supposed to have been over…

Now it was all just beginning.

A/N: Little idea I've had lulling about in my head. I don't seem to read much Once fanficiton (though if you know of good ones, please let me know! I have no "favorite pairing" so any suggestions are welcome. I prefer well written plot infused pieces vs "fluff" though. So with that being said, if this is one of those stories that is done over and over, oops! I hope you enjoy! Let me know your thoughts? 0.o