Disclaimer: I do own Once Upon a Time and all of its character. They belong to ABC which is a branch of Disney, so technically Disney owns it all. Sad face. But I do own Maria and Jesse, so please don't use them without my consent (not that you would, but I have to say it.)
I hope you all enjoy!
"Jesse, is that real? Or am I really, really high right now?"
Big blue eyes stared up at the shadow figure hovering before the two teenagers.
"Yes," the boy answered, "That's Peter Pan's shadow."
"You mean, we can go to Neverland? We can leave this place?" the girl asked hopefully.
"Yes," the boy answered enthusiastically.
The teenage girl couldn't believe it. They could actually leave this hell they were living in. "Then what are we waiting for?" she asked.
With that, Maria took her brother's hand and then grabbed the shadow's hand. All three were off, flying over the dark streets of the city, flying to a place that Maria hoped would be a great, new start on both their lives.
Maria, as many children, had heard of Neverland and Peter Pan, either through literature, movies, songs, and even bedtime stories at her foster homes. It was a place where children never had to grow up, where anything could happen so long as you believed it could. A place where mermaids swam, pirates docked and fought with Lost Boys, and Indians still roamed. A place where adults didn't use and abuse children.
Of course she had heard of some drawbacks to such a Utopian place, things such as children missing their friends, their family and especially their parents. But Maria and Jesse didn't have any close friends, nor family, nor parents, so there was no one for them to miss so long as they were with each other. Neverland would be perfect for them.
Or so she thought that at the time.
"Jesse, look! We're here!" Maria said, pointing with her elbow down at the island they were descending to. The shadow gently set them down and the two teenagers gaped around at the beautiful scenery. They were on a soft sand beach with the forest to one side and a beautiful, blue lagoon to the other side. The trees seemed to go on for days upwards, and as they looked up, they had to cover their eyes from the bright, warm sun. There was no smog or smoke choking the air, no car horns honking or trains rolling by, echoing across the sky, no shouting or cussing from pissed off people, no coughing and hacking from sick homeless people, nothing that came with the city was in this new place.
"Jesse, pinch me," the sixteen year old told her younger brother. Without questioning why, the taller boy pinched the girl's arm, snapping her out of her trance.
"Ow! What was that for?!"
"You told me to!" he defended with a laugh as his sister rubbed the sore spot on her arm.
"And when did you start doing what you're told?"
"Since you told me to pinch you," he replied, sticking his tongue out at her.
A black eyebrow raised before she spoke again. "Oh yeah, wise guy?" Maria looked around and noted a few rocks near the edge of the water, a perfect place to jump in at. She got an idea and quickly took off her backpack and reached to take her brother's off of him.
"Well, if that's the case, let's see if you can dunk me before I dunk you! Then we'll see who's in charge now," she teased, pulling and dragging her brother towards the rocks.
Even though the boy was two years younger, he was a good four inches taller than his 'big' sister. He was able to restrain her grabbing hands and drag her to the rocks at the water's edge. He tried to throw her into the water, but the clever sister wrapped her leg around his, making it impossible to move her anywhere without him going with her. So he caved in and decided to jump in the water with her, well, more like fall into the water with her attached to him.
The two were laughing and splashing, and having a great time, all the while being watched by a group of lost boys hiding in the trees on shore. Peter Pan had known the moment the two got to Neverland and he sent Felix out with a welcoming party to fetch them.
Surfacing from a second dunking, Maria had a thought as she looked around at Neverland. "Hey, Jesse, we're really here, aren't we?" she half stated and half asked.
"Yes, I suppose we are. Well, we're at least somewhere," he answered, taking a cue from his sister and also looking around them. The sun was a bit passed noon, but at least a couple hours from dusk, so it was bright and clear. The water was such a clear, light blue color, and the siblings could see their legs as they treaded in the water.
"Well, either way, we're not where we used to be," she replied, "Which means, we don't have to be who we used to be." Maria rubbed the scars on wrist for a second, memories beginning to chew on her brain. "We can be anything we want now. Anyone we want."
Jesse was seeing the wheels turning in his sister's head as she spoke, and he nodded his head in understanding. "What did you have in mind?" he inquired, putting a hand over her fidgeting ones under the water.
Maria blinked away the memories threatening to surface and looked up at her brother. "Misfit," she said simply. "I'm Misfit now. What about you?"
Jesse thought about it a second, coming up with an idea in the meantime. He took advantage of his sister's distracted state and struck again, splashing water at her before wrestling with her, while she was screeching at him, and then finally dunking her under, her mouth open and everything.
"OH! And now it's Jay-Jay three and Missy a big, fat, zero!" the boy shouted after his sister came up sputtering from her, now, third dunking.
"Oh shut up!" she said, splashing at him, "and it's Misfit not 'Missy'. Remember? God, Missy sounds like a dog's name." She wiped at her face, hoping her make-up wasn't running. Truth was, her black make-up was smeared all over her eyes, the sides of her eyes, and starting to drip down the rest of her face. The girl really did tend to wear too much make-up.
"Jay-Jay?" She thought for a second, "I like it."
"Does that mean I'm in charge now? You know, since I've gotten you, what is it now, three times?" Jay-Jay inquired.
"Did I say that? Ah, well, PSYCHE!" That earned her another attempt and success at dunking her under the water, but it was worth it.
Felix felt it was good time to reveal themselves to the two in the water. He had seen enough of their interactions to determine that the girl wasn't going to pose a threat to any of them. He motioned for the group to come out of hiding and finally be noticed. Pan hadn't told them there would be a girl, but his orders were still the same: bring them in.
It was Maria "Misfit" who spotted the small group of boys first.
"Don't look now, but we have company," she whispered to her brother, as she reached for her switch blade in her pocket. Jesse "Jay-Jay" didn't turn around but he did look a bit concerned. "What should we do?" he asked.
"Well, our shit is on shore, I don't want to leave it. And if we swim out, who knows how long it will take us to find another embankment? So, I guess we say 'hello,' and find out what they want, and hope it's nothing bad. Follow my lead," she instructed.
She made her way back to the shore, her brother following behind her, and her hands in her pockets to hide what she had. Misfit smiled brightly, hoping this would be a friendly interaction. Her blue jeans and baggy t-shirt were dripping wet, and her tennis shoes squashed with each step she took.
"Hello. Are we trespassing or something?" she asked the taller boy with dirty blonde hair.
Upon seeing the girl's black, smeared make-up, Felix couldn't help but crack a smile in an attempt to keep from laughing at her. Her make-up looked like a bad attempt at war paint, dripping down her face and smudged all over her eyes, it was a little hard to not laugh at her.
"Um," was the only other indicator that he was trying not to snicker, "you're not trespassing but your presence is requested," he said.
"My presence?" she asked, with an over exaggerated hand to her chest and batting of her eyelashes.
Felix raised an eyebrow at the girl. She was clever, and annoying, thus far. "Not just yours. The both of you," he informed, glancing between the brother-sister duo.
"Who wants to see us?" Jay-Jay chimed in, picking up his bag to fish out a towel.
"You'll find out soon," the blonde replied. It appeared to Misfit that he was the leader of this group. But the very idea that they weren't telling the siblings exactly who wanted to see them, and they thought it was okay, was laughable. Misfit and Jay-Jay weren't about to just follow some random orders anymore. She couldn't help but let out a small snicker at all the secrecy.
"Yeah, sorry Lord of the Flies, but we're not going anywhere without a good reason," she informed the blonde, a smart-ass grin on her face. That's when Felix dropped his smile altogether, his features becoming severe, making Misfit take a step back out of caution.
Then she saw something she really should have seen from the beginning of it all: all the boys were carrying weapons of different kinds. The one she was eyeing the most was the big, blunt club that the tall blonde was carrying. She tore her eyes away from the imposing weapon to lock eyes with the boy, trying to read his next move while she calculated hers.
"Jesus," she called to her brother, who already knew something was up because she only used his full name when something was no-shit serious. In a split-second decision, made so that her actions couldn't be easily read, Misfit balled up a fist and struck the taller Lost Boy across the jaw.
"Run!" she shouted as she kicked Felix in the shin and started running in a different direction. She hadn't noticed that her two hits hardly fazed the boy, nor did she notice that her brother failed to do as he was told. She was the only sibling running and Felix was close behind her.
It didn't help that Misfit's clothes were soaking wet, slowing her down dramatically, as well as being on an island she knew nothing about. Had they been in the city, she would have found many ways to leave her pursuer in the dust. But with her handicaps, the taller boy caught up with her quickly.
He slammed himself into her in order to knock her down without causing serious injury, but still stop her in her tracks. Misfit was quick to pull out her switch blade and open it as she fell down. She rolled over onto her back and pressed the blade against the boy's neck, just as he pinned her body to the ground to keep her from moving or trying to get up.
Misfit didn't want to use the blade on the blonde, but if he even dared to try anything with her, she wouldn't hesitate to start slashing at his flesh to get him to get off of her.
The two locked eyes again, both intensely serious, both passing non-verbal threats unto the other.
The thick air was cut harshly by laughter - laughter that Misfit knew all too well. She broke her eye contact with the other boy in order to glare up at her brother's general direction.
"Jesus, what the fuck?!"
Here's the first chapter. Please let me know what you think of it. For clarification, Jay-Jay's name is Jesus pronounced 'Hey-suess', as in the Spanish way of saying that name.
I would like to thank Ingenious Insomniac for answering all my questions and providing insightful reviews over my writing. You're such a sweetheart!