Disclaimer: only plot and any original characters belong to me.

A/N: There are many things in this story that aren't in line with canon. I did that on purpose cause it fits the story I wanted to tell.

"Felix, get in here!" Pan yelled.

A few seconds later, his second in command strode into the room. "What is it that you want?" He asked. "What can I do for you?"

"I need a favor, Felix," Pan told him. "It will involve leaving Neverland, but you'll do it for me, won't you?"

"Of course," Felix nodded. "I do whatever Pan asks."

"Yes, I know," Pan grinned and put a hand on his shoulder. "That's what I like about you: you're a good soldier. Now, as for what I need you to do: I want you to watch my boy, Felix. I left him to come here and I…I want someone to keep an eye on him. So I know what Rumple is doing every minute."

Felix chuckled. "Do you? Don't tell me you actually care about him. You wouldn't have been able to leave him if you did."

"Now, now," Pan said. "Just because he stopped me from enjoying my life doesn't mean he's nothing to me. He should know that his father is keeping an eye on him. But don't be too obvious. I know you had magic before you came here to Neverland, didn't you?"

"Yes," Felix nodded. "Will I need it when I leave here?"

"As a matter of fact, you will," Pan nodded. "Here's what I want you to do. Listen closely cause I will not repeat myself."

"All right," Felix nodded, his eyes locked on Pan's without blinking as he leaned in close to hear every word. "I'm listening."

After his spinning lesson, little Rumple was alone in his room, clutching the doll his father had given him before he'd left and trying to believe what he'd been told: that whenever he looked at that doll, he could know that his father was thinking of him. As he felt tears beginning to form, he shut his eyes tight, but they rolled down his cheeks anyway, and he wished and he wished that his father would come back for him. They had their troubles, for sure, but he missed him.

"What's the matter, Rumplestiltskin?"

When Rumple heard the monotone voice say his name, he gasped, wiped the tears away, and clutched the doll to himself as he stared at the blond young man who stood beside his bed.

"Who are you?" He asked, his voice shaking. "How do you know my name?"

"Your father sent me," the young man said easily and sat next to him on the bed. "My name's Felix and he's told me all about you."

"My father sent you?" Rumple asked after a moment, managing a small smile. "Then he wasn't lying!" He showed Felix the doll. "This is Peter Pan. Papa said when he left that whenever I got lonely, I should look at him and know my father is thinking about me."

"Well, he wasn't wrong," Felix replied, taking the doll the little boy offered and looking it over. "Interesting. Peter Pan is the name your father has in Neverland."

"It is?" Rumple smiled. "How wonderful. Did you come to take me away from here? To reunite me with my papa?"

"I can't do that," Felix shook his head. "Not yet. But your father wants me to look out for you until you're old enough to be with him again. All right? But here's something you have to remember: only you can see me, all right? And don't tell anyone else that I'm here, otherwise I'll have to leave and you wouldn't want that, would you?"

"No," Rumple shook his head, his brown eyes wide. "I wouldn't. I won't say a word, I swear." He heard footsteps coming toward his bedroom door. "They're coming," he said. "You might want to go if only I'm supposed to know about you."

"I don't think there's any need for that," Felix replied easily and stood up. "They can't see me, after all."

"All right," Rumple told him as the women he'd come to think of as his mothers came into the room.

"It's time to eat, Rumple," one of them told him and took his hand to lead him out of the room. "And we made a lot. You eat all you want. That rascal of a father of yours probably never fed you much."

"He did the best he could," Rumple replied. "But I was usually always hungry."

"Well, you know that's not the case here," he was told. "You won't have to worry about going hungry ever again."

When he was full, he returned to his room and found Felix sitting on his bed, his eyes narrowed. "What's the matter?" He asked.

"Who are those women?" Felix wanted to know.

"Papa left me with them," Rumple explained. "They're nice. They're teaching me how to spin. They say I'll be good enough to spin for kings one day."

Felix chuckled when he heard this. "Why be with them and be taught to be a slave for kings when you can come with me to be with your father in Neverland and be a king there?"

"I don't see what's wrong with honest work," Rumple replied. "Papa never liked it, but I think I could."

"And why do they think they can speak of your father that way?" Felix asked, his hands balling into fists. "What gives them the right?"

"Well, I suppose that what they say isn't wrong," Rumple told him. "He could do better. Everyone thinks so. They're not the only ones. Whenever Papa would get in fights, I would defend him and people would tell me that I deserved better."

"And you still defended your father against those naysayers?" Felix asked. "Good." He'd been thinking that he'd have to teach Rumple a lesson about respecting Pan, but now…now it seemed that he wouldn't have to."

"Of course I did," Rumple nodded earnestly. "He's my father!" He paused. "Why do you care about how people see him?"

"Because they're wrong," Felix replied. "They say Pan is horrible, but they're wrong. And I have an urge to make it so they don't forget."

"No, don't hurt them, please!" Rumple begged. "They're all I have left! If they die, then I'll be all alone!"

"All right, I won't," Felix conceded. "At least not for the moment. But they better watch what they say."

And, true to his word, as long as Rumple was around, Felix spared the spinner ladies his wrath, although it was painfully obvious that his temper was just barely controlled. Then, one day five years later when teenage Rumple went to town to try and get money for some of the things he'd made, that's when Felix made his move.

When Rumple returned home, money in hand, he saw Felix standing over both women, knife in hand as they lay shaking and bleeding on the ground.

"What in the world have you done?" Rumple cried as he ran over to them and got down on his knees. "Why would you do that? You know what they mean to me." He narrowed his eyes. "They better not die."

"Or what, Rumplestiltskin?" Felix grinned. "What will you do if they die? What can you do? And you know why I did this. It shouldn't be any surprise to you. I haven't been shy about my distaste for them over the years."

"No, you haven't," Rumple shook his head. He hurried to the garden out back and managed to make up a potion that restored both ladies to health. When they were resting in their bed, Rumple came to a decision. "One of us has to go," he told Felix. "You or me. I won't let you hurt my family any more. At first I thought it would be good to have you around, but you've brought me nothing but trouble, have you? I want you to go away, and when you get back to wherever it is that you came from, tell my father not to send you ever again."

"That seems a bit harsh," Felix replied. "And if you're leaving here, I can't go. Pan wouldn't be happy with me if I let you wander around alone."

"I'd feel much safer alone than with you looking over my shoulder, personally," Rumple told him. "Just leave. Now."

"All right," Felix sighed. "But some day you're gonna wish I was around, Rumplestiltskin. I can promise you that."

"I doubt it," Rumple replied, standing tall. "But you can tell yourself whatever you want." He wrote a quick note telling his mothers goodbye and slipped it under their bedroom door before striding out of the house and doing his best to ignore Felix who was still shouting that Rumple would need him some day. No he wouldn't. Not at all.

And for a while, it seemed like that would be true. Although you couldn't say he was incredibly prosperous, he did well enough for himself. Much better than his father had ever done, and that was enough of an accomplishment for him. He didn't need to be rich. He just needed to feel like his life was worth something. And it was. But then, after a particularly good day, he stopped to have a drink at a tavern and was robbed, beaten, and left for dead as the thieves escaped with his money.

As pain radiated from every inch of his body and he lay waiting to die, he heard that voice. The one that he never wanted to hear again.

"I told you that you would need me again someday, Rumplestiltskin."

"Felix," Rumple wheezed. "Did my father send you?"

"Of course he did," Felix replied. "He saw something like this coming a mile away."

"So what happens now?" Rumple asked, trying to get a breath. "Are you going to kill me?"

"I could, if you wanted," Felix replied and put a hand around Rumple's throat, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Very easily, see? But that would be such a waste. I came to save your life. Or are you too stubborn to accept my help?"

Rumple stared into those cold eyes that were like green ice, and realized that if he said to, Felix would kill him and that cold gaze would be the last thing he ever saw. And he couldn't bear that. "No," he choked out. "Save me, please."

"There now," Felix replied and moved his hand, a wicked grin curving his lips. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"

Rumple then saw a bright light as Felix moved his hand over him and soon all his pain was gone and Felix pulled him to his feet.

"You can thank me any time you like," Felix told him.

Rumple sighed. He really didn't want to have to thank this monster, but he supposed that since his actions had kept him alive, he should. "Thank you for showing up when you did," he said. He then threw the doll his father had given him in Felix's direction. "And take this too. I don't want it anymore."

"You're welcome," Felix told him and picked the doll up off the ground. "Now, what have you been up to lately?"

"Are you asking because my father wants to know?" Rumple asked. "Cause I don't understand why he would care."

"He cares," Felix replied. "He cares very much." They trekked to a nearby inn and Rumple was just about to ask for a room before he remembered that he had no money. Just as he was about to step away, he felt weight in his pocket and reached inside, gasping as he felt several coins under his fingers.

"Where did it all come from?" He whispered.

"Do you really want an answer? Or do you just want to be glad you have a roof over your head?" Felix asked.

Rumple sighed and paid for his room before heading up to it. When he opened the door, he found a pretty woman with big brown eyes fluffing the pillow and straightening the blankets.

"Oh!" she said when she turned and saw him. "Will you be staying her next? I'm sorry, I'll get out of your way."

"No, please, take your time," Rumple told her quickly. "I can wait." He sat himself down and watched her for a bit.

"You like her, don't you?" Felix asked.

"No, I don't," Rumple whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

"What?" The woman asked. "Did you say something?"

"No," Rumple shook his head, his eyes locked on her hand. "But that…that's a lovely ring you're wearing."

"Thank you," she smiled. "My sweetheart gave it to me just yesterday."

"You're betrothed," Rumple said in surprise. "How…how nice."

"It is," she said. "We hope to be married in the spring." She came and gave him a little curtsy. "I'm Alice."

"Jack," Rumple told her, saying the first name that came out of his mouth because he couldn't very well tell her what his real name was. It was too unusual.

"Lovely to meet you, Jack," Alice smiled. "Enjoy your stay and…if you need anything, just let me know."

"She's betrothed," Rumple said, feeling very dejected once she was gone.

"Oh, there's no need to look like that," Felix replied. "If you wish you were in her fiance's place, if you're jealous, that can easily be fixed. I can find him and take care of him for you."

"No, don't you do that!" Rumple told him. "Just leave it alone, please!"

"Are you certain?" Felix smiled wickedly. "It wouldn't be any trouble."

"Don't do anything," Rumple told him firmly. "Please."

"Oh, all right," Felix sighed. "You know, your father is a lot more fun than you are."

The rest of the day was spent in peace and that night, Rumple went to bed, planning on a good night's sleep. But then, his eyes opened abruptly and sat up in bed. He reached for the blankets to pull them off, but his hand touched a face instead. He quickly lit a candle and what he saw after made him wish he hadn't. Alice was in bed with him, her eyes open and blank as they stared up at the ceiling, her throat slit to bone.

"Oh, god," Rumple whispered as he stepped away from the body. "Oh, no!" He got dressed and ran out of there without another word to anyone.

"Why did you do that?" He asked Felix, who appeared once he was outside. "Why did you kill her?"

"Because she didn't like you," Felix told him in his quiet voice. "She was never going to like you. This is what was best. But don't worry. I can handle this. You won't get in trouble." Rumple then watched as Felix used his magic to set the inn ablaze, then grabbed his hand and zapped him away.

When Rumple was next aware, he was on a very familiar beach and saw a very familiar face smirking at him. "Hello, Papa," he spat.

"Hello, Laddie," Pan replied. "Welcome home."

"This isn't home," Rumple spat. "Not anymore. It might have been at one point, but that was before you threw me away."

"Well, and that's the point," Pan told him. "I want this to be our second chance."

"Why would I want to live with you?" Rumple spat. Every chance I've had for a stable home and a loving family has been ruined. By you."

"That's why you're here now, Laddie," Pan said. "If you stay here with me, we can be the family that you've always wanted." He paused. "And even if you wanted to leave, where else would you go?"

Rumple sighed as he felt Felix's hand grip his shoulder hard. He had a point. He had nowhere else to go. Nowhere that wouldn't be ruined, anyway. He might as well stay here. "All right," he said. "I'll stay here. But I won't like it."

"That's fine with me," Pan replied. "You don't have to."

He couldn't believe he was back here. After all these years, he was back in Neverland, even though he'd sworn up and down once his father had let him leave that he'd never come back. "I'm doing this for Henry," Rumple muttered to himself as he made his way through the jungle. "I'm doing this for Henry. I've come to save his life. What happens to me doesn't matter. In fact, it's probably better in the long run if I die anyway." He then stepped on something in the brush, looked down, and groaned as he picked it up. That doll. There was that damned doll again.

"Come out, Felix," he called. "No point in hiding. I know you're here."

"I wasn't hiding, Rumplestiltskin," Felix replied, stepping out of some nearby trees and lowering his hood. "If you came for the boy, you're going to fail."

"I will not," Rumple replied as he grabbed him by the collar, his teeth bared. "I am going to succeed and save Henry even if it kills me in the end. And because it will make me feel better, I'm going to take as many of you and others like you along with me when I go." He then threw Felix down so that he landed in a heap on the ground.

"Not even a 'Hello' for your father, Rumple?" Pan's voice sounded behind him and Rumple froze. "And is that the way to treat the person who took care of you all those years when I couldn't?"

"And by 'Couldn't' you mean 'Wouldn't'," Rumple told him. "Don't try and pretend like you did me some great service by sending that—" he paused and gave Felix a light kick. "That to look after me all those years ago. I would have done much better on my own."

"Now I think we both know that isn't true," Pan told him. "I saw everything. I know you struggled before you were brought here."

"I struggled, but I was successful too," Rumple told him. "Was that why you felt the need to ruin it all for me? Cause I was more successful and satisfied with my life than you would ever be with yours? Or is it that you just enjoy watching me suffer? Watching me be as miserable as you are."

"I don't understand how you can be miserable," Pan told him."You grew up! You became the Dark One! I'm…I'm proud of you, laddie." He tried to fake some tears, but that didn't work.

"Oh, stop," Rumple told him. "I don't even know why I'm standing here wasting my time with you when I have much more important things to think about."

"Henry," Pan smiled. "You came for Henry."

"I did," Rumple nodded. "Where is he?"

"Oh, I won't just tell you where I'm keeping him," Pan replied. "That ruins the game, doesn't it? You'll have to hunt for him, just like everyone else. Good luck."

"I won't need it," Rumple told him. "And I'll find him with or without your help."

"I admire your confidence," Pan said, a grin curving his lips."

"Yes, well, you can admire my success," Rumple said and began walking away. "Starting now. Goodbye, Papa."

"Goodbye, laddie," Pan called after him as Felix got to his feet. "And good luck."

The End