Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not even Robbie Kay, much to my disappointment. Just a few things you should know before you read. My OC Charlotte is Emma's god-daughter. Her parents died and left Emma custody in their will. Henry and Charlotte formed a strong bond and it is why they refer to each other as siblings. This story is largely AU even more so now that Peter is Rumple's father. Which I'm still not over! Anyways. I hope you enjoy my story and Charlotte. Your imput is defiantly appreciated. I did my best to keep her from being Mary Sueish and perfect so if she comes across that please tell me. If you read all that thank you and enjoy!
Chapter One
"A world in which there are monsters, and ghosts, and things that want to steal your heart is a world which there angels, and dreams and a world which there is hope." - Neil Gaiman
When the world stopped spinning I landed painfully on my side along a sandy shore. Groaning and slightly nauseous I did my best to get to my feet. As I stood I caught sight of Henry and made way to get to him when I was grabbed from behind, I let out a squeal of surprise. "Nah, ah, ah." Greg taunted, "You shouldn't have followed us, Charlie."
"Why?" I thrashed, "Did I throw a wrench in you master plan? I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not." I squirmed, kicked, clawed, bit, as Tamara tried to bind my hands while Greg did his best to hold me. There was no way I was making this easy.
"Hold still." Greg snarled.
"Drop dead." I countered as I continued to struggle. Despite my efforts they managed to get the damn things on me. Greg dropped me and I landed roughly on my knees, hissing. That was going to leave a bruise.
"We made it." Tamara's eyes scanned the land, she smiled at Greg, "Mission accomplished." I rolled my eyes.
"You sure about that? Cause my mom's coming to get us."
"Yeah." I rose, "Both of them."
"You two might want to take a look around." Greg removed his wet jacket. "You see any clock towers? You're a long way from Storybrooke."
"It doesn't matter. My family's been to the Enchanted Forest before and they can get here again." A loud horn sounded through the night causing us all to glance around.
"Well we are not in the Enchanted Forest." Tamara smirked, "This is Neverland."
"Huh," I took another look around. "It's nothing like I pictured." It was cold, dark and gloomy. The exact opposite of the story I loved growing up.
"Neverland?" Henry repeated, "You're here to destroy Neverland?"
I piped up, "What? Why do you want to destroy Neverland?"
"It's the mother load of magic."
"I'm guessing your anti magic?" I asked.
"Where's the communicator?" Tamara ignored me and held out her hand to Greg who was digging through a backpack. "We need to signal the home office."
"Here you go, T."
"An office in the jungle." Henry scoffed, "Who works there?"
"Who we work for is none of your concern kid." Greg walked towards them, "Just know there take care of us."
"Wow, I wouldn't want that job." I quipped. Greg glared at me and I shrugged.
"Do they? Can they tell you how to get back home after you destroy magic?"
Greg bent down to look Henry in the eye, "We don't ask questions. We just believe in our cause."
"Greg."
"Yeah?"
"I'm not getting a status light on this thing." Tamara handed him the radio.
Greg turned it over, "Did you check the batteries?" He opened the radio's lid and sand spilled out.
"What the hell is this? A toy?" I held in a laugh at their expressions.
"It's a good thing you guys don't ask questions." Henry smugly voiced my exact thoughts.
"Let's go." He pushed us forward, "Walk."
"I don't know what I've been told." I hummed as we entered the dark forest.
"You're making smores?" Henry asked as we watched Greg kneel on the ground.
Greg wiped the dirt off his hands, "No. Building a signal. Help me gather some dry leaves," He stood up, "we need to let the home office know we're here."
I scoffed, "Gather them yourself, dick." Yeah, that glare really doesn't do anything for me.
"What if that's not enough?" Tamara asked breaking our stare down. "What if the empty communicator wasn't an accident?"
"Why is the sky blue? Why is the grass green? Why am I bald? Maybe you should have thought of these things before you jumped through a portal to Neverland without having a way home."
"Shut up."
I raised my eyebrows, "Did I hit a nerve?"
Greg pinched the bridge of his nose, inhaling a deep breath. "Don't let the kids get in your head." The scuffling of leaves caught our attention and we watched as hooded figures carrying weapons walk out. I took a protective stance in front of Henry "Who are you?"
"We're the home office." The boy with the club opened his arms, "Welcome to Neverland."
"The home office?" Tamara questioned with wide eyes.
"Congrats," I chuckled. "Your bosses are a bunch of teenagers? And people say age makes you wiser."
"They're not teenagers," Henry stated moving out from behind me. "Their the lost boys."
"Well look at that." The leader said impressed.
"If magic is what keeps you all young, why do you want to destroy it?" I asked, Tamara's words from earlier registering in my head.
"Who said we wanted to destroy magic, sweetheart?"
"These two idiots." I gestured to Greg and Tamara, causing the head lost boy to smirk.
"That was our mission." Greg said stepping forward.
"So you were told," The lost boy nodded. "Yes. Now the boy." Then he adds as an after thought, "And the girl. Hand them over."
"No, you're not getting them until you tell us the plan." Tamara stepped in front of us blocking our view. "For magic? For getting home?"
"Your not getting home."
Greg puffed out his chest and glared, "Then you're not getting them."
If my hands weren't bound I would have face palmed. Did this guy really think he was intimidating? Even if he was, we were out numbered and had no weapons. What did he think he was going to accomplish? I mean really.
The lost boy smiled and said with a self-assured tone, "Of course we are."
Henry and I exchanged worried glances. "This isn't going to end well is it?"
I took a deep breath, "Not a chance." And for once I wished I wasn't right. Out of nowhere a dark shadow came and ripped Greg's shadow from his body, electing a painful scream that had me wincing. My chest tightened as my insult from earlier became a reality. Greg fell to the ground dead. The glowing eyes of the shadow scanned over us, but it made no move to attack us and flew off into the night. I let out the breath I was holding, "The movie's did not prepare me for that."
Tamara turned to them, "Run."
We bolted, but I stopped and turned back around when I heard Tamara cry out in pain. An arrow was embedded in her side and she was bleeding profusely. "Tamara."
"Go!"
"What about you?"
"Don't worry about me." I hesitated. "Go!" With a heaviness in my heart I turned and ran in the direction I saw Henry go.
"Get them." The head lost boy ordered.
I ran through the cold and dark bleak woods hoping to God that I would catch up to Henry when I almost tripped over him. "What are you doing on the ground?" I gently pulled my brother off the ground, a feat considering my hands were tied. "Now is not the time to play dead." Henry opened his mouth to responded but we were both suddenly pulled behind a bush. Seriously, if one more person man handled me I was going to start swinging.
"Where did they go?"
"This way."
"Keep moving." After a few tense minutes the lost boys voices finally faded out as they ran right past us.
"Thanks." Henry whispered.
The boy who saved us removed his hood, "Pan and his forces are in tune with ever grain of sand on this island. We must be careful." He picked up a rock and cut through Henry's ropes.
"Aren't you a lost boy?" I gestured to his attire.
"I was." I felt a wave of heat rush through my body as his eyes landed on me and I barely held back a shiver. His gaze was so penetrating it felt as if he could see my darkest secrets, knew my deepest fears. Though his eyes were searing with an intensity his face was void of emotion and it had my body on edge. I didn't know why he was gazing at me that way, maybe because I inferred he was a lost boy. Which personal experience could confirm wasn't a good thing. Either way I found myself not able to break his gaze. "I escaped. Now they're after me too." He gently took my hands in his and cut the binds securing me.
I rubbed my wrists, "Thank you." He nodded and offered me his hand to help me up. I eyed it carefully.
"Come on. I'm not going to bite." He said causing me to smile and I placed my hand in his allowing him to pull me up. As our hands connect I feel the energy change from burning heat to an icy burn that spreads up my spine. I was startled by the sudden sensation and judging by his wide eyes, so was he. I quickly retracted my hand and took a step back. The boy blinked repeatedly seemingly trying to get a grip on himself.
"How did you escape?" Henry's voice broke us from our trance. "What happened?"
"No time for questions. We must keep moving. Come on."
I have been through and seen a lot of strange things since I moved to Storybrooke with Emma, but this had to be far the strangest. On the run from lost boys. From Peter Pan. We are on the run from an elf in green tights. If I wasn't running for my life I might laugh. By now I couldn't feel my legs, but the sound of the lost boys in the background caused me to push myself harder and I fought the urge to look back. I wheezed as I pushed past a branch that was in the way, seriously how weren't these boys tired yet? Just when I thought I couldn't take anymore the mystery boy came to a stop and Henry and I followed suit. I put my hands on my knees as I tried to catch my breath.
The boy scanned the area, "I think we lost them."
"Really?" Wheeze. "How." Wheeze. "Can you." Wheeze. "Tell?" I couldn't seem to catch my breath and my lungs felt like they were on fire. This is why I doesn't exercise. "Oh, god. Is this how it feels to die? Am I dying?" I was ignored, the questions were rhetorical, but still some acknowledgement would have been nice.
"Okay," Henry breathed, "can we rest for a minute?"
I raised my head, "Yeah, I second that."
Glancing between the two of them the boy sighed, but nodded. Henry collapsed on top of a rock and I moved to sit beside him wrapping a reassuring arm around him as he laid his head on my shoulder. I rested my head on top of his. "Your new." The boy studied them, "Did the shadow take you too? Pan doesn't usually take girls."
Yeah, he just surrounds himself with an island full of boys. Either he's afraid of cooties or he's gay. "No, the shadow didn't bring us here. He was kidnapped by some people that work for Pan."
The boy gazed at me with curiosity and I fought the urge to squirm remembering the last time I was caught under his gaze. "And you?"
"I jumped through the portal after them."
I watched in envy as the boy raised one eyebrow, "You came to Neverland willingly?'
"Yes. I came willingly." I imitated his accent causing the corners of his lips to tilt in a half smile. "For my brother." I kissed the top of Henry's head.
"I'm sorry." The boy said after a beat.
Henry asked, "For what?"
"If he sent for you." He gestured to Henry, "He wants you. If Pan wants you, he will get you."
I felt Henry tense under my embrace and I hugged him closer, "Well, he's going to have to get through me."
"You won't stand a chance against Pan."
"Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence, bro." I licked my lips, "But there's a first time for everything."
The boy scoffed, "Your crazy."
I smiled at the ground, "Bro, you have no idea." Removing my arm from Henry I stood up and sauntered over to the mystery boy and entered his personal space. He was a good nine inches taller than me so I had to tilt my head to look him in the eyes. "There's been a question that has been nagging since we met." The boy raised an eyebrow but made no move to step back. Seriously how does he do that? It must be magic. "Why does Pan want you, lost boy?"
Holding my gaze he pushed aside his scarf to pull out a necklace underneath. "Pixie dust. I stole it from him because I thought I could use it to fly away and go home. But it doesn't work." He spat dropping the necklace. "It's useless."
I took a step closer and gently gripped the vial between my fingers, "It looks like sand. Are you sure you stole the right thing?"
"I'm sure." Nodding, I released the vial and took a few steps back putting distance between us.
"Don't worry, our family's coming to rescue us and you could come with us."
"You really think you're the first boy to believe that his family is actually coming for them?"
"Our family's-"
"Different." Henry finished for me.
I scoffed, "Understatement."
"We always find each other."
"It's kinda of our motto actually."
"You better hope they don't. Or Pan will rip their shadows into oblivion."
I shifted and swallowed the lump in my throat as Greg's death flashed in my mind. "Positivity just isn't in your vocabulary, is it?"
Henry stood up and joined my side, "It's going to be okay. I promise. Don't lose hope. All we need is time." He assured the boy, "Is there a place we can hide from the lost boys?"
The boy took a deep breath, "There's a place where they can't track us. The echo caves. But it's far."
"Oh joy, more running." Just as the words left my mouth the sound of scuffling could be heard. "Lead the way." I urged the boy and the three of us shot out of there like bats out of hell.
Run, jump, duck, breath. Run, jump, duck, breath. This was the mantra I was repeating to myself as we ran through the forest, again! I honestly have no idea how the rogue lost boy could navigate through this maze. Every tree, every bush looked the same to me. "Look out!" I screamed shooting out my arm to stop the three of us from toppling over a cliff.
"They're over here." One of the lost boys shouted in the distance.
"What do we do?" Henry asked looking over the edge, "Is there any other way to the echo caves?"
"No. We're done for."
"Way to keep the faith." I hissed running my hands through my hair. "There's got to be another way."
"I'll give them the pixie dust, maybe they'll let us live."
I laughed humorlessly, "Yes, because they seem like such the forgiving type."
Henry nodded, "You want to give up?"
"We don't have a choice." The boy shouted, "They got us." He looked over the edge, "This is the end."
I rolled my eyes, "No." Walking around Henry I tore off the boy's necklace. "This is not how it ends. When I die it's going to be epic, alright? Not by a bunch of little boys. This," I hold up the pixie dust, "this is our other way." I pulled both boys back a few feet from the cliff.
"What are you doing?" The boy stuttered nervously.
"Saving our asses."
"How?"
"Everyone knows pixie dust is for flying." Henry said, while I popped open the vial.
"Don't you remember the dust doesn't work?"
"Pixie dust runs on belief." Well that's what Disney claimed. But they were off about the shadow so there's a chance their wrong about this. So there's a chance I might just be plummeting us to our death. Oh, well. Here goes nothing. "You have to believe." I sprinkled the dust over the three of us and threw the empty vial to the ground.
"I defiantly do not believe." The lost boy cried.
"That's okay." Henry and I shared a smile, "Because we do." With a firm grip on each other we ran right off the cliff.
We were flying. We were actually flying! I couldn't believe it. No I really couldn't, considering I was just starting to have doubts. It was probably all Henry. He had enough belief for all of them.
Our descent to the ground wasn't as graceful as I thought it was going to be and we fell in a heap, with the lost boy on top of me. I let out a grunt as his elbow met my ribs. He raised up on his elbows and stared down at me with that blank mask of his, I turned my head to the side to avoid looking in his eyes. When he made no move to get up I pushed at his chest, which was surprisingly firm under all the baggy clothes, and felt a sharp tingle go up my spine. Seriously, was this going to happen ever time they made contact? The boy got the hint and I let out a sigh of relief as the weight disappeared. The boy offered his hand to help me but unlike last time I ignored it. "I don't know what is worse. Running or flying."
"See," Henry dusted off his clothes. "When you believe anything is possible."
"You couldn't be more right Henry." The boy smirked.
I eyed him as he seemed to transform into a whole different person. More sinister. "We never exchanged names."
"Let's make it a game. A puzzle to solve."
"Let's not. Start talking. Or I'm going to punch you in the face." The boy just laughed at my threat and I narrowed my eyes. "Don't let the height fool you. I'm scrappy."
His eyes roamed over me, "I don't doubt it, love."
"You lied to us." Henry accused breaking our banter and moved to step forward but I pulled him back. "You are a lost boy. You work for Pan."
In that moment it all made sense. The gaze from earlier, it wasn't because he was a lost boy. "No, he is Pan."
"Look at that." He grinned impishly. "Beautiful, brave and smart."
"And pissed." He raised an eyebrow cockily and damn if I didn't find it hot.
"But you told Greg and Tamara that magic was bad. That you would help them destroy it. Why?"
"Cause I needed their help." He took a step closer to Henry but I blocked him with my body, he playfully put his hands up in surrender. "And it is so much easier to get people to hate something then to believe."
Sick of the run around and wanting some damn answers I got in his face, "Why did you bring Henry here?"
Our shoulders brushed as he began circling around us leisurely. He walked with an air of superiority, graceful like a cat. He was either cocky, like every other man on the planet or he had a reason to be. I found myself wondering just what he was capable of. He was clever. That I was sure of. He had Greg and Tamara wrapped around his fingers. And the lost boys. But just how dangerous was he? "For quite some time I sought something extremely important."
"A bath?"
He grinned crookedly and I squeezed my eyes shut in realization that I had said that out loud. I was going to die. My sarcasm was the death of me. Though I can't say I'm surprised. I wonder, would I be seeing a white light or fire and brimstone?
"A mirror actually." He said amused. I opened my eyes and glanced at Henry. I wasn't going to die? Greg and Tamara got killed for much less and I insulted the head honcho, and my shadow was still in tact? "What I need is actually something more elusive than the greatest of all mystery's."
"What?"
"The heart of the truest believer," He knocked on a tree. "You are the lucky owner of that special heart Henry. And now you and it," He pointed to himself smugly "are mine."
"Like hell." I growled as adrenaline coursed through my veins and I punched him square in the face, busting his lip.
He laughed, wiping the blood off his lip with his thumb, "You weren't kidding when you said you were scrappy."
"And here I thought you didn't doubt me." I glared, "I also wasn't kidding when I said you had to get through me." There was no way in hell this monster was getting Henry's heart. I made a move to clock him again. "This time I'm going to do more than bust your lip, I'm going to break your fucking jaw." But he caught my fist before it could connect with his face and he twisted it behind me pulling me back towards him. I tried to use my free arm to elbow him in the ribs but he restrained it to. "Henry run!" I shouted.
"No. I'm not leaving you."
For the love of god. "Henry leave, find Emma. Get help." Henry frowned torn, but made the right decision and turned to run. I felt hope swell in my chest, but it was crushed as the Lost Boys came out of the woodwork blocking Henry's exit. "Fuck." I muttered. I lifted my leg to stomp on Peter's foot but his hand pushed my leg back down.
"Aren't you a wild one." He whispered into the shell of my ear.
Hey, I heard you were a wild one. Stop it! This is not a musical, Charlotte. Focus. Okay. Arms, restricted. Legs, useless. What's left? Head, shoulders, knees and toes. Knees and toes. Head! That's it. I threw my head back connecting with Peter's face.
"Bloody hell!" He cursed releasing me. I stumbled slightly but caught myself before I hit the ground. "Your antics are no longer cute." He said deathly clam, making my blood run cold. This time I was sure I was going to die. Especially when a dagger was placed at my throat. I could only hope Henry would be safe.
"No." Henry yelled. "You can't kill her."
"And why not?" Peter held me by the waist much like Greg had, but his grip was less tight. He knew I wasn't going anywhere.
"You want me to corporate. Fine. But only if she lives."
Corporate? With a psychopath. "Henry don't-" His grip tightened but it was the cold metal of the dagger lightly dragging across my neck that silenced me. I dug my nails into my palms to keep myself from saying something that I know would get me killed faster.
Peter asked amused, "Are you negotiating with me Henry?"
"You want my heart. I want my sister's safety." He stepped forward. "Do we have a deal?"
It was silent for a few moments, his thumb rubbing circles on my hipbone causing me to shiver but this time it was out of fear. "We do." And just like that the dagger was removed. I lightly touched my neck and when I pulled back blood coated my fingertips. Henry surged forward and embraced me tightly.
"That was very brave." I held him close.
"Indeed it was." Peter smirked wiping my blood off his dagger and sheathing it. "Now, let's play."
To quote Peter Pan, "Bloody hell."
