AN: Hi everyone :) I am planning on doing a series of one shots based on Baelfire, because I am heartbroken that he has gone and in need of some serious therapy - which is strange considering all I've wrote so far is angst. I am a strange person. Any prompts for the series will be more than welcome.
Anyway, this is the second one shot, my other can be found on my profile and is called 'Going Home'.
...
"Eager to go, I see." Hook said, appearing by Baelfire's side.
Baelfire barely glanced at him, keeping his eyes on the overgrown forrest of Neverland. "Just drop me off anywhere." He said, trying to keep his voice steady.
"You really think you can survive on your own?"
"I've never been given the choice." Baelfire defended, slightly offended by the doubt leaked within the pirates words.
"Well, you have one now."
There. There was the offer. One which Baelfire had been anticipating, and Hook had been trying to spit out all afternoon. Bae hesitated. He could have that life, a family of his own; many of the pirates had welcomed Bae with open arms, with the exception of a timid man, Smee. He could be happy here.
"Anywhere will do."
Hook sighed. "I get you're angry. But it doesn't have to end like this. The ship can be your home, your family. Just say the word. It's not too late to start over. I can change, Bae, for you."
That wasn't the first time Bae had been given that promise, and look how well that had turned out, Bae thought spitefully. He turned, and narrowed his eyes at the hopeful looking pirate. "You say that," he said, "I know you'll never change. Because all you care about is yourself." He said, a little more harshly than he probably should have done, and he felt bad at the hurt in Hooks eyes as he passed him, but he had been let down to many times. Lied to, too many times.
"Thank you..." he said, making Bae turn around confused. He frowned when he saw that the hurt had disappeared and was replaced by anger, Hook's face completely devoid of any of the emotion that Bae had witnessed during his time on the Jolly Roger. "For reminding me what I'm all about... Killing your father!" He said, making Bae's heart drop when he heard footsteps behind him. He glanced over his shoulder aprehensively, feeling sick when he saw a small group of the lost ones - their ring leader, smirking - behind him.
"You're not letting me go." Bae sighed, the hurt and betrayal which had become a frequent guest in his heart, making an appearance once again.
Hook shrugged, unconcerned. "How would that help me?"
"You hated my father so much, you didn't even realize you were just like him!" Bae exclaimed, his eyes welling up with angry tears as two of the lost ones held him, keeping him in place, but none of them moved to put him in the small boat next to the ship.
Hook turned to the ring leader, Felix, who had walked ahead. "You have to boy. He will be pleased?" he asked, though Bae had a suspicion that he didn't really care.
"We'll see." Felix smirked, turning to yet another lost one. "Is it the boy?"
The other, younger boy, studied a piece of paper, and then looked at Bae, before shaking his head. "No, it's not." He said. Felix just smirked wider at that.
"Excellent. He isn't needed." He said, making Bae, Hook and Smee look at them confused.
"He isn't?" Smee asked, nervously, his eyes flickering between all of the boys, never once landing on Bae. "You're letting him go?"
"Oh, no. You see, he doesn't take lightly to people not doing as he says. He is rather angry at you, Captain." He told the man, who tensed, his eyes hardening even more than they already had. Felix turned back to Bae. "But none more than Baelfire, here. Son of the Dark One, Rumpelstiltskin. Yes, he is rather interested in you, but not enough to let this insubordination slide."
"You mentioned nothing of this when I recieved your message." Hook protested, edging forwards, glancing between Bae and Felix nervously. He didn't have a good feeling about this. He didn't like the arrogance in the the oldest boys eyes, or the excited anticipation in the other lost boys. They had murderous glints in their eyes, something Hook still got a chill from seeing on the faces of children, but was slowly learning to get used to it the longer he and his ship were in that world.
"I suppose that was 'bad form'." Felix mocked, as he walked closer to the other lost boys, his eyes on Baelfire.
"What sort of punishment does 'he' have in mind?" Baelfire asked, his voice strong and his gaze unwaivering as the older boy got closer, his amused smirk never faltering despite the tense atmosphere of the nearly-empty deck.
Felix never answered, instead he said, "You should never have ran."
Baelfire didn't quite know what happened next, however, Hook's eyes widened in horror as he ran forwards with a roar of, "NO!"
One of the lost ones holding Baelfire in place, had reached to his belt and pulled out a dagger swiftly, slicing it across Baelfire's neck just as swiftly. The dagger slit through the neck of the boy whom Hook had come to love the a son. Milah's boy. The boy he had hoped he could have a future, a family, with.
Baelfire gasped, which turned into a gurgle as blood dripped down his shirt from the wound that practically went from ear to ear. The other lost boy holding Baelfire held Bae's head back with his hair, forcing Hook to see all of the horrid cut.
The man darted forwards, ignoring Smee when the coward of a man tried to stop him, past Felix who seemed to become more amused by his distress, and over to Baelfire just as the lost ones let him fall to the floor. Hook fell to his knees, ripping the knees of his breeches as he skid but he didn't take much care to that, because, the next thing he knew, he was holding a dying boy in his arms. Baelfire continued to gasp for air, struggling to hold onto life, but surviving never-the-less - the cut had not been clean. Baelfire's death wouldn't be instant. Hook placed his hand on the wound, as if he could manage to stop the bleeding and save the boy - it was useless, Hook knew this, but he didn't care. The last time he had felt this hopeless, the Dark One had ripped Milah's heart out of her chest.
He stared down at the boy, who stared back at him, fear in his tear-filled eyes, and his heart broke. He wanted so much to apologise, to whisper sweet nothings to the boy who would die being so scared, so hurt and betrayed by all those he had dared to love, to die knowing that everything he had done to help his father, to help Hook, had been for nothing. Hook wished that he had never betrayed Baelfire; he wished that he had refused to let the boy go, that he had forced him to listen to him explain, and then still refuse to let him go if he still didn't want to be on the Jolly Roger. The boy was fourteen, for God's sake! Hook had been the only thing as close to a family that the boy had - in this world or others, from what Baelfire had told him. Hook was Baelfire's step-father. The thought made Hook choke up even more, as he blinked out the tears threatening to fall down his face.
"I'll give him your regards." Felix said silkily, as he and the lost ones left while Baelfire struggled. Hook's jaw clenched when he could hear they laughing as they rowed back to the island.
"Hey," he said softly, trying to get the boy's attention. Baelfire's wide brown eyes turned to him. "Look up at the sky." He told the boy, gently adjusting them so that Baelfire could have a better view of the starry night. Holding Baelfire in one arm, Hook pointed up at a certain star. "Do you see that? That's the 'Good Lady'. She was your mother's favourite. The Good Lady is said to carry loved ones to a safer place, to reconnect lost souls to those they have lost. You're mother always thought that she would bring you back into her life. The night you came here, and I learnt who you were, I looked up and saw the Good Lady, shining brighter than any of the other stars in the sky, and I thought of your mother. It was like she was looking down upon us, bringing us together. Look at it now, Baelfire." He whispered to the boy, almost rocking the two of them as he cried. "Shining just as brightly. She's looking down at us, Baelfire." Hook kissed the boy's forehead, closing his eyes as he heard Baelfire's gasping slow until the breaths were no more.
But he didn't let him go, he barely noticed the blood staining his once-white shirt, or Smee's anxious pacing behind him. He continued to hold onto the boy tightly, holding him close as if scared that, if he were to let go, the boy would be lost to him forever. "She's waiting for you, Baelfire."