Broken

Darling Pan

A/N: So this was actually supposed to be a oneshot BUT then I actually wrote it and it turned out a lot longer than I thought it would be. So it's probably going to be about three chapters-ish or around there. It's DarkWendy Darling Pan (or something like that) but I hope you enjoy it!

-Lurky

The cage crept up into his vision as he made his way closer to his target. Wendy Darling. He moved towards her with eagerness in his footsteps; excited to see and to talk to his Wendy-Bird. The news he would be bestowing upon her would surely bring forth a smile, and he cherished her smiles. He rarely ever got to see them.

As Peter Pan approached her cage, immediately he knew something was wrong. He couldn't hear the steady rate of her breathing that he always heard when he was this close to her cage. He peered through the cracks and saw that she was laying limply on the floor, barely moving. Pan frowned, wondering if she was sleeping but having a feeling that she was not.

"Oh Darling, I have news from your brothers," Pan said, smirking confidently and thinking the mention of her brothers would certainly perk her up. "They now know the location of the heart of the truest believer, which means if they do their job right, you might be seeing them soon."

He peered into her cage again but to his dismay found that she still seemed as if she were asleep. Pan, getting very frustrated that she was completely ignoring him, opened her cage, saying, "Darling, did you hear me? You're going to see your brothers very..."

He stopped talking when he opened the cage door.

Wendy's pale body was laying (scrunched up in that tiny cage) with her eyes closed, her left hand clutching a very sharp, jagged, bloody rock, draped over her right arm which was dripping red. Her white dress was stained in blood, and as her stomach rose slowly towards the air to catch a breath, Peter's stopped moving and he stopped breathing, not wanting to believe what he was staring at.

Then he realized it.

Wendy had injured herself.

She had reached through the bars in her cage, grabbed a rock, and stabbed herself.

Peter shook his head, still unwilling to believe it.

"Wendy?" He whispered, dropping to his knees and moving close to her body, staring at the blood and at the rock and then at her beautiful pale face.

"...Wendy?"

He grabbed her left hand as tenderly as he could and removed the rock from it, trying not to damage her in the process. Then he wiped some blood from her face, shaking at how cold she was. Then he stared at her wound.

"FELIX!"

Felix was there faster then Peter cared to know was possible, and as soon as he saw Wendy and the stab wound, he looked Peter in the eye and said,

"Tink. We need to get her to Tinker Bell, right now."

He didn't need to say it twice. They were there within seconds thanks to Pan's transportation magic and Tinker Bell had the girl situated in her own bed a couple of seconds later.

"Can you help her?" Pan demanded as the fairy began preparing a wet washcloth and a knife and other necessary things she needed.

"Yes, but it's going to take some time," Tink replied, kneeling down next to her bed and wiping the blood away from Wendy's wound. Pan stared at Wendy, unable to control his body from shaking. He felt so angry! WHY did she do this to herself? Why wasn't he there to stop her? And why was he feeling so emotional?

"Well can't you just use some pixie dust? And what do you need a knife for?"

Pan demanded angrily and somewhat nervously, hovering above Tink's shoulder. Felix was standing at the green curtain that was the door to her bedroom.

Tinker Bell stood up and turned around swiftly, staring Pan in the eye.

"Pan, listen. I'm all out of pixie dust, you know that. And I can't work with you freaking out right next to me. You need to let me help her, and you need to be in a different room."

Pan glared at her. "Absolutely NOT."

Tink shared a look with Felix. The lost boy nodded his head and began walking towards his leader.

"Pan, you need to trust me." Tinker Bell told him.

Pan stared at her, trying to decide whether or not to trust her. He was about to decide he wasn't going to leave that room no matter WHAT when Felix clamped his hand down on his shoulder. Pan stared at him.

"Pan. Let Tinker Bell do her thing. Wendy will be alright."

Pan gave him a good hard stare, but after a couple of seconds he realized he was wasting precious time.

"Fine." He said, agreeing to leave the room with Felix. He took one last look at Wendy before leaving and regretted it right when he did. She looked on the verge of death. In fact, if he didn't see her stomach still rising slowly up and down, he would think she WAS dead.

He blinked quickly and left the room.

Felix sat quietly as Pan paced back and forth, glaring as hard as he could at nothing in particular. His breathing was jagged. His body was still shaking. He clenched and unclenched his fists, not seeming to be able to make up his mind.

The lost boy felt sorry for him, and worried for Wendy. He had absolute faith that Tink could save her, but fate always seemed to have different plans. And he knew how much Pan cared for the girl, even when he would constantly deny it.

"Why did she do it?" Pan yelled suddenly, having stopped his pacing and staring at the wall, away from Felix.

Felix remained quiet.

"Why did she try to kill herself? Why would she?" Pan shook his head, clenching his fists and digging his nails into his hands so tight that he began to draw blood. He didn't seem to notice.

"Maybe she realized that death was a better fate then rotting in a cage forever?" Felix suggested, staring into space and pondering on his own suggestion.

Peter rounded on him in anger, glaring daggers at him as if he was the one who had stabbed Wendy Darling. Felix almost flinched.

Almost.

"Do you really believe that?" He asked slowly, making sure his lost boy heard him clearly.

Felix stared at him, not scared by his threatening demeanor. "No, I don't. It was merely a suggestion." He leaned back in his seat.

Pan frowned, turning away, satisfied enough with this answer. They stayed quiet for the rest of the time waiting for Tinker Bell and Wendy.

A couple of hours (years, it felt like for Pan) later, Tinker Bell came out of her bedroom. Pan appeared in front of her and demanded to know if Wendy was ok. Tink told him that it was a close call, that she had lost a lot of blood, but she was ok. "She has a fever and I'd like to keep her in my room for a couple of days to take care of her."

"Yes, yes, that's fine. Can I see her now?"

"Of course."

Peter stepped inside and saw Wendy on Tink's bed, and saw that she was awake. She looked up at him when he entered. Immediately he rushed to her side, kneeling next to the bed. Seeing her bloody white dress and her bandaged arm and the sadness in her eyes, it stirred something inside of him. It stung his eyes. It brought up an emotion that he did not like, not one bit. He ever so softly touched her hand and then her check. Wendy looked into his eyes. She gave him a smile.

That's what broke him.

"Why? Why did you do it?" He asked. He didn't mean for it to come out harshly but it did and the moment he heard it he hated himself for it.

Wendy's smile vanished.

"I'm sorry. You hadn't come to visit me in so long. I just felt so lonely. I felt empty. I felt... nothing. I guess I just wanted to feel again. Even if it meant feeling pain. Or death. So I cut myself, as deep as I could. I'm so sorry, Peter. I knew you would be angry with me. But while I was doing it I thought... Maybe death isn't so bad. Maybe it's not as bad as rotting in a prison for the rest of my life."

A tear escaped from Peter's eyes. Then another one. He was crying now, and Wendy wondered if she was imagining it.

He grabbed her face in his hands, glad to feel her skin wasn't freezing cold anymore, and he shook his head. "Wendy... I am so s... just... never do this to me again." He told her, his voice shaking. Tears streamed down his cheeks and dropped onto her face, causing her to blink.

Wendy reached her uninjured hand up to his face and wiped away his oncoming tears. "I won't, Peter. I promise."

Peter tried to stop the tears. He tried to control his emotions, his shaking body, his anger, his sadness, his anxiety. But he couldn't. He didn't WANT to be weak in front of Wendy; this vulnerability. Yet here he was, crying right in front of her, letting her stroke away his own tears.

His tears.

"No, Wendy. You don't understand. You can't ever do this again." Peter told her, leaning closer to her face and becoming deadly serious. "Don't ever harm yourself ever, ever again. You have to promise me."

Wendy continued wiping away his tears, staring into his eyes with a hollow expression on her face. "I promise, Peter. I promise you."

Pan finally nodded his head, believing her words. He leaned in closer and rested his forehead on hers, closing his eyes, careful not to put too much pressure on her. For a moment he let himself feel peace.

"I'm so glad you're ok..." He whispered, stroking her cheeks and then securing a strand of hair behind her ear.

Wendy, on the other hand, was not feeling peace. She was tense. She was confused. Her bright blue eyes were trained on Peter's closed eyes, wondering why on earth he was showing so much emotion and vulnerability. Why was he glad she was ok? Why didn't he want her to hurt herself again?

Why did he want her promise?

"Peter... Are you feeling ok?" Wendy asked.

Peter opened his eyes and frowned, leaning back a bit.

"Why are you asking me that question? You should be worried about yourself, Darling."

The girl glanced at her bandaged arm, and then back at the boy in front of her. There was nothing about her to be worried about, she thought. She wasn't in any danger any more. Tinker Bell had saved her.

"Well, I ask because you're acting a bit strange..."

Peter curled his eyebrows.

"I was going to say the same thing about you."

Wendy looked up at him.

"You're acting like you care about me, is all. And I'm only wondering if you-"

"Wendy, I DO care about you." Peter interrupted, looking stunned that she wouldn't know that.

Wendy didn't look amused.

"That's very funny, Peter."

Peter looked at her in confusion.

"I don't know what you mean. It wasn't a joke. I do care about you."

"Don't lie to me. You do not."

"Yes I do." Pan replied angrily. "I care about you, Wendy, I'm pretty sure that I'd know if I care about you or not."

"And I'm pretty sure that I would know that too, and I do know that you DON'T."

"Yes, I DO."

"Peter, why do you lie to me?" Wendy's voice was rising, and her facial expression broke into complete disbelief.

"I DO NOT LIE." Peter yelled, his anger returning in full force. "I found you hurt and I brought you to Tink, I could have left you there but I didn't! Why would I?"

"Because you're a liar and a monster and a horrible little boy and you DO NOT CARE FOR ME!"

"I LOVE YOU!"

Wendy's eyes opened wide and she stared at him in shock. Peter stared at her in just as much shock as she did. Wendy didn't know what to do or what to say, but she knew how to feel. Betrayed. Cheated. Lied to.

Peter didn't know what to do or say OR feel, but he did know how he WAS feeling at the moment. He felt nervous, excited, happy, anxious. He didn't exactly know how he was supposed to feel. He didn't really know what to do.

So the first thing he did was smile.

"Yes... I do. I love you."

She just stared back at him, still utterly shocked, eyes filled with confusion. He smiled at her, hoping she would smile back.

But she never smiled back. Instead her eyes grew wider and her body started shaking uncontrollably and everything that could go wrong went wrong. Pan tried to wake her out of her funk, screaming her name over and over again, freaking out, but nothing would work. Tink rushed in and pushed Pan aside, but Pan would have none of it. He rushed back to Wendy's side but Tink pushed him away again, yelling Felix's name and other words that Pan didn't comprehend. Felix appeared out of nowhere and grabbed him from behind and started dragging him towards the curtain.

"FELIX! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? LET GO OF ME!"

"I'm sorry Peter, but this is for your own good." Tink told him, giving him a look of regret, before turning her attention back to Wendy.

"LET GO OF ME! I NEED TO BE WITH WENDY! I NEED TO BE WITH MY WENDY!" Pan struggled and thrashed and jumped around like a madman, fighting as crazy as he could to escape Felix's grasp, but his most trusted lost boy proved to be quite strong.

"NO! LET ME GO!"

Just as they were at the curtain door, Pan moved backwards and slammed Felix against the wall, and then elbowed him in the chest. Then he escaped Felix's clutches and started running towards the bed, but he didn't get too far before Felix recovered and swung his club, hitting Pan in the back of the head.

Peter Pan was out cold.