Chapter One: Teams
"Only two of you may go on to fetch the boy." Pan instructed, standing in front of the group just as night overtook the deep blue skies of Neverland.
"What are you talking about? The deal was we use your stupid map to find Henry. There was no rule about how many of us were allowed to play this sick little game of yours." Regina hissed.
"Well, consider this me changing the rules. You'd be wise to heed them." he responded calmly.
"Choose your team before sunrise. The rest of you shall return to whence you came. You have my word. I will even cure your dear father if he shall return to your town of Storybrooke." Pan continued, grinning towards David as the rest of them whipped their heads towards him in confusion.
"Don't tell me you haven't told your beloved family of your impending death." he smirked, twirling a small blade between his fingers.
"Oi, we've heard your rules little boy. Now be on your way. Shoo shoo." Hook interrupted, gesturing with his hand with disinterest at Pan.
"Tick tock, pirate." he replied before disappearing into the pitch black forest.
"David, what was he talking about?" Emma asked, walking over to her father.
"Nightshade. The arrow did more damage then I let on." he confessed openly, lifting his shirt to reveal an angry cut up his entire abdomen.
"Why didn't you tell us!" Mary Margret exclaimed. "We will find a cure, you just have to be strong." she assured him, cupping his face with her soft palm.
"Then it's settled. Emma and I will go forward to find Henry. The rest of you will return to Storybrooke. Prince Charming will be saved and we will win. Emma and I care the most, that much is fact." Regina said, nodding in Emmas direction, asking for her support in convincing the rest of the group.
"I'm sorry, Regina. But I think it should be us." Emma said, moving her index finger between herself and Captain Hook. He let out a dry laugh before leaning against a large, damp tree. No doubt to watch with amusement the fight that was about to ensue.
"Are you insane?" she spat, taking a step towards the blonde.
"Emma, are you certain about this?" Snow said, her voice more calm but just as concerned.
"Yes." she said.
"Your boyfriend does not care about finding Henry. I do. We can get him together." The queen rattled on, shaking her shoulders in the process.
"I'm the only one who can read the map, Regina." she explained, her tone sympathetic as she spoke, understanding the woman's anger. She would be too if someone wasn't going to let her find her baby.
"And I'm sorry." Emma started, glancing at her birth parents. "But the pirate is the only one I trust on this island to have my back through this maze. He knows my moves, and I his. It is the best option. It's the most certain way to get Henry back safe and sound. And to make sure David is ok. As well as the rest of you." she said, looking at Regina the longest, watching her features soften.
"You just promise me that you will bring him back to Storybrooke. Promise me you will fight and that you will win." Regina breathed, tears in her eyes as her voice choked up.
"I promise." She said, hugging the Queen for the first and most likely last time.
"And I am not her bloody boyfriend, you witch." Hook sneered, sliding his dagger blade underneath a fingernail, his face a mask of boredom . No trace of compassion crossed his features. "Now, enough chit chat. If you are going to force me to go with you, instead of giving me a choice to get off this damn island, then let's get a move on." he said, walking forward into the forest without so much as a glance behind him to say goodbye to the rest of them or even to see if the blonde savior was trailing his lead.
"I'll be careful." Emma promised quickly, turning on her heels to jog after Hook.
"Do you have to be like that?" she asked, now walking beside him at a brisk pace.
"I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about, darling." he shot back, pushing his palm between her shoulder blade and steering her sharply to the right.
"What the hell are you-" he cut her off, wrapping his arms around her, his body crushing hers as her back hit a tree.
"It seems to be clear already that you made the right choice when picking partners, love." he breathed, still pressing his chest hard against hers back into the tree.
"Hook, come on. This isn't the time, get off of me-" he cut her off.
"You really should look where you're going. Maybe then I wouldn't have to get so handsy with you." he laughed, cocking his chin to the gaping whole in the ground, covered with a thing netting. A large trap that would not only have captured her, but the fall alone would leave her dead and gone on the mound of dirt below.
"Shit." she whispered, her hands resting on his chest as she peered around him to see the trap, barely a foot from where they stood. He looked down at her the entire time, watching as her dark green eyes moved over the land as she thought of the possibilities of her fate.
"No harm done. I gotcha, no need to fret." he said, trying to lighten her mood. She was freaking out. And whether she showed it or not, Hook knew. He picked up a small chunk of blond tresses in between his fingertips before releasing her, taking the first step back to their original path, Emma Swan right behind him.
"Thank you." she said after a few moments of silence.
"If this is about me coming along as eye candy for you to ogle all night, don't mention it. It's the least I could do." he joked, passing her his flask of aged rum which she took happily. She took a long swig before letting out a gasp, the hot liquid burning her throat.
"So charming." she responded, passing it back. "I meant for saving me back there. You could've let me fall in and just gone home with the rest of them. But you didn't. And even though I know you don't care about Henry, I appreciate you not trying to kill me to save yourself this time." she said, touching his arm lightly. He looked down at her hand as she did so, his eyes never leaving her body.
"Who says I don't care about the lad?" he snapped, his voice offended as he stood and proceeded into the woods, his fast moves surprising Emma who then staggered to her feet quickly to follow him, catching up after a short couple of paces.
"What's got you in a huff all of a sudden?" she narrowed her eyes and squared her shoulders, her legs taking long strides to keep up with him.
"You shouldn't assume to know so much about me, my darling." he said, ducking under a overhang of tree branches into a small clearing. She followed close behind him.
"Wait." she said, grabbing his wrist from behind and pulling him back. He didn't turn around.
"Come on, Hook. At least look at me." she pleaded.
He turned around at her wishes and snatched his wrist from her grasp. "I was under the impression this was an 'as soon as possible' kind of mission. But sure, I you would like to stop for a chat, lass, be my guest." he taunted, sitting on a log beside a small clear blue pond.
"If you're pissed about not being able to go back with the others, I apologize for that. I didn't know what else to do." she said desperately. " I have to get my son back."
"That's not why I'm so bloody pissed at you but now that you mention it, I do have a question." he said, grabbing her hand and yanking her down on the log beside him.
She cringed as her butt hit the log hard as she rubbed her sore leg. "Go on then."
"Why didn't you pick your father to go with you on this little journey? Or your mother for that matter. She seems pretty tough in a scrap, that one." he asked, seeming bored with the conversation.
"Why does that matter?" she evaded, standing up immediately and creating some distance between them.
"Well, there must be a reason. What is it, Swan?" he pressed, standing up as well, closing the space between them just as quickly as she created it.
"I don't know. Let's just forget it. We should keep moving." she replied, turning on her heels to continue into the forest as the sun slowly set over a overlook of trees.
"Is it because the dear prince and princess abandoned you as a child and the Queen is even more cruel then a selfish pirate like me?" he spoke the truth for her, stopping her in her tracks. She was a few feet in front of him, as he did not follow her. And he wouldn't until she told him what he wanted to know.
"Come on, Hook. Don't get all personal on me right now. I just want to find Henry." her eyes softened as she looked eyes with him across the clearing.
"Just tell me, and we can be on our way." he smirked, leaning against a large, dark leaved tree.
She stomped over to him as the sun completely disappeared from the sky, darkness overtaking Neverland. She stopped just in front of him, her hand able to smack his face if she wished.
"You know why I picked you. Why must I spell it out for you?" she asked, throwing her hands in the air in frustration.
"Because if I am to die on this bloody island, you need to admit why you make the choices that you do. It's the only way we will survive this. This place is magic and will use means beyond your comprehension to keep you from your boy." he explained stubbornly, pulling her wrist against his chest to keep her from turning her back.
"I picked you because I feel something for you. And that's the only thing that has made me feel safe the past few days while all of us have been running around in this horrid place." she exclaimed, angry with her own emotions.
His face showed no emotion as he nodded at her, assuring her that it was ok to say what she was saying.
"Your parents don't make you feel safe, Swan?" he asked, letting go of her, her body immediately turning away, her feet carrying her back towards the woods.
"Not like you do." she said quickly, rolling her eyes with her back towards him. She looked over her shoulder, at the threshold between the clearing and the forest across from him. "Now come on. You wouldn't let me go in these woods alone now, would you? After all, you told me you were a gentleman." she smirked, moving headstrong into the forest, knowing Hook was following close behind without needing to look back.
"I am a gentleman. And you're right to feel the way you feel, Swan." he said, taking a few large strides to be in front of her, pushing her back with his outstretched arm until she fell in step behind him. He looked back over his shoulder at her stare, his bright blue eyes meeting hers.
"You're right to feel safe with me, darling." he said, never stopping to make a moment of it, simply trudging on through the rough terrain.
Please Review. No flames I'm a wuss 3