Oh my gosh, thank you guys so much for all the lovely reviews, follows, favorites, and views! I wasn't expecting that much for only a short first chapter. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
One thing I'd like to point out is that I will not be using the backstory they provided him in the show. I will be making a new one for Peter as I believe he deserves a better background.
Also, I am planning on making this story quite long, so don't think it'll be over soon. I'm going to wring it out as much as I can.
Warnings: A little bit of rough-housing but nothing too serious yet.
Disclaimer: I do not own Peter Pan or Once Upon A Time.
Tessa could feel herself growing cold. It stemmed from where Peter had her arm in his grip, the cold spreading through her insides until she was nearly trembling with it.
"What do you mean?" she asked meekly, too afraid to even pretend to be strong.
Peter tsked, though the manic grin on his face hinted that he felt no remorse for her. She swallowed past the lump in her throat and used all of her willpower to try not to move away from him or start to shiver.
"We only have room for Lost Boys," Peter told her, howls of agreement coming from the other young boys surrounding them. "While we wait for my shadow," he continued, ignoring her feeble attempts to stay calm, "let's string her up, boys."
As the whooping young boys came rushing forward, Tessa blurted out the first thing that came to her mind.
"Wait!" she shouted, struggling in Pan's hold. "Why don't we play a game?" she said desperately. All the boys hesitated at this, looking to Peter for further instructions.
Peter paused, holding his free hand out to stop the Lost Boys. "A game?" he asked her, looking wary. "What kind of game?"
Tessa tried to think of something quickly, not giving Peter the chance to decide he didn't want to play a game. They were still all boys, right? What kind of game would young, immature boys want to play?
"H-how about hide and seek?" she asked, not caring that her voice was shaking. She looked up hopefully into Peter's eyes. "I hide, you guys seek."
Peter hummed, letting go of her arm slowly. She immediately pulled it away from him, not daring to move—or even breathe—as he thought.
"What do I get when I win?" he asked her, smiling at her. The smile made him look like he belonged in an institution, not wandering around freely—and certainly not controlling a hoard of young boys. She noticed how he said when and not if but decided to ignore his arrogance.
Tessa thought for a moment. "If I win, I don't get 'strung up' while you wait and get freedom to do whatever I want," she stated. She'd decided at the moment that she'd much rather have a small amount of freedom than be at the complete mercy of seemingly bloodthirsty boys. "If you win, you can have whatever you want," she continued, willing Peter to accept.
His smile grew until it was covering his face. Amusement danced in his eyes as he looked her over; it gave her chills, but not because he seemed to be checking her out, but because he seemed to be thinking of violent ways he could destroy her.
"Alright," he agreed, making Tessa's small frame relax slightly. "But we get to play for 24 hours. If we find you before then, we win. If we don't, you win."
Tessa's stomach churned violently, wondering how she could manage to hide from these wild boys for 24 hours. Instead of voicing her concerns—like hell she'd do that—she nodded hesitantly. Peter's smirk grew more sinister as the seconds ticked by and he calmly said,
"The game starts now."
Tessa didn't need to be told twice. As the Lost Boys howled their glee, jumping around as they waited for her to get a head start to hide from them, Tessa turned on her heel and bolted into the thick woods, tree branches immediately snapping against her face.
Soon, she lost sight of them, their cheers growing fainter and fainter with each step she took. She cursed her skinny jeans and then thanked whoever up there was looking out for her because she happened to be wearing her white sneakers. Though upset about how dirty they were getting, at least it was something she could run in.
After their voices had faded to nothing, Tessa slowed down, trying to hide herself in the shrubbery somehow. They'd expect her to do that though, wouldn't they? She'd never had to think about this kind of stuff before. She stopped, leaning against a tree as she greedily took in huge gulps of air into her pained lungs. Her heart was racing and her legs were turning to jelly—Tessa wasn't much of a runner. She had never had to run like this before. How could she manage to hide from these maniacs for 24 hours if she could barely even keep herself running for a few minutes? Panting, she looked for anything she could use to defend herself and eventually just grabbed a large branch, trying to keep it from dragging on the ground and making an unintentional trail.
What seemed like an hour passed by and Tessa was now walking, lost and hungry and tired. She breathed heavily, trying to suck in as much air as possible. She hoisted the branch over her shoulder and continued to make her way deeper into the forest surrounding her slowly. Her head was throbbing—mostly from lack of oxygen and way more exercise than she was used to, but probably also from the hit she'd taken from Felix.
Thinking herself safe for now, she found an unusually thick area of shrubbery and crawled into it, eyelids drooping. She sighed, laying on her back and staring at the sky—well, as much as she could see through the greenery she was underneath. She dropped her weapon on the ground beside her, closing her eyes and deciding to rest for a few seconds before making her way deeper into the forest.
Only... for a few... moments...
Hearing shrill voices whooping and footsteps pounding on the ground, Tessa woke with a start, nearly giving herself a panic attack. Calming her heart down, she blinked the sleep away from her eyes and focused on the sounds around her.
It was the Lost Boys. They were too close to her.
Panicking, Tessa scrambled to her hands and knees, crawling slowly and cautiously away from their voices. Once she was deep enough to where they couldn't see her, she sat up against a rock and waited for their voices to disappear. And surely, though slowly, they did. Sighing in relief, she crawled back to where she had fallen asleep—dammit, how long had she been out?—and grabbed the branch, getting to her feet slowly and heading the opposite way from where she'd heard the Lost Boys moving.
As she moved through the trees and grass, she heard rustling. Freezing, she looked around her warily. She thought she saw a shadow move, but after blinking it was gone. She decided that it was her mind playing tricks on her from lack of sleep. Exhaling shakily, Tessa slowly walked a few steps forward.
And then bumped right into someone.
She nearly fell over, but caught herself. Looking back in front of her, she saw a Lost Boy that was a few inches taller than her. He smiled widely and opened his mouth.
Not even thinking about it, Tessa lifted her arms and swung the branch toward him, connecting with a resounding crack on his head and the boy dropped to the ground with a grunt.
"Oh my God," Tessa whispered, dropping the branch on the ground. She herself dropped to the ground, kneeling next to the boy. She grabbed his face with shaking hands and muttered to herself while she tried to check if he was okay. After checking his skull and making sure there was no blood, she moved her finger to press against the side of his neck, feeling a pulse and relaxing. Tessa stood back up, bending over to grab her branch.
Something knocked into her back, sending her flying face-first into a nearby tree, a hand holding her by the hair and another hand twisting her arm behind her back painfully. Wincing at the pain, she tried to shift her head backwards to see who was pinning her.
Lips brushed against her ear and she shivered involuntarily. "Well, well, well," a familiar voice said. "I didn't think you had it in you." His cool breath fluttered against her ear and made her shiver again. She could feel the arrogant smile against her ear and struggled in the boy's grip.
"Peter," she hissed, yelping suddenly when he twisted her arm back further.
"Now, now, love," he whispered into her ear, pressing himself fully against her back and pushing her further into the rough bark. "I do believe I've won." He chuckled against her, shifting slightly until his body was aligned with hers. Swallowing, Tessa stilled in his arms.
Maybe if she pretended to be submissive, she'd live.
"Fine," she said, tears pricking the corners of her green eyes. Tessa tried moving her head and stopped immediately when her face was shoved harder against the tree. She could feel it breaking the skin of her cheek, blood dripping down the side of her face. Pushing down her pride, she relaxed as much as she could in his hold. "You win," she spat, not at all liking the way his grip tightened on her.
"Wonderful!" he said gleefully. "I like your fire," he whispered into her ear, pressing his lips against the skin harder. Her body tensed up, ignoring the sensations his lips caused her. Her body liked it, but she so obviously didn't. When she didn't answer, he let go of her hair and trailed his hand downward until he was digging his fingers into her thigh. Tessa reacted the way she would have if she was back home.
"Get off me!" she yelled, wiggling violently and trying to push him off of her. Peter shifted his grip until he was grabbing her upper arms, turning her quickly until they were face-to-face. He leaned toward her, leaving only a few inches between their faces. Even if she'd wanted to back away, she couldn't with the tree keeping her in place. The tree bark dug into her back through her thin t-shirt and she placed her hands on Peter's chest. A corner of his lips twitched upwards into a menacing smirk. He leaned further toward her, tilting his face so he could reach her ear. His cheek brushed against hers and she shut her eyes tightly, holding back a shiver at the feel of skin rubbing against skin. He whispered three words, his cool breath tickling her ear.
"You are mine."
