Once Upon A Time: The Devil In Neverland, Part Four

By Rebekkalee Mouri-Hibiki

(Okay, here's what was going on everywhere else as Emma and the others were fighting the mermaids and amongst themselves last chapter.)

Henry followed the boy through the jungle as they tried to get away from The Lost Boys. He had no other choice but to follow him though he didn't even know his name. Suddenly, the boy stopped in a clearing and looked around. After listening for a moment, he looked at Henry, " I think we lost them. "

" Okay, " Henry panted. They had been running for a while and his legs were tired. " Can we rest for a minute? "

The boy frowned then nodded. Henry sat down a nearby log, trying to catch his breath as the boy stared at him. " You're new, " The boy said. " Did the shadow take you too? "

" No, " Henry replied. " I was kidnapped by some people that work for Pan. "

The boy looked sad at that, " I'm sorry... If he sent for you, he wants you. If Pan wants you, he WILL get you. "

Henry looked at the boy, a question coming to his mind. " What does Pan want with you? " He knew the boy wouldn't be there unless he had something of value.

The boy sighed, reaching for the scarf he wore. He pulled out a glass vial that was on a cord around his neck. It was filled with a fine powder that sparkled in the moonlight. " Pixie Dust. I stole it from him. I thought I could use it to fly away and go home. "

He let the vial go, letting fall back against his chest and sighed as he covered it back up, " It doesn't work. It's useless. "

" Don't worry. My family's coming to rescue me. You could come with us, " Henry offered. He knew that his grandparents would do whatever was necessary to help the boy. It was what they did because they were heroes.

" You really think you're the first boy to believe that his family's actually coming for them? " The boy scoffed lightly in disbelief.

" My family's different, " Henry said. " We always find each other. "

" You better hope they don't, " The boy sounded frightened. " Or Pan will rip their shadows into oblivion. "

Henry stood up and walked to the boy. He put his right hand on his left shoulder, " It's gonna be okay... I promise. Don't lose hope. "

The boy shook his head as Henry continued, " All we need is time. Is there a place we can hide from The Lost Boys? "

The boy looked up and sighed, " There's a place they can't track us. The Echo Caves... But it's far. "

Henry thought about it, sure the boy knew the island. They heard movement close to them. He looked at the boy, " Then what are we waiting for? Lead the way. "

The boy looked surprised that Henry wanted to go. He nodded and they took off into the jungle...

Baelfire, Neal and Mulan stood several feet from the platform. Aurora was on it, sleeping while Philip watched her. She had been out for a while and Baelfire was starting to wonder if she was going to make contact with Emma's son or mother. Mulan had explained they both had been under sleeping curses, something Baelfire did not know.

Mulan looked over at him, " Feeling better? "

He looked at the floor, " Yeah. "

" How did you and your friend get here? " Mulan still looked like she didn't trust him or Neal. He knew the feeling. He didn't have much trust for strangers either.

" We fell through a portal, " Baelfire replied. " I thought... I thought I was going to die and I thought of this place. I thought about growing up here. That's how portals work. They take you to where ever you think of. "

Baelfire stopped himself there. He didn't want to get into what happened once he was in the portal. The first time he had gone through, he remembered losing what he thought was his mother. He had often wondered if that was why he ended up in Neverland instead of some place without magic.

" He thought of this place too? " Mulan looked at Neal. " Are you from here? "

Neal shook his head, " No. I was taken to Neverland when my sister and I were just children still. "

" Neverland? " Mulan asked.

Neal nodded, " Yeah. Our parents died and left us orphans. Things were looking pretty bad when this kid showed up and told us he could take us some place safe and where we would never have to grow up. "

" Peter Pan, " Baelfire muttered.

Neal looked at him then back at Mulan, " Yeah. Him. But... Things got weird so my sister and I escaped to what was considered a dangerous place on the island. It was a place called Cannibal Cove. Turns out, the people there weren't cannibals at all and they left us be. "

Neal glanced at Baelfire and he nodded, knowing his friend was silently asking permission to tell the rest of the story. He sighed, " We were in Neverland for a long time then we heard about the curse. We tried to escape but we got separated. Bae and I ended up in Emma's world and I don't know where my sister went. "

" It sounds very interesting but how did you end up HERE, " Mulan pointed at Baelfire. " With him. "

" I was worried about Bae and I wanted to go where ever he was going so I could help him, " Neal said then shifted uncomfortably. " My... Fiancée is the one who shot us. "

Baelfire could see the word sounded strange to Mulan. She looked at him, making him feel the need to explain. " The woman he asked to marry him. "

" Emma? " Mulan furrowed her brow.

" Uh no, " Neal said. " Her name was Tamara. She wasn't who I thought she was. "

" So you feel responsible? " Mulan asked.

Neal rubbed the back of his neck, " Uh... Kind of. "

" Right, " Mulan nodded. " I thought you were with Emma. You have a son with her. "

Neal looked at Baelfire, " No... Not for a while. We just met again after ten years. I didn't know Henry existed until just a little while ago. "

" So you didn't know she had a child? " Mulan looked like she was getting offended.

Neal shifted again, " No. I... Left her and I didn't know. It's kind of complicated. "

Baelfire rolled his eyes at the understatement. He couldn't believe his friend was still carrying a torch for Emma when it was obvious she had moved on with his father. He scoffed, " Yeah... VERY complicated. "

" Hey! " Neal shot him a dirty look.

Baelfire put his hands up, " I was just agreeing with you. "

" Oh, " Mulan nodded. " I think I understand. "

There was a silence before Mulan looked at Baelfire again, " What's it like? The other world? "

Baelfire blinked, Mulan's questions sounding more out of curiosity than like she was looking for information. " Uh... For starters, they think this place is just a fairy tale. "

Mulan looked confused by his words so Baelfire tried to think of a way to explain it better. " Like a legend... Like we're all just characters in a story. "

Mulan raised her eyebrows, " I'm in a story? "

" Yeah. They made a movie about you, " Baelfire looked her over. She didn't seem much like she had in the movie though. He brought his eyes back up to her face, realizing his eyes were lingering a little. " It was pretty good. "

Mulan still looked puzzled, " What's a movie? "

" Ah, " Baelfire stammered. He didn't quite know how to explain that. Aurora gasped and roused, drawing their attention back to her and Philip.

Philip helped her off the platform as she looked at Neal, " It's worse than I feared... I couldn't make contact. "

Mulan looked away as Aurora stammered, " I wish I could be more help... I fear no one can. "

Baelfire looked at Neal then at the floor, knowing someone who could help. He took a deep breath and looked up, " My father can. "

Mulan looked at him, puzzled again. He looked at her, " He always had a plan. He would have left something behind if he ever found himself back here... Something we could use to contact Emma, to get to her... I know it. I just need to get to where he lived before the curse struck. "

" Who's your father? " Philip asked. " If we know his name, we might be able to find out where he lived. "

" What? " Mulan looked at him. " His father could be anyone. How are we going to know where to go? "

Aurora lifted her right hand, " Let him tell us and then we'll decide. "

Baelfire took a deep breath, not wanting to lie to the only help he and Neal had. He wasn't sure how they would react once they found out. Knowing his father's reputation, he wasn't going to be surprised if they refused to help at all. He looked at Philip, " Rumplestiltskin. "

Aurora gasped and covered her mouth, Philip blinked and Mulan's hand went to her sword. She drew and held it out like she was going to stab him. " I knew we couldn't trust you. "

Neal jumped between Baelfire and Mulan, " Whoa. Whoa. You can trust him. He's a good guy. "

" But you're the son of The Dark One, " Mulan hissed. " This could be some kind of trick. "

Baelfire stepped from behind Neal and put is hands up, Mulan keeping her sword trained on him. " I'm nothing like my father. I was born BEFORE he even became The Dark One. "

" Impossible, " Mulan said. " That means you're hundreds of years old. "

" I am, " Baelfire said. He motioned to Neal, " We lived in Neverland for a long time before the curse struck. "

" It could be true, " Aurora offered. " Time stands still there. No one ages and someone could be a child can stay young forever. "

" Alright but you're still The Dark One's son. Did he show you how to use magic? " Mulan asked.

" Not use it but I know a lot from watching my father... Enough to know that I don't like it, " Baelfire tried to look her in the eyes but her gaze was intense. He looked at Aurora and Philip before looking at Mulan again, " Just listen to me. "

" You could be trying to trick us, " Mulan moved closer.

" I'm not trying to trick you! " Baelfire said firmly.

Mulan narrowed her eyes, " That's what someone who's trying to trick us would say. "

" MULAN! Enough! " Aurora said. She took a step towards Baelfire, " I believe he's telling the truth and, if there's any hope of saving Emma and Henry, we should help them get to that castle. "

Mulan stared at Aurora for a long time before lowering her sword, " Fine but I'll take them. You stay here with Philip. I will return once we've contacted Emma. "

Baelfire relaxed, glad Aurora had been able to talk some sense into Mulan. He watched as she put her sword back in its sheath. " Thank you. I promise you won't regret helping us. "

Mulan narrowed her eyes, " You better not or I'll make you regret it a lot more. "

Baelfire watched as Mulan walked away then looked at Neal. Neal was still watching Mulan but looked at him. He quirked his lips, " Whoa. She's intense. "

" Yeah, " Baelfire nodded. He didn't know why but he felt attracted her, even after she had drawn her sword on him.

" Hurry up, " Mulan called without looking back. " We need to gather supplies and leave if we don't want to waste daylight. "

Rumplestiltskin moved through the jungle. As he planned his strategy, a vision had come to him. He could see where Greg and Tamara had taken Henry. It wasn't far from where the shoreline ended and the jungle became thick.

While he walked, he thought about the things he had said to Emma. He had warned her he was going to put on a little show for everyone else's sake but he had meant what he had said. It was time for Emma to stop holding back and realize what she was capable of. She had to solve her own problems and not depend on anyone else to tell her what to do.

If he could have told her alone, he wouldn't have been quite so harsh. It bothered him that she had continued having the dreams where she was barefoot. Being barefoot meant she hadn't made much progress with her self-confidence at all. The white nightgown still being in her dreams meant she was still accepting things, so that was an upside... She just wasn't accepting the right things.

He had tried to get her to realize her power but her confidence had taken a hit when Cora broke through her protection spell. If she had been more confident, it would have held longer. That didn't matter in the long run, Mary-Margret coming through and getting Cora's cursed heart back into her. After that, there had been too many other things going on for him to concentrate on her completely.

It made him wonder if Regina had used Belle as a distraction to keep Emma from practicing magic. It would have been just like her to do something like that to get back at him. That tactic would come back to bite her though since it looked like she was going to stay with The Charmings. How long was the question.

As he approached the spot, he could see two bodies on the ground. One was deathly still and he wasn't interested. From a glance he knew it was Greg Mendel. Though he had not engaged the interloper, he had gotten enough information from his spies to know who he was.

The body that did pique his interest lay closer to where he had come out of the jungle. It was obviously a dark-haired, dark-skinned woman and she was crawling slowly, like a snail as she grunted in pain. She had an arrow sticking out of her back and he knew who she was too. There wasn't much that went on in Storybrooke that he didn't know about and his sources had kept him up to speed on the other invader as well.

He walked up to her left side and she looked up at him, fear filling her dark brown eyes. She gasped as he began to speak. " So... Where is he? Henry. "

Tamara was unable to speak, probably because the arrow had punctured one of her lungs. He reached down, " There, there. I can help you speak, " He said quietly.

He waved his hand over the arrow, making it vanish and healing her wound in the process. He hated to waste his magic on such a wretched soul but he had to know where Emma's son was. He had promised her that he would rescue the boy and would not be satisfied until he found him. What happened after that... Well, it was for him to decide.

Tamara rolled onto her side, gasping for the air she had not been getting. She slowly pushed herself up so she was in a sitting position. " Thank you, " She panted.

" Where's Henry? " He asked again, his voice low.

Tamara swallowed like she was trying not to cry. " They killed him? " Rumplestiltskin asked. If The Lost Boys had, it saved him from making that decision.

" I don't think so, " Tamara replied. " I told him to run... And he did. "

" Where? " Rumplestiltskin asked.

" The jungle, " Tamara lifted her right hand weakly and pointed deeper into the foliage. " Pan wants him. "

Rumplestiltskin did not want to hear those words. He had dealt with Peter Pan before and it had not been pleasant. It was something he did not want to do again. Tamara continued, " He's behind all this. Look, Mr. Gold... I didn't know who I was working for. I'm sorry about Baelfire... I'm so sorry. "

He couldn't believe she had the gall to think a simple, pitiful 'sorry' would heal the pain he felt. She had torn away the only thing that had kept him going for so long. Getting Baelfire back was the reason he had done everything he had. He knelt down to her, " I know... You were merely a pawn. "

" Yes, " Tamara gasped. She looked into his eyes, trying to look as sorry as possible as she asked, " Can... Can you forgive me? "

Rumplestiltskin looked at her like he was thinking over her words, giving her a little smile before he said, " No. "

Tamara was stunned as he thrust his hand into her chest and tore out her heart. He held it so she could see it as he got to his feet and started to crush it. He went slow to make it as painful as possible for her. When it was completely crushed, he let the dust from it fall to the ground, shaking his fingers to get the last of it off.

He looked at Tamara for a long moment before turning and walking away...

Baelfire walked with Neal, Mulan leading them to his father's castle. When he had left, he was still living in a rather small but nice house in the village. He wondered what he would find once they arrived. His father had started collecting things he thought would be useful almost as soon as he became The Dark One, packing the small house full.

Given time and the ability, he was sure his father had hoarded as much as he could. He had peeked in the pawn shop while in Storybrooke and saw things hadn't changed. He had tried to live as light as possible, keeping only what was necessary, which wasn't much. If he couldn't fit it in his back pack or one suitcase, he didn't keep it.

" Can I ask you a question? " Mulan's voice brought him out of his thoughts. He looked over to see she was talking to Neal.

" Yeah, I don't know how to explain what a movie is either, " Neal replied. He glanced at Baelfire, " I heard you two talking earlier. "

" No, " Mulan said. " Not that. It's about you. "

Neal touched his chest with his left hand, " Me? "

" Yeah, " Mulan said. She looked at the ground, " You say you're fighting for Emma but she never mentioned you when she was here. Why is that? "

Neal looked ahead of them, " Because I broke her heart... I let her go so that she could break the curse and fulfill her destiny. When it was broken, I could have gone after her... Could have told her I loved her. "

He paused to take a breath then continued, " But I was afraid she would never forgive me so I wound up taking the easy way out... Just not trying. "

Mulan looked at Neal, " Your belief in love wasn't strong enough to overcome your fear of rejection. "

" Yeah, " Neal muttered. " The greatest regret of my life... Not one I wish on anyone "

There was a short silence before Mulan looked at Neal again, " So you're not the father of Emma's child? "

Neal inhaled sharply then looked at Baelfire before looking at her again, " No... Wait. How do you know? "

" She told me when she was here, " Mulan said. " Well, it was more like I overheard it and she told me. She tried to keep it hidden from me and I would have never guessed it. "

" Oh, " Neal nodded. He sighed, " No. I'm not. She's... With someone else now. "

" Who? " Mulan asked.

Neal looked at Baelfire but he stayed silent after giving him a cautionary look. He shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck, " Just some guy she met in Storybrooke. I forget who he was in this world. "

Baelfire let out the breath he had been holding. He wasn't exactly ready to accept what was going on between Emma and his father. It was hard to get his head around that he was going to have siblings hundreds of years younger than he was. That was just the tip of the iceberg of feelings he had that he did not want to explore... If he even got the chance to.

" But you told Aurora to tell her you love her, " Mulan furrowed her brow.

Neal quirked his lips in a sad sort of smile, " Yeah... There are some things that just don't change. "

Henry ran behind the boy, tripping but quickly getting back up as he did. Somehow, The Lost Boys had caught up to them and were chasing them through the jungle. Henry hoped the boy knew where he was going because it seemed like he didn't. Then again, he had nothing to go on when it came to Neverland.

" They're close, " Henry said when he spotted movement alongside of them. " I can see them. "

" We're almost to the cave, " The boy replied. He motioned for Henry to keep following him. " Come on. Follow me. "

An arrow zinged past them, hitting a tree very close to the boy. He stopped and Henry stopped behind him. He looked in the direction the arrow had come from, pointing as he said, " They cut us off. They know about the caves. We have to go this way. "

The boy said nothing as they turned and headed in another direction...