Hey guys! Thank you so much for all the reviews, favs, and follows! I love reading through all your comments and thoughts. It means so much to me that you guys take the time to write them. :)

Well as you guys probably have guessed, I'm going to go in a different direction in this fic that the show will be going. Since we don't really know too much about Peter or his motives for anything, I'm making this up as I go along and putting it together in a different way that will still hopefully work for all you guys. It's going to probably be really AU in the end.

Of course I will be putting in several events from season 3 into the story as well, but we haven't got there yet (and probably won't for a very long time). So until then I'll have Danielle and Peter going through their adventures undisturbed.

Chapter 3

Time Well Spent

"Let me go!" Danielle shouted. Felix, one of the lost boys, had thrown her over his shoulder while they tracked through the woods. Both her hands and feet were tied together, but she was still managing to make herself quite a handful for him. "Or I swear, I'll fu-"

"Now, Danielle." Peter interjected, "I'd like to ask you to not use that kind of language. There are children here after all. Besides you got yourself in this situation. If you hadn't tried to attack us, you wouldn't be like this."

"Screw you!" She growled and flicked him off, "If you had just took me back home, you wouldn't have had to deal with me at all."

"But then where's be the fun in that? Besides, I'd miss your sweet nature." He smirked.

"You low life, son of a-"

"Could you gag her please?" Felix rolled his eyes.

Peter laughed, "Good idea." Then with the flick of his wrist, Danielle's mouth was covered with a bandana. "There. That should keep her quite for a while," He smirked. The other boys laughed at her while she glared daggers at Pan.

It didn't take long for all of them to arrive at Peter's hideout. Looking around it reminded Dani of a tree house village. There were boys everywhere ranging from 18 to 12 running around doing different things. Some were cooking, other were playing, and some others were practicing their sword play.

Felix sat her down gently on a tree log next to the fire in the middle camp. He took off the ropes around her hand and feet along with Peter's bandana. Neither of them spoke to each other, but Felix understood her gaze perfectly. She was angry. Her eyes were fixed on Pan and from the look of things she wanted to claw his eyes out.

"What is he going to do with me?" She asked in a low voice.

Felix sighed, "I don't know. This is new for all of us. Pan has never kept a girl around here before. Well, at least not for long.

She scoffed as her eyes swept the place, it was a mess. Anyone could tell only boys lived there. "You don't say?"

Felix smirked down at her. He was about to make a smart reply when Peter walked over to them, "Danielle," he grinned, "Come, the boys and I want to show you your new home."

Danielle looked up at him and then looked away, "No."

"Come on." He sat beside her, "Like I said earlier, you don't know your way around here. It's best you at least let us teach you the basics of how to survive."

"I don't want anything to do with any of you." She growled.

"You say that now," He smirked het her, "but have no doubt, girl. You will come to love this place. Everyone does."

She rolled her eyes, "In your dreams."

Peter shot her a mysterious smile, "I'm counting on it."

A week had passed since Danielle arrived in Neverland and she had finally finished fixing up her new home. Yes, Peter and the lost boys built her a nice little home. The whole thing was made up of three large trees that were twisted together by Peter's magic into a single large hollow one. It was about 15 feet in diameter inside with several ledges inside that went up about twenty feet. She used them as shelves for her clothes, weapons the boys gave her, and everything else she salvaged from her backpack. The bottom one was her bed. It was plenty large enough for her and with the help of a few of the other boys, she got some animal skins to make it up. Now that Danielle had some time to get a feel for the place she had to admit; altogether Neverland wasn't half bad. Actually, she kind of liked it there despite it was in the middle of the woods. Not that she would ever admit it to Peter though.

She was grateful for the house, but she was still angry. She didn't choose to be there, Peter was forcing her. Just because he gave her a place to sleep didn't mean she was just all of a sudden gonna forgive him. This wasn't her world and she didn't want to be there. Granted, she wasn't as mad as the day they brought her there, but they still weren't getting along. She and Pan hadn't had a decent conversation since she arrived despite all his best efforts. He tried to get her to hang out with him and the others, but she refused; and each time she did, the angrier he got. Every time they spoke it always ended with Peter Pissed off and her in tears. Then finally yesterday he told her that she was going to attend their little party thing that night or she would sincerely regret it. She didn't have a choice anymore.

"Daniel." One of the boys knocked.

She rolled her eyes, "its Danielle." She corrected him through the door.

"Yeah, whatever. Open the door."

"One sec." She rolled her eyes and walked over and opened the door, "What do you want?" It was Slightly, one of the boys that found her the night she arrived. Over the past week he became her babysitter of sorts. It was his job to make sure she didn't leave camp on her own, feed her, keep her entertained, and so on. He was the closest thing she had to a friend in this place.

"The feast is almost ready, Peter sent me to get you," He motioned. Apparently, Peter was throwing some kind of feast in her honor for joining-more like forced to join- the lost ones. She almost considered not going, but what good would that do? From what she was beginning to understand in her few last days there, Peter always got what he wanted and he wanted her at the feast.

"Right." She nodded, "Okay, let's go."

"This way then." He smiled at her, happy she didn't give him a fight, "We don't want to keep everyone waiting!"

"Nope." She groaned and walked out, "So where is it anyway? I thought it would be in the camp, but there is nothing here…"

"Peter decided to have it at the pirate cove. Outside on the beach. He turned the whole thing into a big bonfire beach party."

"What?" She pushed her brows together. The two of them started making their way through the woods down to the beach. "Does he usually throw parties down there?"

"Not usually, but we don't complain when he does. There's a bunch of cool stuff down there!" He laughed. "Seriously Daniel, you'll love it!"

"It's Danielle!" she shouted.

Slightly just chuckled and rolled his eyes, "Whatever! They sound the same!"

"No they don't!"

"We'll they do to me."

"You know what? Fine! Just call me Dani then." She crossed her arms, "My friends back in my world called me that."

"Your friends, eh?" He arched a brow, "Does that make us friends then?"

"Sure I guess." She shrugged, "Rather that, than an enemy."

"True." He nodded, "You should consider using that same advice on Peter as well."

"The guy that kidnaped me?" She arched a brow, "Yeah right."

"It's not kidnapping per say, it's actually more like surprise adoption." He chuckled, "At least think about it, Dani. Peter already decided to keep you here; you might as well learn to live with him. He's not that bad once you get to know him."

"Never."

"Never is an awfully long time, girl," he shrugged, "but suit yourself. It's your decision."

A few minutes later, the two of them arrived at the beach. It was amazing. The night was gorgeous with a giant full moon and the stars above them. There was a group of boys dancing around the bon fire and playing music as well as others out playing in the water. She spotted Felix sitting off in the corner, flipping his knife. From what she understood from the others, he wasn't much of a social person. Tables loaded with food were everywhere, but she had no doubt it'd be all gone by tonight. There were at least 4 dozen lost boys attending the party and she knew for a fact that a lot of them could stuff it down.

Slightly immediately left hers side to join in the dancing. Dani just stood there contemplating on what to do first when she heard the sound of pipes behind her. It was a beautiful sound that made her feel like joining in the fun, but she restrained herself and spun around to find that Peter was the one playing them. He was smiling at her.

"Hello Danielle," He stopped playing, "Making friends are we?"

"What's it to you?" she snapped at him.

He shrugged, "I'm just making sure you're enjoying yourself."

"I don't need to be enjoying myself, Peter!" She glared at him, "I need to get home!"

"Still on about that?" He arched a brow, "I thought that you would have given up on that by now."

"Given up?" She stared at him in disbelief, "As if! You know how I feel about being here!"

"Just because you feel this way now, don't mean you'll feel the same way later." He smirked.

"I don't want to be here!" she shouted. Some of the boys started staring at them, noticing their little scene.

Peter's features twisted into an annoyed scowl, "You think all of them wanted to be here at first!?" He growled back, Dani started backing away. She was starting to piss him off. He went through all this trouble to try and make her comfortable and happy there. He was even being nicer to her and she was still treating him like crap! That was not okay. "Cause they didn't! But now the few who fought me at first are happy here! With me! Even more so than they ever were at their so called 'Homes'." He lifted his hand and made quotations. "And whether you try to fight it or not, you will too."

"Over my dead body!" she screamed.

Peter's eyes narrowed as he stepped closer to her and got in her face, "Don't tempt me," He warned her in a low voice. He could see her features visibly twist in terror. He smirked, at least she knew to fear him. How was he supposed to deal with this though? With her? He had little to no experience on how to handle girls. Usually with the boys if he just gave them their space and they would eventually come around, but that wasn't working with her. In fact it was making it worse. He needed a new strategy and fast, but what could he do?

That's when he got an idea, "How about a deal?" his smirk returned, "You stay here for three more months starting now and if you still don't want to be here by then, I'll take you home."

"Three months?" she shook her head, "That's way too long! I have graduation and a job! I can't be here that long!"

"Time works differently in this world, Danielle." He explained, "Three months here would be like three days to a week in yours. You wouldn't miss much."

She paused.

"Take it or leave it, Danielle. This is the only deal I'm offering you."

Danielle paused, "You're not joking?"

"Of course not." He smirked, "I give you my word."

"You better." She narrowed her eyes. She paused to consider this for a moment. Peter was offering her a sincere deal. All she wanted was to go back to her life back in her world and from the look of things, this would be her best shot. So she nodded and agreed, "Fine. Three months, but if I want to leave after that, you better take me home!"

"Don't worry, I will." He nodded, "Now come on, I threw this party for you. You should at least try to enjoy it."

She scoffed. "I'm not much of a party person," she lied. She was no way she was going to admit how awesome she thought the whole thing was, especially after that deal.

"I don't like liars, Danielle. Remember that." He chuckled. She glared at him and stuck out her tongue, "Seriously, just go have fun. We don't throw parties down here often and you enjoy it while you can. Especially if you're that set on leaving us in a few months."

"I said I don't-"

"Danielle," He rolled his eyes, "Go have fun." He ordered. Then before Dani could argue with him further Peter took up his pipes again and started playing a fun tune. This time it looked as if he was putting a lot of work into it, which he was. The girl may not be affected by magic easy, but she wasn't completely immune to it. When he looked for her, he was able to locate her because he put his most powerful magic into it. So now he was using his magic to boost the power of his Pipes. Only certain children heard this pipe: The lost and unloved. From what he discovered through his shadow and informants in her world, she would definitely fall under that category. She lost her family in a car accident at a young age and had been living in the foster system in a place call California for the past several years. Some of the families she was placed in were better than others.

In truth she honestly had nothing real to go back to in her world, but regardless she believed otherwise. He just had to make her see sense. So steadily he began to play a song. A song that he knew no one could resist. One that would be sure to get her into the partying mood.

Danielle started feeling the urge to dance again. For a second she considered ignoring it, but instead she decided to take Pan's words to heart for some reason. She had a choice now to stay or not. Once the three months were up, she could leave Neverland forever. Which would mean that her time there was limited now. So what was she going to do with what time she had left in the world of wishes and dreams? Enjoy herself of course.

"Okay." She nodded, answering in almost a trance like state. She let the music of the pipes sway her towards the party. She ran to the tables full of food and stuffed her face full of sweets. Then she took a hand full of some kind of potato salad looking stuff and turned to the group of boys dancing around the bone fire. "Food fight!" She screamed at the top of her lungs and started fling everything she could get her hands on at them. The boys tried to dodge her throws, but it was no use. She was hitting them anyway. Other boys from the water laughed and started to join her.

"Battle stations everyone!" Peter grinned wickedly. He stopped playing the pipes and caught some grapes that had been thrown at him in midair, "Return fire!" he shouted and the boys laughed and howled in reply. They wiped off the food from their clothes, gathered some sand and shot it all back at Danielle the others.

"No!" she laughed, trying to protect her hair for the mess, but it was a waste of time. Peter used his magic to make the table behind her explode and she and everyone around it got covered in cranberry pie. "Hey! She shouted, "No magic! That's cheating!"

"You never stated the rules," He laughed at her, but was cut short when two of the boys on her side took out their slingshots and started shooting seashells at him. They manage to make him stumble back.

"Whooo! Wait-a-go guys! That was awesome!" Some of the other boys on her side rooted for them. She smiled. It was the twins, Ace and Jack. They both looked a bit younger than Peter in appearance, like around 14 or 13. They stood at about her height at 5"3' with big brown eyes and curly red hair. She only met them once, but they seemed like a fun pair.

"Thank you, Milady!" one of them smiled and bowed at her. He spoke with a thick Irish accent, similar to Pan's British one.

"It's always a pleasure to come to the aid of a pretty lass, such as yourself." The other winked at her. She laughed as Pan glared at the two of them.

He pulled out his knife and pointed at her, "Go get them boys!" he ordered. Then the others pulled out their clubs and swords and ran towards Danielle's side. They were all crowing and howling like animals. For a second she was scared that they were going to attack them with a bunch of poisonous weapons, but she remembered yesterday that Peter specifically ordered them not to bring their Dreamshade laced weapons with them to this party. So she was able to relax, well just a bit at least.

"Protect the princess!" she heard someone shout and then suddenly she felt someone grab her from behind,

"What the-" she started, but stopped when realized it was Slightly.

He threw her over his shoulder, "I got her!" he yelled and started running to the back of the group.

"Don't worry," another boy nodded at her, "We, your loyal knights will protect you from the Evil Prince, Peter Pan." He joked and then charged with the others at Pan's forces.

"What are you doing, I wanted to fight!" she pouted.

He shook his head, "We haven't taught you to fight yet. You wouldn't stand a chance."

"But-"

"Don't worry though. I'll protect you." He grinned, waiting for Pan and his team to push their way through the scrimmage. Ah she go it now, She was the princess. This was basically a giant game of keep away.

As excepted, Peter's forces broke through and were rushing towards her and Slightly, "Capture the princess." She heard him order from afar. He was next to the fire. From where she stood, he really did look like an evil prince. He stood up straight and full of confidence while the fire lit his face up in a way that truly made him look devious and wicked. It frightened her a bit, but at the same time intrigued her. She had no idea why though.

"Here they come!" Slightly's grin broadened. Then he flung himself forward and fought off their attackers. Surprisingly he knocked them out rather quickly. More of them were around to show up, but the twins used their slingshots and sent them retreating back to Peter.

Finally both teams fell back to their respected sides and the all look each other with mischief in in their eyes. "Well done boys." Peter stepped forwards and clapped, "Well done. You manage to protect the princess. However, I, the so called 'Evil Prince,'" he raised an amused brow and stared pointedly at the boy who called him that. "Will not leave here without her. She is mine." He smiled devilishly.

"Not while we protect her!" Slightly walked to the front and raised his sword. He looked like he belonged in the movie Brave Heart. Danielle couldn't help but giggle. She had no idea her little food fight would end up resulting in this ridiculous pretend game, but she was happy it did. This was actually really fun. Seriously, what girl didn't like pretending to be a princess? Especially when she has two dozen boys there pretending to be her knights in shining armor.

"We'll see about that!" Peter scoffed, playing his role as a villain well. "Send you best Fighter out to face me."

"Uh, I got a better idea." She announced then suddenly pointed up in the sky, "Oh my God! What is that?"

Every except Peter and a few of his oldest companions looked up at the sky.

"What?"

"I don't see anything?"

"What is it?"

All the lost boys were confused til the heard Peter chuckling. They all turned to him, "What's going on?"

He just chuckled and shook his head, "Obvious, but effective." He laughed, "Funny girl."

None of them had any idea what he was talking about till they followed his gaze and saw that she was running halfway down to the water, "Suckers!" she yelled back at them. Peter even heard Felix chuckling.

Everyone chased after her, "Hey that's not fair! Wait up!"

Peter shook his head and was about to join the group when he realized a surprise guest had arrived. He turned around, "Hello Tinkerbell."

"Peter." The tall blond ex-fairy smiled and strode next to him, "I heard rumors you decided to keep a lost girl. I didn't think it was true."

"Well it is." He nodded and inclined his head towards the beach. "As you can see."

Tink looked over and saw the girl in question. She was playing with the lost boys in the water. She was on one of the boys back taking a piggy back ride. Everyone was having fun. She fit right in with them, but she was still worried, "She's small."

"Please Tink," Peter rolled his eyes, "I would think you of all people would know better than to judge someone by their size."

"She doesn't belong here Peter," she turned to him, "She won't last a week."

"She's smart." He defended. Tink scoffed. "She'll be fine."

She arched a brow, "You better hope she will. We don't want to have another incident again, now do we?"

"Tink…" Peter started to glare at her.

The ex-Fairy rolled her eyes, "Fine Peter, I won't say anymore. But you need to really consider what you're doing here. If she finds out about this girl, all hell will break loose-"

"Everything will be fine. I can handle myself." He replied darkly.

"That's what you said last time and look what happened."

"Well that was then and this is now."

"For all your sakes," Tink narrowed her eyes and stared at all the children, "I hope you're right."

To Ally,

I would love to write a one-shot about Peter, but as of now I'm very busy with work and school and doing my best to keep producing a chapter for this story every week. I'm swamped.

I might write one day, but not any time soon. Sorry. :(