Author's Note:Believe it or not, I'd this planned before the ComicCon announcement. So... go me?
Chapter 4: Lost and Found I
"When my mother returned from the Duke's forest that evening, she relayed her story to my grandfather, showing him the fine coat she'd been given, and they immediately-" The glass doors to Emma's office swung open violently, interrupting Regina's story, and a young man, of perhaps 20, came storming in. His thick shock of orange hair was mussed, giving him a wild look to match his frenzied voice. "Sheriff! Queen Snow! Come quick!"Emma grabbed the young man by the shoulders, stopping his manic pace. "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Reign it in and take a breath!" The redhead grit his teeth, forcing himself to take a deep breath. Satisfied, Emma put her hands on her hips, resting her weight nonchalantly on her right foot. "Good. Now, what's the emergency, Pete?"
"It's the Lost Boys!" he replied urgently. Emma nodded. 'Of course it is,' she thought. With the return of the memories of hundreds of fairytale realm citizens, many of whom were extraordinary people, Storybrooke had gone from a sleepy hamlet to a bustling hive of misadventure. The return of magic, especially, seemed to be at the root of the problems, as people tried to regain what they'd lost on their own; most didn't believe they'd ever return to their homeland, making the temptation to use magic as a means to an end a daily headache for Emma, who already had more than enough on her plate. If it weren't for the seven dwarfs, which she couldn't believe was already feeling like a normal thought, acting as her deputies, she would have been completely overwhelmed. The Lost Boys had become particularly troublesome as they were the embodiment of pure boyish mischief, and had not only refused to listen to any adults in authority since waking up, but had also lived up to their storybook reputations, escaping capture time and time again.
Henry had laid out their identities to Emma months ago after talking with them at school one day. The happy ending of Peter Pan was supposed to be Wendy taking the boys home where they grew up in a loving family, while Peter and Tink lived out their days in a land of eternal youth, taking each generation of the Darling family off on adventures, until they too grew too old.
Their Storybooke fate couldn't have been any farther removed from that. Under the curse they lived as the Puck brothers, being raised in a single parent household with their absentee mother, Faye, the town cougar, known for chasing every guy who took her fancy and dumping them when she got bored. At some point, after a particularly broad prank that had resulted in city-wide blackout, Dr. Hopper had recommended she enroll the brothers in the Big Brother program, hoping the addition of a stable male role model might temper the boys precocious tendencies. Their assigned big brother, one Piers Faun, was trapped in a stale marriage with a wealthy young socialite, and had signed up with program simply as a way to have fun that his wife deemed 'a worthy use of time'. Piers, luckily, had managed to channel the Puck brother's energy into more constructive activities - earning merit badges with the Storybrooke Woodland Scouts, among other things, until the curse broke, anyway. Now that the curse was broken, they'd torn a path through Storybrooke, with Faye, also know as Tinkerbell, egging them on. Peter Pan had been doing his best to reign them in, but since he'd grown up, they looked on him as they did any other adult.
"What's happened?" asked Snow.
"There's no time, your Highness! Follow me, and I'll explain on the way!" Without waiting for a response, Pete turned and flew back out the door. The group in the station quickly followed on his heels, with Regina taking up the rear, having been unsure if following might break some sort of etiquette, but much less comfortable being left on her own in such an unfamiliar land. "They were trying to fly - they didn't believe me when I said there was no fairy dust in this realm, but Tink, being Tink, insisted that Pixie Sticks were made up of the stuff." He spun on his heel. and continued to walk just as quickly and surely, but backwards, displaying the kind of nimble agility and surefootedness the stories described. "Look, the details aren't important. The boys somehow managed to climb their way to the top of the library clock tower and they're going to test this little theory any second!"
"Can't you just climb up there and talk them out of this?" asked Emma.
"They took to my lessons in Neverland a little too much, I'm afraid," replied Pete.
"But you're still their... gang leader, or whatever, right? Just tell them Tink is playing a trick, or get her to tell them or something!" suggested August. Taking responsibility and leadership didn't come naturally to him, but the moment he woken up he'd vowed to stay by Emma's side for whatever she needed and he felt particularly obligated to take the load when it came to fairy tale matters. She didn't seem partial to dealing with magic - and even less so with matters of true love and destiny; life had left her incredibly cynical towards such earnest concepts. He could understand her discomfort in dealing with it - this world had left him in much the same state - but his promise was the vow of a man, not a child, this time and he meant to keep it.
Emma shook her head. "He's an adult, and all grown-ups are pirates."
"And all Lost Boys kill pirates," added Henry.
"What?" asked August. "Since when?"
"Haven't you ever seen 'Hook'?" asked Emma. August's only response was a raised eyebrow and a dubious look. "What? I did have a childhood, you know - and what orphan doesn't wanna run away to Neverland?" At this last statement, August's eyes flashed with a strangely guilty look, but he said nothing.
"It is kind of a modern classic," Snow couldn't help adding. "Even Storybrooke has a movie theater – just where were you all this time?" she asked teasingly.
"Traveling," he huffed as the group picked up its pace as they neared the clock tower. "Or Cockaigne, like I told Emma, when I wasn't."
Snow shot him a glance. "Literally or figuratively?" she asked. She, like Emma, had found it hard to find any time to herself in the week since the curse had broken, and what little she'd had she'd spent with her family. While she trusted Pinocchio's heart, she still wanted answers about the mysterious man who'd once abandoned her daughter, only to take such an interest in her as an adult. But any answer August might have offered was preempted as the group came to an abrupt halt at the foot of the boarded up library. A small group had gathered around, muttering amongst themselves, many watching the scene like it was some kind of street performance. "Excuse us!" Snow called out, and seeing who was talking, the crowd quickly made way for Snow, Emma, and the rest. Regina was grateful that she received few looks this time, likely because of the commotion above.
A group of five boys, ranging in ages from 6 to 12, stood atop the Storybrooke library, all clad in their scout uniforms, which they'd cut up, painted, or otherwise altered to better fit their attire in Neverland. Some looked like they'd taken markers to their skin, drawing pseudo-native symbols on their face, arms, or chest. They had congregated on various platform levels of the tower holding the clock. One pair, twins, seemed to be engaged in an endless game of rock, paper, scissors, while the younger two played at sparring with sticks like swordsman - scaring the life out of the adults below as when they'd occasionally slip on a loose, rotten roof shingle. The eldest boy stood atop the peak of the clock tower, hanging off the lightening rod at the top of the brick red dome, seemingly surveying his intended flight path.
Pete cupped his hands around his mouth. "Rufio!" he bellowed as loudly as he could.
The four other boys simply responded with a chant. "Ru-fi-o! Ru-fi-o! Ru-fi-oooo!" to which the twelve year old responded with a loud whoop.
Pete turned back to the group and let out an exasperated sigh. "I told you - they won't listen. It's like Emma said; grow-ups are pirates. Well, grown-up men, anyway."
"What about grown-up women?" asked Emma, an idea suddenly taking shape in her mind.
Pete thought back. "It's... hard to remember. We already lived in a land stuck in time, where we'd forgotten our parents, and that was before the curse. Since its been broken, and me being made an adult, and the boys losing their memories of their life after Neverland... it's like my brain is made of swiss cheese; a big jumble. Theirs are too, but they're just kids. They haven't been able to get a grasp on that fact yet."
Snow nodded. "A lot of children are having difficulty dealing with two sets of memories. I can only imagine what it's like for your boys," she offered. She knew many of the children in town, thanks to her life as a school teacher, and this unexpected aspect of the curse had been the most troubling to her by far. Reunions with rightful parents, and separating from the false ones, had been a roller-coaster of unpredictability for many families, and it was becoming clear that some kind of joint custody would have to be worked out. Then there were kids like the Lost Boys, orphans placed with parents whose punishment was having children. Those kids had no one to turn to, and 'parents' who'd wanted little to do with them when they were under the curse, and nothing, now that they were free of familial obligations. The fairies had stepped up, creating a pseudo-orphanage at the nunnery, with Granny providing meals, but Snow agreed with Emma when she'd expressed concerns about a long-term solution.
"Do you think they'd trust Henry?" asked Emma.
The redhead shook his head. "He's younger and smaller than Rufio. No offense," he offered to the boy.
Henry just shrugged good-naturedly. "Hey, he's two grades ahead of me! I'd be the freak if he wasn't!"
"If he could best Rufio in swords, or crow, or... " he let out a tired laugh. "fly... he'd have a chance. But that's the problem, here isn't it? They refuse to believe they can't fly, either." He paused, looking up at the boys wistfully. "I'll never be their Pan again; that's Rufio now. They were supposed to go home with Wendy..."
"Where is she?" asked Emma.
"I have no idea. If her memory is as full holes confusing as mine? She may not have any idea who she is. Storybrooke is small, but it's not that small, so unless she," he directed this pointedly at Regina, who reflexively took a step back at the gesture, once again frightened and bewildered by a stranger's attitude toward her. What had she done? Pete continued, oblivious to her reaction, "- took a poll and made a phonebook with our true names in it, I don't even know where to begin."
"Would they listen to her?" asked Snow.
Pete thought for a moment. "Maybe. It's worth a shot..." He looked back up at the boys and let loose an ear splitting whistle. It was the one thing that reigned them in during the curse, and it at least seemed to get their attention now.
Rufio squatted like a bird, feet planted one opposing curves of the domed roof and shouted down. "Take off old man, before we show you how we take care of pirates!"
"I have Wendy!" Pete shot back.
Rufio cocked his head to one side as the other boys whispered excitedly amongst themselves. "And you would have us rescue her? That sounds like a fine game!"
Pete shook his head. "No, no, she's here and she'd... like to be your mother.. like the before times!" At this news, all the boys peered over the ledge, fingers curled around the edge of the weather-warped wooden tiles. They seemed to be studying the group. "Come down and meet her - she simply wishes to give you sweets!" He placed a hand on Snow's shoulder.
"Are you blind old man? 'Cause if you are, I could steal Smee's spectacles for a price!" shouted Rufio.
"What do you mean?" called back Pete.
"That's the Queen, Snow White!" he replied, and the adult exchanged worried looks. "Wendy is behind you, next to the Sheriff!"
The assembled group murmured in surprise, but none was more so than Regina, herself. Her mouth hung half open as if to protest somehow, but she honestly didn't know what to say. Clearly, she was the only one present who had never heard of Lost Boys and Pans, why they thought they could fly, and certainly not whomever this Wendy person was. Whether they could see it on her face or not, she didn't know, but whatever the case it didn't stop Emma from asking. "Do you think you can pull this off?" the blond asked.
"Pull what off?" Regina asked in a hushed, anxious whisper.
"Be Wendy," she replied simply.
Regina shook her head. "I don't know - I don't even know who this Wendy person is! Why would they think I'm her? Shouldn't she be a child?"
"Not in their eyes," answered Pete. "She was a young lady, not quite a woman, but in a Neverland boy's eyes she was. I brought her to Neverland to be our mother. And so she was to be with them... how could we have been taken to Storybrooke and younot know this?"
"Let's just say that if your brain is swiss cheese, hers may as well be curds and whey," answered August.
"This isn'tthe time," Snow said in a tone that made it more a decree than a plea. It wouldn't do to open up a line of questioning that would surely send Regina into a spiral the moment she found out what she was responsible for inflicting. She turned back to her former step-mother, hoping to distract her from putting any pieces together from what Peter had said. Snow placed a hand on Regina's shoulder and locking her green-eyed gaze with the other woman's brown one. She couldn't help flashing back to all the times they'd been in such a position in the past, but it struck her as especially strange to be in possession of the harder gaze, staring down the innocent one. "Listen, I know this is asking a lot of you. I know you're feeling pretty lost and confused - so are those boys up there. But I also know you're one of the most capable women I've ever met; even if you don't remember anything else you've ever done, you ran down my horse and rescued me. Now those boys up there need help, and you're their best bet."
Regina shook her head, "No, I'm not... I ca-"
"That's your mother talking. Right now, I know you better than you know you, and I believe in you," she said firmly, but warmly. Snow surprised herself with the admonition, but she was finding it progressively more difficult to think of this woman and Queen Regina as one in the same. The veil that had fallen over the woman's eyes after Daniel's death wasn't there anymore, and seeing her with the eyes of an adult who had seen too much herself... there was a vulnerability she wouldn't have believed existed before this day.
Regina blinked. How did Snow know anything about what her mother said? Yes, she'd grown up with her mother always criticizing, telling her she couldn't do anything right, but how did Snowknow that? She felt like she was going to scream if she didn't get some answers soon. And now here was this woman, once again showing her more maternal kindness than her own mother had her entire life, who was still strangely a child in her mind. Still, Snow had been called Queen more than once - she was a ruler. And only the third person in her life, behind her father and Daniel, to show faith in her abilities. She glanced back up at the boys, who seemed to be discussing some kind of plan, pointing at the horizon, clearly ready to jump soon.
"I believe in you too," said the young boy, Henry, and he squeezed her hand a moment for emphasis. A warmth blossomed in her heart, despite not knowing who the boy who carried her father's name was; somehow his faith meant something huge.
At once, Regina knew what she should, no had, to do. "Ok... what do I need to know?"
"If that's really Wendy, she'll be able to fly up here," Rufio called out, tired of waiting for the adults to finish whatever boring adult things they were doing. "And... give me a kiss. Like she gave Peter!" he added as an afterthought.
"Is this a rescue or a hostage negotiation," remarked Emma under her breath.
"It can't be both?" shot back August.
Regina took a step forward, putting herself at the head of the group and drew up on years of etiquette training her mother had forced her to endure so she'd know how to present herself confidently and regally to aristocracy. "Peter tells the truth - you cannot fly, and neither can I. Tink is simply playing pixie tricks on you!" She glanced back at the group, who all gave her approving nods. "If you come down... I could give you a kiss, though!" she called back up, giving the group a shrug.
Rufio sat down, folding his legs around the lightening rod, planted his elbows at the crook of his knees, and rested his head between the backs of his hands, in an overly dramatic exhibition of thought. After a minute or so he sprang back to his feet. "Coming down is no fun! And Wendy was fun! Wanna play a game, Miss Wendy?" he called down.
Regina turned back to the group, looking for input. Pete nodded emphatically. "That should get you his trust," he told her in a hushed tone.
Regina turned back around to look up at the head Lost Boy. "Ok, I'll play. What's the game?"
"Find your way up here! Even Wendy could climb. So, come up and bring me a kiss! If you make it up, I'll believe you about Tink. If you don't, we fly without you! You have a ten minutes, starting... NOW!" He slapped his hands together, wearing a self-satisfied grin.
Regina turned around. "Can those little urchins even tell time?" Her words were something Emma would have expected out of the evil queen, but tone wasn't one of malice. More like concern interlaced with annoyance, which she could sympathize with.
Pete shrugged. "I'm not sure. If it was a digital clock, I'd say yes, but analog..."
"Likely not," answered Snow. "We only spend a day on telling time by hands in school these days, and with confused as their memories are... of course, that means they may believe they can tell time and mistakenly think ten minutes have elapsed before they actually have."
"We won't need it," replied Emma. "The... mayor showed me how to get inside during that event last week. There's got to be an access ladder from the inside to get to the bells." She turned to Regina. "C'mon, I'll show you the way." Regina hesitated for just a moment, but then nodded. She didn't know who this Emma was, but Snow clearly trusted her implicitly, and despite the sharp tongue she directed at Regina, she seemed to be kind at heart.
"Wait! You'll need this!" Pete called after them. He dug around in his pocket, and pulled out a small metallic object, which he tossed to Regina. She caught the silver object, surprised to find a well-word thimble in her hand.
"What's this for?" asked Regina.
A wistful look passed over the young man's green eyes. "A kiss, of course."