Chapter 7

A/N: Typed this out whilst I was supposed to be studying, lol. Special thanks to Keyhlan, t3arsOfglass, Natali Rempel Drews, katie and SouthforWinter for the reviews. The continued support is great!

His footsteps were loud against the flagstone floor as he paced up and down before his throne, his features pulled into an angry glare. The grand hall was dark and empty, the few lit torches set in scones along the wall doing nothing to ward away the gloom, in fact they only seemed to enhance it. Silent and knowing, his shadow hovered in the depths of the darkness, his eyeless face watching him as he walked up and down the breadth of the hall. Pointedly ignoring his shadowy observer, Peter Pan cast a furious glare towards the doorway for what seemed like the hundredth time in the past ten minutes, his scowl only deepening when he found it still empty.

"What is taking them?" he snarled, not expecting an answer.

Things were not going as he had planned. The boy had escaped and now, several hours into the night, his Screamers still had failed to find him. And now to top it off, his shadow had discovered a strange magic in the forest. It had to be the one he had been waiting for, who else could it be? Who else's power could be formidable enough to unnerve his shadow?

All wrong, this is happening all wrong, he thought in frustration. I need the boy here with me or everything will fall apart.

He was toying with a dangerous enemy, he knew, one misstep and he was doomed. He had to be careful.

"I was careful," he muttered to himself in frustration. He had been planning this for years. His every step had been calculated, his every move had been deliberate. And now it was all about to unravel because one foolish boy had gotten it into his head to escape.

"I should have kept him locked in the dungeons," Pan growled. This, it seemed, was the price of kindness.

"You summoned us?" a voice from the doorway called, and Peter lifted his head, relief and anger flooding him as he spied several of his Lost Boys walking towards him.

"What took you Jake?" he demanded of the boy who had spoken.

"I apologize," Jake said sincerely, walking closer. "I had to wake several of the other boys." He gestured to one of the windows as he spoke, where the sky outside was still pitch black. "What do you need Peter?"

"There is a magic user in my forest."

There was a murmur of excitement from the boys standing in the hall. Jake's eyes glimmered with eagerness.

"Is it the one we've been waiting for?"

"It might be," Peter nodded his head. "I want you to send a few groups into the forest, have them tip their weapons with ink to be safe. If they find anything, they're to bring it back to me immediately."

"As you say," Jake nodded. "We'll set off right away." He turned to the other boys, motioning with his hand for them to move out. Peter watched the group of them leave, before turning to face his shadow. The figure moved towards him silently, until it hovered in the air before him, a void in space shaped in his own likeness.

"Have your Screamers found the boy?"

Not yet, the shadow responded, the whisper of Peter's own voice filling his head. His blue eyes narrowed.

"Go back out there then. And do not return to me unless you have Henry with you!"

As the sky above him began to shift from indigo to blue, Henry finally pulled his hands away from his ears, relief flooding through him as no sounds of terrifying screaming filled the air around him. It had stopped. They had stopped looking for him. He had survived the night. And what a night it had been. Henry couldn't remember ever feeling as cold, as tired, as hungry and above all, as petrified as he had the night before. He had tried, desperately, to keep running through the forest, to ignore his fear and the screams floating through the jungle around him. But eventually he had simply collapsed to the ground, curled into a ball, pressed his hands over his ears and prayed for morning.

It had been the longest night of his life. And all through it, he had found himself wishing for his mother, wishing he would wake to find her leaning over him, dark curls sleep tousled, dark eyes gentle and reassuring. She would tell him this was all a nightmare, and then she would make him a cup of hot chocolate and let him sleep the rest of the night in her bed. Henry closed his eyes, tears leaking down his cheeks. He missed her with every fibre of his being.

He had to get up, he knew that, but he found he couldn't bring himself to move. His legs were stiff and it hurt when he tried to stretch them, and he was so, so tired.

Just a little while longer, he told himself, closing his eyes. He placed one hand under his head as a make-shift cushion. An hour at most, he decided. Just until the sun was fully up in the sky. He just needed an hour to sleep and then he would start figuring out how to get off this island.

As the first shards of sunlight filtered in through the trees overhead, David found himself lying awake, silently watching the slumbering brunette beside him. She was curled onto her side, facing him, one hand beneath her head and the other curled up next to her. Her features were softly lit by the golden light and without make-up she suddenly seemed so much younger. And exquisite. He had grown all too aware of just how beautiful she was, and now it plagued him constantly. His thoughts flickered back to the previous night, when she had fallen out of the tree and he had caught her in his arms. For a few moments he hadn't been able to let her go.

She's your only hope of finding Henry, that's why you're afraid to lose her, he silently told himself, not believing it for a second. There was something else and he knew it. The more she let him in, the closer he wanted to get to her. She breathed in deeply, stirring awake, and he quickly pushed his thoughts to the back of his mind. Her dark eyes opened, a soft smile touching her lips as her gaze settled onto him.

"Morning," she murmured, yawning.

"Morning," he smiled back, not at all ready to get up. He could have quite happily stayed there, watching her for a while longer yet. "How did you sleep?" he asked.

"Terribly," she replied, shaking her head slightly. "Tomorrow night remind me to conjure us each a bed. Sleeping bags were a ridiculous idea."

"While you're at it, perhaps you can conjure us up a hotel too," David teased her. "I could do with some room service and a shower."

Regina scrunched her nose, laughing softly. "We should probably find somewhere to clean up," she said, sitting up. David followed suit, standing quickly so that he could offer her a hand to help her to her feet. She arched a brow in amusement, but took it, allowing him to pull her up. He let his hand linger on hers, her hand small and delicate beneath his calloused fingers, before forcing himself to let her go.

"I don't know," he teased, his blue eyes flickering over her face. "Dirt looks good on you." He reached out, brushing a small smudge away from her cheek. She lifted her hand up self-consciously, rubbing at the spot as David pulled his hand away.

Damn it David, he thought, you've got to stop trying to find ways to touch her.

"That's it," she declared with a smile, oblivious to the internal war he was waging with himself. "We're finding water."

She turned around, waving her hand in a delicate movement. Their sleeping bags disappeared in two small puffs of smoke. David had the oddest sensation of his ears popping, and suddenly he could hear the sounds of the jungle around them again. Numerous brightly coloured birds were sitting in the branches of the trees above their heads, chattering loudly amongst each other. David hadn't even noticed them until that moment.

"Woah," he shook his head. "That was weird." He spotted the leather satchel on the ground and stooped to pick it up. Regina held out her hand to take it but he shook his head, slinging it over his shoulder. As heavy as the damn thing was, he couldn't believe he had let Regina carry it the entire day before.

"Let me put my coat back in at least," she said, slipping it off of her shoulders. He watched with interest as she used a spell to fold it up again, until it was nothing but a square of fabric in her palm. She walked up behind him, opened the backpack and dropped it inside.

"There," she smiled up at him brightly. "Now come on, let's go."

"Do you even know where water is?" he asked, falling into step beside her. She nodded her head, pointing.

"That direction."

"How do you know?"

She gestured downwards, indicating the dirt they were walking upon. "It's a trail," she said. "The kind commonly made by animals when they're heading towards water."

David glanced down and up again, suddenly noticing the threadlike trail weaving its way through the overgrowth. Regina smiled as he nodded his head, lifting her hand and casting her plant-bowing spell to ease the path ahead of them. For several minutes they walked side by side in silence and David lost himself in thought again. He wondered how Emma and Snow had managed the night. He hoped that they were still safe. He hoped that they were still together. With any luck, the rest of the group hadn't become separated and it was just him who had fallen behind.

Typical really, he thought.

Since he and Snow had first met it seemed all they were ever doing was losing and finding each other over and over again in a futile, never-ending cycle. Sometimes it almost felt as though the Universe was doing its best to keep them apart.

"Hah!" Regina made a triumphant little noise and he lifted his head, first glancing at her and then following the direction of her gaze towards a slender stream of clear water a few feet away. "Found it," she said happily.

He stood still, watching her as she walked towards the stream, crouching down in the long grass that shadowed it and scooping up some of the clear water onto her face. She sighed happily, running a damp hand behind her neck, before running her fingers backwards through her tousled brown hair. The humidity had exaggerated the natural curl of it, creating lazy ringlets amidst her dark hair.

She seemed so much happier than he had seen her look before, and he had a feeling that he was responsible. She had to have been lonely, these past few months, living alone and in a town that despised and feared her in equal measure. She needed a friend, he decided with conviction, she needed someone to keep bringing the light within her to the surface. Perhaps if enough people saw that light, they would start to realise that she was something more than simply the evil queen.

She turned her head to face him, tilting her head slightly. "Aren't you coming?"

You have to stop staring at her, he told himself, as he forced his legs to move towards her. Look somewhere else. His blue eyes shifted around briefly and in that moment something dark against the skyline caught his attention.

"What the…?" he stopped suddenly, his eyes widening as he realised that what he was staring at was three children flying through the air.

"Those must be Lost Boys," Regina murmured, her voice suddenly closer. David's head snapped back down as she walked back to his side.

Lost teenagers more like, David thought, as the three boys settled lightly onto the bank at the opposite side of the stream. Two of them were armed with swords, the third, a crossbow.

As they landed, Regina stiffened, lifting her hand palm up in front of her. A ball of purple light suffused her palm.

"Wait," David grabbed her wrist and she half turned towards him, glancing up at him with startled brown eyes. "Let's just talk to them," he suggested. "Maybe…" his next words were lost as the kid with the crossbow suddenly let his bolt fly. It flew through the air, straight towards Regina, who didn't even see it coming. She gasped in pain as it struck her side, eyes which had still been staring into his widening in surprise and pain. David's eyes flickered down to the wooden shaft protruding from her side, noting in confusion the sticky black liquid that was dripping down its length.

Mermaid's ink, he thought, identifying the substance.

It had taken a moment for him to recognize it, and in that moment all hell had broken loose. Regina crumpled to the ground, a scream ripping past her lips. Her body began to thrash and she screamed again and again, her face contorted with pain. Her hands clawed at the ground beneath her, her back arching as she writhed in agony. On the other side of the stream, the three boys gave a shout of triumph and rushed towards her.

"For Peter!" one yelled.

Forcing himself to turn away from Regina, David met the first kid head on as he charged. He dodged the boy's clumsy sword thrust, roughly grabbed the hand that was holding the pommel of the blade and used the other hand to deliver a hard punch to the boy's head. The boy dropped like a stone, unconscious before he had hit the ground. Sword now in hand, David turned towards the second kid armed with a blade. There was a clang of metal against metal, loud in the sudden silence left in the wake of Regina's screams. David could only hope that her silence meant she was okay. He parried two more blows, then delivered a hard blow of his own that sent the boy stumbling backwards. Quickly he stepped forwards, changing his grip on the blade and using the pommel to hit the kid's temple, knocking him out too. He turned to find the last boy standing in the middle of the river, fumbling to load his next crossbow bolt.

David stole a brief glance back to Regina, finding her still thrashing silently on the ground, her body in the midst of a seizure. Fury consuming him, he strode towards the child standing in the stream.

"What did you do to her?" he snarled, barely recognizing his own voice. The boy looked up quickly, wide brown eyes tracking David's progress towards him. Fear stole across his features and he suddenly turned tail, abandoning his efforts to reload his crossbow and running in the opposite direction. David growled in anger as he watched the kid disappear from sight, before turning on his heel and rushing back towards Regina. She had stopped thrashing, and now lay absolutely still. He dropped to his knees at her side, reaching out to cup her cheek in his hand.

"Regina? Regina wake up! Talk to me!"

Dark chestnut eyes flickered weakly and he sagged, relief rushing through him.

"David?" her voice was hoarse from screaming. He watched as panic filled her eyes and he felt his stomach drop with fear. "Something's wrong," she whispered. "I can't reach it. I can't… I can't…"

"What, what is it?" he asked, his thumb stroking her cheek reassuringly. He glanced over the wound at in her side, noting the depth of the crossbow shaft.

It must have just missed her lung, he thought in relief.

Regina made a tiny noise that sounded like a whimper, and David turned back to stare into her eyes.

Eyes which were now flooded with tears.

"My magic…" she whispered. "It's gone."