Author's Note: So! Here we are again. To all you Americans out there, hope you had a happy Thanksgiving! To all others, hope you've had a great weekend. I did. It largely involved shopping for a school dance and avoiding my cousins.

Callie

"C'mon Tony!" I groaned, pacing through the lab while Tony sat in front of a hologram that was displaying a map of the globe. "You said the tracker in Cass's bracelet could transmit to here from anywhere on the planet!"

"That's just the problem, Cal," Tony replied. I could tell he was trying very hard to be patient. "She's not on this planet somehow."

"She said she saw jungle," I insisted again.

Tony rubbed his eyes with the tips of his fingers. "I know that. I've scanned every jungle, every tropical rainforest, everywhere and anywhere there are trees. I can't find her anywhere. She's not on Earth anymore. There's nothing I can do about that." He sounded irritated and tired. I guess I couldn't blame him. I'd kind of been at his throat for most of the day trying to get him to find Cass. So far everything we'd tried had been a complete and utter dead end. Both of us were getting frustrated. Heck, all of us were getting frustrated. As the youngest, Cass was the baby sister of the family and it felt like we'd lost her forever. Thor and Loki had already returned to Asgard to see if Heimdall could find her.

No luck.

"Dead end, dead end, dead end, dead end!" I growled. Tony stood up from his chair and put his hands on my shoulders.

"Look. You just need some rest. Go get some sleep. We'll double our efforts in the morning."

Grumbling, I went to the elevator and punched the button for the floor I shared with Cass. The elevator glided down its shaft and deposited me where I told it to. With a ding too pleasant to be allowed in the stressful situation, I stalked out—and nearly bumped into Steve. "Whoa there," he said, taking my upper arms and stabilizing me. "I know you're trying your best to find her, but don't beat yourself up. Peter Pan took her after she got hit in the stomach by a knife. Maybe he took her back to Never Land and is healing her. Maybe he'll give her back after she's all better."

"Yeah, and maybe the moon is made of cheese," I muttered. In my duress, I found myself using a lot of Cass's sass. "Have you even been watching season three of Once? You've seen how manipulative and dangerous and evil he is!"

Steve sighed and kissed my forehead gently. "I miss her too you know," he commented. His lips found mine. "She's a sister to all of us. Don't think you're going through this alone."

"I refuse to believe that she's dead," I said decisively.

"I wasn't saying that that's what I think. You know Cass just as well as I do—if not better than. She's strong, she's feisty, and she's got enough sass to scare a hurricane off course. She'll be okay," he promised. "But we all miss her, and we're all going to do everything in our power to get her back." I gave my Steve a small, sad smile. When Cass and I had been pulled away from our families for protection, we'd gravitated towards each other because the others were already a tight-knit group. We were the outsiders. And we only had one other person to talk to in awkward situations. If she had gone and gotten herself killed I was going to kill her. Twice.

"Thanks," I told him. One last kiss and he got in the elevator.

I peered into Cass's apartment. The entire thing was a vibrant shade of electric blue. It was familiar and homey. It reminded me of one of our first nights in the Tower. We were watching the city skyline and playing Go Fish. I won. We laughed and discovered each other's favorite colors. She'd told me about her hobbies and I mine.

I pulled out and went into my own, shutting the door behind me and flicking the lock. I changed into my pajamas and looked out the window at the now-familiar horizon, sitting on my bed, eyes glazing over, waiting for sleep to come claim me.

Back to Cass

My sleep was fitful. I tossed and turned and woke up several times before I was claimed by Morpheus at last. My dreams were confused and troubled. I couldn't quite reach peace. Several hours later, I opened my eyes and rolled over so I was facing the other way.

Peter was sitting near the bed I was in on a boulder and looking concerned. His hands fiddled endlessly with the pipes between them. "Mornin'," I slurred tiredly.

He snapped to attention. "Cass! Are you okay?" he demanded, coming to my side.

"Aside from recovering from getting stabbed by a projectile, I'm great," I groaned sarcastically.

Peter smiled. "There's that fire. Keep it up. You'll need that strength to heal." He patted my shoulder. "Now, you need to eat."

I grabbed his wrist. "Help me sit up?" I requested.

"What for?"

"I can't swallow very well lying down." Duh, moron, I added silently.

He hooked his elbows under my armpits and drew me up into a sitting position carefully enough to not damage my injury. "Now. Here's the thing about Never Land. If you believe it, it can happen. What do you want to eat?" he asked. I shrugged. "Okay… whatever it is, just believe you have it, and you will." I was skeptical about what he was saying, but I'd dated Loki long enough to know that belief was a powerful magical force. So, figuring I had nothing to lose, I closed my eyes and concentrated. I believed/imagined I was holding a plate of toast and a mug of hot chocolate—specifically my SuperWhoLock one.

My arm muscles braced to hold up sudden weight. I peeled my eyes open to see a small plate of toast and my favorite mug full of cocoa. My mouth fell open and I let out a short burst of laughter.

Peter smirked. "Tuck in." He glanced over his shoulder as shouting echoed from the camp. "I have to go see what those hooligans are getting up to. I'll be right back. Enjoy your breakfast." He gave my shoulder another pat and went jogging the short distance to the compound where he and the Lost Boys lived. I watched him disappear before ripping the top crust of the toast with my teeth and chewing it.

By the time he got back, I was finished, and eager to stretch my legs. "Can you help me walk around? I need to stretch." He shrugged, like he'd given up on trying to dissuade me. If I knew anything about his character from Once Upon a Time, it was that he certainly hadn't given up—not really. He was probably biding his time until I was one more obedient Lost One.

Yeah—freakin'—right. Like that was ever going to happen. I had too much going for me back at the Tower. I had Loki and Callie and the Avengers—and Jane and Thor's freaking wedding. Pan wouldn't be able to keep me from that. It was in two weeks—I could be healed enough by then to attend. I didn't know how good of a bridesmaid I'd be with a bandage keeping me from bleeding out, but I sure-as-heck was going to that wedding and no amount of manipulation was going to change my mind. That would be the first thing Peter was going to find out about me on this island.

But I digress.

"Sure." He slung one arm around my back, put mine around his shoulders, and heaved me up into a standing position. I didn't trust him not to drop me, but I didn't have a choice since I didn't dare use my core muscles to keep me up for fear of ripping the scabbing injury and reopening it. Stomach wounds were dangerous—something about digestive acids getting into the bloodstream—so I was content to not reopen it. I liked living. Not to mention I had to get home to my family. Why couldn't he have just taken me to a hospital? At that particular point, I was pretty sure stitches would have been a great idea. At the very least I could have a pain pill and heal a little better.

"So how'd you get me into these clothes?" I asked as we hobbled down the uneven, makeshift path towards the camp.

"Magic. It's not difficult. We didn't want to violate your privacy."

Holy crap, that was considerate. I imagined a few of the boys wouldn't have been disappointed if Peter had to cut me out of my dress and leave me there in my underclothing—but I was extremely grateful he'd been so kind. "Wow. Thank you. Can you use magic to heal me?"

"No. I'm sorry. My dagger is enchanted to only allow natural healing. It was intended for use against enemies—never against a lady."

End Note: Hope this was a decent chapter. I enjoy writing this more than you know. Have a great week, and to all who celebrate, I wish you a very early "Happy Holidays!" because I don't know when I'm going to update next! Now, if you'll excuse me, it's raining outside so I must go watch Star Wars.

Thanks for reading! Love y'all!

~Cass