"Lieutenant!" he heard a few of his men shouting after him.
"I am not your goddamned lieutenant!" He shouted over his shoulder without easing his pace. Having heard the stories of that black figure, the shadow, he knew damn well the consequences of stopping now.
The teenage boy leaped over protruding roots and dodged hanging branches, running as fast as his legs would carry him. The wind whipped back his hood, pulling the sliver of thin fabric off with it. His shaggy chestnut brown hair fell over his bright blue eyes. Just keep running, he reminded himself whenever the faces of his comrades popped into his head. Even if he did turn around, there would be anything he could do to help. The shadow had probably found a target to hunt by now; he was safe, but he sure as hell wouldn't take the chance to travel back in the direction he came from.
The boy stumbled out into a free clearing, suddenly freezing in his tracks by the group of adults sitting around a small fire in front of him.
Emma, Killian, Snow, David, and Tinkerbell all gaped at the unmasked boy, immediately recognizing him. They froze with wide gawking expressions before Snow found enough sense to stand. "Adam," Her voice was wary, "what on earth are you doing here?"
"I, uh," he stammered out of breath. Snow quickly walked over to the boy and rested her hand around his back. She gently led him over to the fire near the others, who were now all on their feet. "I came..." Adam looked up confusedly at Tinkerbell. He pointed up at the fairy, "because of her. She showed up and told us everything."
"Us?" Emma frowned. "Who else came with you?"
"We got a party together," Adam swallowed nervously and looked back up at Tink. "She told us she needed the most qualified fighters to come and help. Seeing as we all trained together growing up...-"
Killian frowned, "Trained? You're not referring to...-"
"Henry," Adam nodded. "He was the first person Tinkerbell went to. Since he knew the island, knew Pan's methods and has always had a knack for dueling, Tink said he'd be most fit to run the charge. From there we quickly got a few of the best fighters together."
"You mean to say that you rallied the rest of our children?" David snapped at the concerned fairy.
"At least James is in New York," Snow sighed at David with a comforting smile. Adam's guilty eyes widened at the ground.
"Adam," Emma hesitantly muttered while kneeling to even with his level. "James is still at NYU, right?"
He hesitated before looking up at Snow and David. "He may or may not be somewhere on the island." The group of adults winced with distraught. Emma stood up to her feet and looked over at David, who looked as if he were just punched in the gut.
"Did you tell your parents about this?" Snow crossed her arms sternly. "Does your father know where you are?"
Adam laughed bitterly, "You think I would tell my father I was joining a rescue mission to Neverland?"
"What about Regina?" Emma firmly crossed her arms, "She didn't happen to notice Henry taking off with a regiment of horses?"
Adam shook his head. "Regina was already gone. She was on her way to your castle to answer your first message. Henry wasn't even told the extent of the problem until Tink got there."
"One thing's for certain," Killian muttered lowly, "it's only a matter of time until they figure out where you've gone off to. They'll likely grace us with their presence before long."
David snapped his head up at Tinkerbell, "When I told you to gather a group of fighters, I did not mean the rest of my family!"
Tinkerbell frowned innocently, "I just figured if you were to have any chance, you needed soldiers that knew what they'd be getting themselves into."
"James is eighteen!" David growled, "Adam is seventeen! They're no more fit to face Pan than Elizabeth!"
Tinkerbell shrugged, "Anyone else would have walked into the same trap that the others did. They had a plan," she motioned to Adam, "a good one, too."
Killian looked over at Emma, carefully watching for any lapse of emotion. Her face was stone solid. Her eyes did not waver now that her walls were up. Killian frowned and subtly reached out for her hand. His fingers weaved around hers while his thumb rubbed the inside of her wrist. Emma's breath quietly hitched: the first unnoticeable sign that she was struggling to hold it together. He moved closer to her, physically giving her an essence of protection. Her fingers, which had already began to tremble, squeezed his gentle grip.
"We need to find the kids before taking on Pan," David looked over at the two of them. "Regardless of what Henry has planned, we'll be stronger together than apart."
Emma nodded numbly, still holding onto Killian's scarred wrist.
Elizabeth crouched under the fern beside Felix. The two of them surveyed the group of bandits that were camped out in the clearing ahead. Felix's small group of fifteen boys surrounded the encampment. Subtle indicators, waves and movements of tall spears, reflected the readied positions of the five sub-divided groups.
"Okay," Elizabeth mumbled while turning to Felix, "what's the plan?"
Felix held a hard glare at the men feeding the meager fire. "We ambush them at all sides. They can't handle us in force."
Elizabeth nodded up to the trees, "Look. They have men stationed high up on look-out. We have to get them together in a confined group before we hold an assault." Felix looked at her astonished. She smirked, "I've had experience catching these kinds of criminals before. A lot of them are skilled archers but they don't stand a chance in hand-to-hand combat."
"Not a hobby I'd peg for a princess," he muttered quietly.
"It wasn't something that I brought attention to," her voice quieted. "A few of the royals, including myself, used to sneak out on summer nights to… assist the law enforcement parties."
Felix turned with an amused smirk, "you snuck out to catch criminals?"
"We had to put our lessons to use somehow," she shrugged with a wide grin.
Suddenly a smaller group ran out into the clearing to join the men building the fire. The bandits raised their weapons in response, though immediately lowered them when recognizing their similarly masked attire.
"I've got an idea," Elizabeth whispered to Felix before handing her weapon over to him. He frowned at her with confusion as she began to make her way closer to the camp. Before Felix could stop her, she ran out and unveiled her identity to the crusade of men.
"Hey," she heaved out with excited breaths, "please help me! He's after me!"
The criminals looked at her with shocked, wide eyes before looking at one another greedily. "Princess," one of the older men smiled maliciously, "we've been searching for you."
"Please," she whimpered falsely, "Pan is after me. He is going to kill me!"
"Easy," the man hushed her while making his way closer. A criminal behind the leader looked up at the trees and motioned for the others to climb down from where they were stationed. The leader continued to steadily approach her, "I assure you, everything will be alright."
Elizabeth took a step back with frightened wide-eyes, "Who are you?"
"Don't you fret, Princess," the man smiled, "we'll take good care of you." Elizabeth stared nervously as he closed the distance between them. She looked over the man's shoulder at the smaller bandit who had just arrived with his party; strangely recognizable wide green eyes glared back, laced with apprehension.
Just as the last man touched ground from the trees, Felix and the party of Lost Boys emerged from the bushes with their spears raised. From there, chaos broke loose. Weapons and arrows flew in all directions. Without her weapon, Elizabeth had no choice but to drop to the ground and crawl to the closest cover of ferns. A nearby bandit noticed her movement and fought to get a direct strike. She rolled onto her back just as the man wound his sword back.
Suddenly another masked bandit stepped over her with his sword to deflect the strike that descended just inches from Elizabeth's waist. She shuddered, frozen, as the hooded solider standing above her pushed the attacker back and deftly slit a deep wound into his quadriceps.
The bandit turned and smiled warmly down at her. "Lizzie," he mumbled as he pulled his mask down, revealing his beautiful silver blue eyes and shagging raven black hair.
"James?" Her eyes widened, "What the hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be in New York!"
"Yeah well you're supposed to be in the Enchanted Forest," he grinned and offered hand out to her, "the world's an imperfect place." Elizabeth stumbled to her feet and hastily wrapped her arms around him. He laughed, "I leave for one semester of college and you get yourself stuck in Neverland of all places."
"I missed you," she mumbled into his shoulder, feeling his arms tighten around her.
He pulled away with a warm smile and offered her his sword, "just like training, then?"
Suddenly a new regiment of bandits approached from the north. James frowned, immediately grabbing a hold of Elizabeth's arm when suddenly one of the bandits pointed at his unmasked face, "it's the Prince! Prince James!"
The focus was immediately taken off Elizabeth, who was standing before them unmasked, and on the more expensive prize: the Prince himself. "Crap," James muttered under his breath. Elizabeth raised her weapon, though they both knew it wouldn't do any good against the multitude of arrows begin drawn back. The first arrow was released, straight towards James's chest. James flinched as the arrowhead stopped just inches from piercing his body. He and Elizabeth looked up at the new figure that had magically appeared in front of them in the nick of time: Peter.
Peter caught the arrow in his hand. He glared murderously at the approaching regiment of bandits, causing all of them to freeze where they stood. The other three parties of Lost Boys, who had originally scattered throughout Neverland, appeared on all sides of the clearing. Elizabeth was suddenly fearful for James's safety; they were surrounded by a large number of Lost Boys skilled in archery.
Elizabeth pulled his mask over his face to cover his excited grin. "Go! Leave now!" She half-laughed with a tearing smile.
"And leave you?"
"Go find our parents, they're somewhere on the island! You can't do anything for me right now. Just trust me, I'll be fine." He frowned with reluctance. "Please James," she smiled with wet eyes, "I'll be okay. I just need to know you will be."
He frowned with a heavy breath before pulling her in for a tight embrace. "I will come for you, I promise," he muttered in her ear. She smiled and kissed his cheek. Pan watched idly, letting James quickly escape off into the trees. The bandits were too preoccupied with his army of Lost Boys to notice the Prince's departure.
Elizabeth frowned as she watched James slip into the cover of darkness. Pan took her hand, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Disregarding the battle scene around the two of them, Elizabeth couldn't help but smile from the joy of seeing James safely escape. Peter took her hand and pulled in her close before popping open the vial around his neck. "I'd say you've had enough adventure for a day," Peter grinned and pulled her into the air.
She gripped his waist for support as he pulled her further from the battle down below.
Night fell upon the camp just as the rest of the Lost Boys returned. None of the boys had been killed in battle, in fact none returned with any substantial injuries. Thanks to Elizabeth's endeavors, dinner was already hunted down by the time the boys got back. She washed up as they prepared the hefty doe. The night gradually calmed down into its causal routine. It was one aspect of life in Neverland that Elizabeth couldn't help but enjoy; everyone pulled their weight when it came time for dinner.
The boys all gathered around by the fire, asking her curious questions about James. Though the topic was somewhat grim, considering she would never be able to return home with him, Elizabeth appreciated their evident concern and curiosity. If anything it showed that at least they cared.
Throughout dinner, in fact soon after Peter brought her back to camp, he was nowhere in sight. Elizabeth accepted the likelihood that he was off doing whatever it was that Peter Pan did in his spare time. She even accepted the probability that he was off harassing her parents.
The night grew later, and the boys soon retreated to their narrow carved holes, tree branches, and nooks within the hideout where they slept. Elizabeth dragged her feet down the steep staircase, careful not to trip over her tired steps and fall to the floor. Only when she reached the bottom of the steps did she notice the silent figure lying dormant in her bed. She turned to go, this time in a less disruptive manner when the figure on the bed stirred. "Don't go," Peter muttered lightly while keeping his face composed. His eyes remained shut, seeming at peace with the serene silence of the room.
"I don't want to bother you," she mumbled. "I was just going to get an early night. Today was pretty tiring."
With an amused, raised brow, Peter nodded to the spot beside him on the bed. Normally such a gesture would be assumed as sexual, though there was a certain calmness to his manner that implied he was already too deep in his meditative thoughts to think that far ahead. "Quite often, I come down here to think," he spoke quietly as Elizabeth relaxed beside him. "I promise I won't be a bother for too much longer."
"No it's fine," she looked at him with confusion. "Once I get tired, there's not a whole lot that can keep me from falling asleep."
Peter smiled grimly. There was something so melancholy about his expression that Elizabeth couldn't understand; some underlying trouble that seemed to plague his thoughts. She cleared her throat, "I never got a chance to thank you for today."
Peter finally opened his eyes and turned over with a smirk. "Thank me?"
"For saving James," she nodded, "we grew up together. He's sort of the over-protective older brother that Henry never got the chance to be."
Peter swallowed, "I won't guarantee anyone's survival in Neverland, Lizzie. They came here with the full knowledge of the danger and consequences."
"I know," she looked down to her fumbling hands. "It just means a lot that you would do that for him."
"I didn't do it to preserve yet another Prince in the world." Peter hesitated, contemplating his next choice of words, "I didn't want you to be subjected to that sight."
"And here I thought you didn't care about anyone besides yourself." She spoke with a bitterness that reflected his belief and not necessarily hers.
"Well that has certainly been the case," he swallowed with the fear that he had just let too much slip.
Elizabeth's eyes widened, accentuating the pigmented shades of sea blue, before quickly leaning over and kissing his cool cheek. She pulled back anxiously to find him gawking back at her with surprise. "Thank you," she whispered as her eyelids nervously fluttered.
Before she could make a move to pull away, Peter took her hand in his. He leaned upwards to catch her lips while gently pulling the rest of her body on top of him. She obliged by parting her mouth and welcoming the cool contact of his tongue. Her legs stretched over his hips in a wide straddle. She leaned into his body, wrapping her arms under his neck and weaving her fingers into his thick golden hair.
Peter leaned upwards into her mouth, deepening the kiss as a deep groan rose up from his throat. He felt her lips twitch into a smile against his, immediately igniting the fire he had been trying to neglect since the last time he held her like this.
Acting on bodily impulse, Peter rolled the two of them over so that he was the one on top.
"Peter," she breathed in a soft whisper against his ear. A tremble radiated down his spine, traveling down to the hands that supported his body over hers. He dived down to her lips, crashing his mouth against hers with desperation to satisfy an entirely unfamiliar need. She bucked her waist up until it brushed against his. Peter groaned breathily, unable to understand this longing surging below his gut. Elizabeth deftly hauled her leg over his lower back and pulled his body down onto hers.
Peter didn't understand what this was, nor did he have a remote clue how to control it.
He pulled back from her with a wide-eyed frenzied expression. His hair was disheveled from where her fingers had ravaged his back roots. Elizabeth smiled brightly, letting her thin thumb gently brush against the side of his cheek. Her smile, her faint tracing dimples and twinkling blue irises, sent him over the edge.
He lunged back down, giving into his hunger, and molded every part of his being against her. Elizabeth rode her waist against him, feeling his constraint of his need beneath the belt. His fingers wrapped around her waist, while the other hand slowly traveled over her shirt up to her chest. Elizabeth's breath hitched, encouraging Peter to continue where his mind was taking him.
The ceiling boards squeaked, alerting both of them of an incoming presence. Peter sighed and dropped his face into the crook of her shoulder before reluctantly rolling off of her. She fumbled with her shirt and hair before sitting up.
Two small Lost Boys, both no older than nine, scurried down the stairs. They hesitated when they caught sight of Peter, lying on his back on the far side of the bed. Elizabeth gave them a reassuring smile and nodded over to where they were going to hang up their weapons. They blinked before slowly making their way over to rack on the wall. Peter lied there silently with closed-eyes, not even bothering to acknowledge the two of them. Without another word, they quickly ran up the stairs, leaving Elizabeth and Peter alone once again.
She sighed and looked over to Peter, who still had his eyes closed. "We're good," she mumbled, taking his cool hand in hers.
The muscles in his jaw line flexed. "You're tired, Elizabeth."
She frowned and leaned back down on her side to face him, "Yeah like hell."
Peter pressed his lips in a firm line before looking over at her, "It's not fair that I encourage this… us. Given the circumstance, it won't be long before you despise me forever."
"Despise you?" She frowned innocently.
All of a sudden it hurt to look her in the eyes. Despite her confusion, that bright glimmer was still there. Her unsettling warm expression was devoid of detestation or reproach. There was a strange sense of assurance; hope; belief that she saw more than a monster staring back.
And he was going to lose it, lose her. Forever.
He couldn't stomach the mere thought, nor could he understand how her belief in him could rattle every fiber of assurance in his endeavor. She smiled again, this time more nervously now that she noticed the trepidation in his dazed stare. God, there it was: that smile. Peter couldn't remember the last time someone had looked at him like that.
"I get that you've probably made up your mind about the whole exchange," she began uncertainly. "But if I had it my way, you wouldn't go through with it. Whatever it is you're after, I can already tell it's not what you need."
Peter smiled bitterly, "You're afraid of what might happen to you once I claim what I'm after."
"I'm afraid of what might happen to you, Peter," Elizabeth frowned, "and as selfish as this might sound, I don't want to leave you."
Feeling the weight of the conversation pull on his guilt, Peter was thankful to notice the subtle drooping of her eyelids. "I've bothered you long enough," he muttered disheartening while adjusting his posture to sit up, "you ought to get some rest."
This time, it was Elizabeth who pulled at his hand. "Wait I'm sorry," she mumbled, "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, I just…-"
"Don't apologize," he smiled weakly, "none of this is your fault."
"Please," she pulled on his hand insistently, "just don't go." He looked at her confusedly. "Whatever this exchange is, I can tell it's going to happen sometime soon. And," she paused with the uncertainty of her next question. She couldn't possibly tell him that she wanted to just be with him, sexual or not. She couldn't possibly explain to him the strange sense of comfort she got just from being around him. She couldn't possibly explain to herself why this boy who was technically holding her hostage gave her the greatest sense of safety she had ever felt, second to her father.
"I don't want to be alone right now," she managed to mutter out in a faint whisper.
Peter frowned guiltily and leaned back down beside her. She moved into his embracing arms and pressed her face into his side. "Just go to sleep, Lizzie," he whispered lightly as his lips brushed against the roots of her forehead. She complacently shut her eyes and smiled into his shirt, nuzzling out all of the light from the room.
Elizabeth awoke to two dozen faces gawking back at her. She jolted back with immediate shock though could not find coherent words to address them. A few of the Lost Boys reacted to her consciousness with light gasps, though turned their silent attention back behind her. "Uh," she mumbled anxiously.
What's wrong with him? She heard a boy mumble from the back. Is he dead? Another faceless voice whispered. There were a few shushing sounds, though not one boy had the audacity to make a move. Elizabeth followed their curiosity to find Peter lying beside her. It was then that she realized her head hadn't been resting on a warm pillow, but Peter's extended arm. The shadows that once lingered under his eyelids were gone and replaced with a subtle blush of life along his cheeks. Every expression on his face was relaxed, hinting to a strange look of vulnerability.
Elizabeth gently reached over and brushed a hand along his temple, "Peter?" His skin was warm.
He stirred for a moment, leaning into her touch, before slowly opening his eyes. At first he frowned up at her with confusion. She looked back at him, reflecting the same confusion and concern as the Lost Boys behind her. Peter finally noticed the morning light leaking in from the windows across the room. Elizabeth felt his skin cool once the recognition set in.
He sat up slowly while staring back at the faces in silence. Before anyone could utter a single word, Peter quickly climbed off of the bed and paced across the room. The boys shuffled out of his way, watching with awe, as Peter hurried up the stairs.