A/N: I just wanted to clear something up. In Chapter 7 I stated that Pan knew how to kill Meg and then contradicted that statement in Chapter 8. I apologize for the mistake. Pan does not know how to kill her.
"Do you still love me?" Pan reiterated. His face was unreadable. Meg couldn't tell if he was genuinely interested or if he was playing her.
"What difference does it make?" Meg retorted, narrowing her eyes. Neither of them moved.
"All the difference in the world." Peter replied with a steady voice.
"You didn't follow me to Storybrooke to profess your love. You and I both know that. If my love really mattered, you wouldn't have cuffed me and held me captive. So what? Are you going to spare them if I say yes and kill them if I say no? Are planning on bringing me back to Neverland?" Meg questioned. She was hoping for a reaction.
"What say you and I play a new game? You do as I say and the town stays alive. You don't and they all die." Pan stated. Meg could feel her anger start to bubble.
"I don't really have a choice, do I? You might as well tell me what you want from me." Meg said. There was a slight burning sensation in her wrist.
"I want you to tell Rumple that you're on my side now." Pan stated. Meg laughed.
"You have got to be out of your mind. Rumple may believe me at first but Belle won't. If Belle doesn't believe me, she'll convince Rumple that something is wrong." She replied.
"Then you better be convincing. Oh, and I'm not taking the cuff off. I can't risk you turning on me." Pan said, nodding at the cuff on Meg's arm. She glared at him.
"Now run along and spread the good news. I expect you back before sundown." Pan demanded and moved away from the exit. Meg kept eye contact with him as she exited the treehouse. She walked all the way to the pawnshop. During her walk, she was left to face the fact that she had the weight of the whole town on her shoulders. Meg would never be able to live with herself if their blood was on her hands. Maybe that was the point. He wanted her to kill herself and save him the effort. She could feel the anger start to rise again as she walked into the pawn shop. To her surprise, and dismay, Belle wasn't there. Only Rumple.
Before her son could ask anything, Meg lifted her arm to reveal the cuff. Rumple looked more than a little amused.
"Can you take this off?" Meg asked, irritated that her son found this so funny.
"And irritate one of the few people that has more power than myself? I don't think so." Rumple replied.
"If you take this cuff off of me, I will show you where Pan is hiding and let you watch while I burn it to the ground." Meg offered. Rumple's amusement grew.
"As tempting as that sounds, it won't kill Pan. He'll notice the fire immediately and escape. I'm afraid it will only anger him. You're going to have to do better than that. What did you promise him?" Rumple inquired. Meg glared.
"Nothing. He demanded that I join his side and that if I didn't, he would kill the whole town." Meg answered. He didn't look surprised.
"All the more reason for me to leave the cuff on." Rumple pointed out. He had a glint of curiosity in his eyes. It was the same look that Peter Pan when he was up to something. Her frustration grew.
"I can handle him." Meg insisted. She was probably the only one who stood a chance.
"I don't think you can. I haven't even seen you use magic." Rumple stated matter-of-factly.
"Take the cuff off and I'll show you." Meg challenged and held out her wrist.
"Not going to happen." Rumple said. Meg clenched her jaw to prevent the onslaught of words that were on the tip of her tongue. She took a deep breath.
"So you're just going to hand me over to him? That's it? Not even going to try and help me?" Meg demanded. She would have ended it by stating that she was his mother but what right did she have to that title?
"By the sounds of it, you handed yourself over to him. You're going to have to find your own way out of this, mother." Rumple exclaimed. At this point, Meg's blood was boiling.
How could he just do that to her? How could he have the ability to help her and not lift a finger? All he had to do was pull the cuff off and she would deal with the rest. She was visibly shaking with anger. She clenched her fists. There was a burning sensation in her wrist. She looked down to see the final bit of the cuff disintegrate. Meg held her arm up in awe.
"What just happened?" Meg asked, distractedly.
"I believe that you just became so angry that you literally burned the cuff off. You're magic might be more powerful than I originally thought." Rumple replied. She looked over at him and narrowed her eyes. He looked impressed…or did he look smug?
"You knew this would happen. You angered me on purpose." Meg accused.
"I angered you to prove a point. Now I believe you offered to show me where Peter Pan was hiding." Rumple reminded. Meg smiled.
"Allow me." Meg offered and with a flick of her wrist, they were both in front of Pan's treehouse. This was so much easier than walking and yet, almost as draining.
Meg put a finger to her lips and waved her hand over the area where the treehouse was. Nothing happened. She mouthed "blood magic" to Rumple and he got the hint. He mimicked her earlier movement and the treehouse was revealed. Without hesitation, Meg snapped her fingers and the forest seemed to freeze. At least, everything within a ten foot radius did.
"What are you doing?" Rumple demanded, obviously annoyed. Meg rolled her eyes.
"I'm buying us some time. You were right. Burning down the treehouse wouldn't kill him. It would only anger him. However, he'll be angry if I don't show up before sundown or if I show up without a cuff. How am I going to explain to him that it disintegrated?" Meg asked.
"You don't go to him. He'll come to you." Rumple stated, matter-of-factly.
"Rumpelstiltskin, have you lost your mind? He will murder the whole town before he comes looking for me." Meg pointed out. Rumple shook his head.
"He'll try to kill you first." He said.
"No, he'll kill me last so that I have to watch him kill everyone else." Meg argued.
"That might be his original plan but once he finds out that you no longer have the cuff, he'll try to kill you." Rumple paused for a moment and then continued, "If you can only be killed by pulling out your heart and crushing it yourself, how did Blackbeard kill you?"
"By forcing me to do exactly that." Meg stated and refused to tell her son the gory details. He didn't seem interested in finding out anyway. She could still feel Blackbeard's hand gripping her own and forcing it into her chest. She shuddered at the memory.
"Pan will try to kill you first. He's going to be angry and shocked when he sticks a knife through your heart and finds you still alive." Rumple said. Meg laughed at the absurdity.
"I think the word you're looking for is afraid. He's going to be angry and afraid when he sticks a knife through my chest and finds me still alive." Meg corrected.
"You want me to do what?" Rose practically yelled at Hades. A few weeks ago, if you had told her she would be having an argument with the God of the Underworld, she would've thought you were nuts but here she was.
"You have to kill Megara and assume her identity. With a glamor and some work, you'll be able pull off pretending to be her." Hades reiterated. Rose threw her hands up in frustration.
"Why do I have to kill her? Why can't we kidnap her or drug her or something?" Rose questioned.
"We need to be one hundred percent sure that she won't wake up and go looking for Hercules." Hades defended. Rose walked up to Hades.
"Are you telling me that you, a God, cannot watch an unconscious body for a few days? Can't you just drop her soul in that swarming pit of other souls until we get Hercules back here?" Rose suggested.
"NO! She has to die. It's the only way and you have to kill her because you signed the contract." Hades stated. Rose gritted her teeth. There had to be another way.
"If she has to be the one to coerce Hercules, why not contract her? Why go through me?" Rose asked. Hades looked like he could've killed her. She half hoped that he would.
"Why? I'll tell you why, you snot-nosed brat. There's a prophecy. If we got her to do the dirty work, she would eventually fall in love with him and true love conquers all. But you, oh you, your heart already belongs to another. There's no risk of you falling in love with Hercules. You're not as much of a liability." Hades informed.
"I don't have true love and I'm not going to kill someone who does. If you want her dead, you kill her." Rose exclaimed.
"I don't really care if you lie to yourself about having true love but you will kill her because you signed the contract." Hades told her.