Hello, darlings! I am back with a new chapter. I've kind of been sitting on this one for a bit, working on other stories and searching for a new job. I figured I would finally update this thing. Plus, out of the blue, I got some major inspiration to finish the chapter. Anyways, I won't ramble on about too much. I would like to thank the following people for being amazing and doing that lovely favoriting/following/reviewing thing they did on the last chapter: starrat, AMV1999, LarissaValenti2613, scorpiongirl92, LilRoze, Moony and Pads, sapphireforever, Kuro Neko to Kuro Bara, xxkimbobxx, MTonks, cloudsomniakitty, , BreakFree01, EatsRainbow, MPDreamer82, LaceyLeanne1997, and Ram-Z Malfoy. You guys have no idea how much it means to me that there are still people out there willing to read this story. I love you all!

Neverland - Neal's Hut - Present

The group hurried back to Neal's hut. It was the one place they figured Terence wouldn't be able to spy on them. He didn't know it existed. Once inside, Isabel stared to pace the floor. Her mind was going a million miles an hour while she tried to figure out what their next move should be.

"Where are the rest of the children?" Regina asked.

"The indian camp," Peter answered. "Well, right now they're technically playing hide-n-seek."

"Of course," Killian muttered. "The place is almost impossible to get into. It's hidden away from almost everyone."

"Except anyone who lives there," Peter added. "Mama used the same spell to hide it like she did her treehouse and the hideout." He scrunched his nose. "And because the boys and us live there for now…I can walk you right into it."

Isabel perked up at her son's last words. She could take the fight to Terence instead of waiting on him to show up. It was perfect except it wasn't really. She could almost bet Terence knew Henry and Peter found their way to them. He probably let them because he thought it might be fun. The more she thought about it, the more she realized he had always been a sadistic bastard. He would purposely find ways of making Isabel feel like she was worthless. At least during the curse he was much nicer. It was when they were in Neverland that he always reminded her of her mistakes and failures. He would point out how happy Peter was not realizing his mother was so close. Or how Killian's true colors came out once he thought she was dead. When it came down to it, Terence took more pleasure out of having her cry on his shoulder than he did anything. It would not surprise her any if Terence let the boys find them just so he could take them back.

"Darling," Killian caught her by the hand. "You need to sit. Enjoy having our son back."

"I can't. Terence is probably just waiting for us now. He most likely led the boys to us, and now he's waiting it out. He expects us to find him if he isn't outside right now," she told him.

"He doesn't know we're here," Henry assured her.

"You cannot be certain of that. Terence is cunning." She looked up at her husband. "This has to be another trick of his."

"Wouldn't he show himself by now?" David asked. "To be fair, he doesn't seem to be the subtle type."

Isabel shook her head. "I don't know if we can chance it."

"So what are you suggesting? That we send them back?" Emma asked.

"That might be the only option we have," Isabel sighed. "I don't want to, but Terence will miss Peter if he doesn't know they're here."

"That's crazy. We can't just send them back assuming Terence has let them go," Emma argued.

"And what would you suggest? We let them stay with us, and then the other boys get harmed. Terence may be doing all of this to get at Killian and myself, but I would not put it past them to hurt them. We cannot risk them. We rescue them before we do anything stupid." Isabel knew she was right, but she knew that the rest of the group should weigh in. They may not have known Terence like she did. They still needed a chance to say their piece before a decision was made. "But if you guys really think it best to keep the boys here, then who am I to say no?"

"She's right," Snow spoke up. "Normally, I would say we keep them here, but we don't know what he's planning. We have no clue if this is a trick or not. If it is, then we cannot fall for it. They have to go back. At least until we know exactly what we are going to do. We know where the boys are, and for now, that's all we need to know. We can rescue them while Isabel and Killian play whatever game Terence has planned for them."

"And what if killing all of the children is part of the game to begin with?" Regina asked.

"I am telling you it isn't," Isabel assured her. "Unfortunately the most he will do is threaten Peter because he's my son. But he won't threaten the boys unless he absolutely has to."

"If we keep them with us, he may look at that as he has to," Killian added.

Isabel nodded. "He's compulsive most of the time, and he's manipulative."

"You know from experience?" David asked.

"We both do, mate," Killian answered. "He would do anything to win Isabel. Unfortunately, that also means risking losing her."

"He makes no damn sense," Neal shook his head.

"Most fairies don't make sense," Isabel told him.

She took a deep breath as she finally let her son go. "You know how to reach us if you need us, right?"

Peter nodded. "I do." His bottom lip trembled a little, and he bit it to help hold back his tears. "Mama, what if I never see you again?"

"You will, lad," Killian told his son. His hand landed on the boys shoulder as a sort of gesture. "We found each other after all of that time. There's no way fate will have it all end so quickly."

"Right," Isabel nodded. She hugged the boy one last time. "We will be a family. Terence will not win. He never has."

After a few more moments, Isabel watched Peter and Henry head back for the camp. Turning to her husband, she buried her face in his chest as she wrapped her arms around him tightly. It hurt. It physically hurt to watch him go back to where danger may be waiting for him, but they had no choice. Everyone had agreed to let the boys return to the camp. She stood by everything she said and she knew Terence would not hurt the boys. She simply did not want to be separated from Peter for longer than need be. Perhaps she should have taken that into consideration.

"He will be alright, love. You know he will be," Killian whispered, placing a kiss on the top of her head.

She nodded, but she still couldn't bring herself to pull away from him just yet. "I want to go home. I want Terence to do whatever it is he's going to so we can go home and be a family. I am tired of there being something in the way."

"Then perhaps the two of you should play fairly." Isabel's back straightened, and she turned to see Terence standing there with a grin on his face. "I mean, I'm not stupid. I know I am playing against true love, but you two have hated one another before. Perhaps we should make that happen again. We are in the very place that made that happen."

"You bloody demon!" Killian growled and he tried to lunge at Terence.

Terence disappeared from where he was standing, appearing a little further away. "Now, now, pirate. Save that rage for when we're fighting, and we will fight properly this time. Remember what I told you one your ship? About how I was holding back the first time? And how I would not hold back anything this time? I mean that just as much now as I did when you appeared in Storybrooke."

"What are you…that fight when we were still kids?" Isabel looked up at Killian.

"Oh yes, dear Isabel. I cornered him not far from where you two built your home. Challenged him to a fight I knew I could not win unless I used a little bit of my magic. I lost because the time was not right. You would have hated me had I won you in a fight. But now. I'm going to show you how a real man fights for his family." Terence walked up to her, holding up his hand to keep Killian where he was at. "You see, Isabel. If he really wanted to know where to find the men who supposedly killed you and burnt down your home, all he needed to do was follow a few clues. They would have led him to me."

Isabel frowned. She felt rather foolish. All that time in Neverland with him, and he had done so much against her. She trusted him, had been nice to him, and even loved him during the curse. And he betrayed her. "You won't win this," she told him.

"Honestly, I already have," he shrugged. "But I can see where you might be confused. Face it, love. It's hopeless. You're up against too much."

Killian had heard enough. He tried to attack Terence, but the fair held his hand up and froze the pirate in place. "Calm yourself, mate," Terence laughed. "We will face off in due time. For now, I must bid you all a not so fond adieu." With that, Terence was gone.

Isabel turned to go back inside the hut while everyone else stared at her. They were all thinking the same thing but no one had the guts to say it. Terence used the boys to find where they were. And not only that, they were more certain than ever that he'd do anything to get Isabel back. She, on the other hand, needed to process everything. While she didn't doubt they would win, she was scared the price might be entirely too big. She went to Neverland fully prepared to win at any cost, but it was sinking in that she would have to kill Terence to leave with her family intact. Killian might have been perfectly fine with ending his life. Isabel had never killed anyone before. Her hands were clean on that front. It scared her. She knew about the darkness in Snow's heart after she killed Cora. She knew there were very few ways to absolve herself from that mark. Isabel didn't know how she would save herself from it. As far as she knew, Snow still held the scar.

Killian followed her inside, but he knew his wife well and said nothing. She paced the floor. Pacing meant she didn't want anyone to bother her. So he leaned against the wall and watched her. David went over to him and watched as well. Glancing over at the prince, the pirate sighed. "Just say it, mate."

"We need a plan. Better than what we have," he said.

"She's working on it," Killian told him.

"You're on the losing end here, Hook. Terence is hell bent on having her. You need to start thinking about what's going to happen if he wins." David crossed his arms over his chest.

"He wins. That means I'm dead. Do you think I don't know what's going to happen? Then he will have my wife and son. They will be miserable," Killian growled. He swallowed thickly, reigning himself in. "You're forgetting. I have lost them once before. I've no intention of losing them again. Not without a fight this time."

Because he hadn't been around to fight for Isabel and Peter the first time. Even though he knew the truth, there was a part of him that still felt like they were stolen from him. Part of him knew his wife would have never left him if she'd been given much of a choice. There wasn't one. In a way, her mother held her feet to the fire and demanded she choose the same path. Isabel's only choice was to save her family from whatever danger might occur. There were no guarantees of any danger, but Killian knew Celeste must have meant him when came down to it. Killian had very few regrets when it came how he changed over the centuries. While he didn't lack a certain degree of remorse for his actions, he wasn't apologetic either. He'd learned revenge was just in his nature, an obsession that stemmed as far back as he could remember. What was nobler than avenging the death of his true love? And history repeated itself when Milah came along. He couldn't apologize for that. He did have to wonder if Celeste could look into the future. The man he was prior to going to Neverland would have used Isabel's magic for his own gain. He wouldn't have cared who got hurt in the process. He had to wonder if the news of Isabel being a fairy would eventually twist him into something even more sinister. The thought scared him, and he pushed it as far back in his mind as he could. Celeste couldn't have been protecting her daughter from him. She knew nothing about him or their love for one another. All she knew was she could manipulate her daughter into becoming her.

He brushed past David to go over to his wife. No amount of her pacing was going to keep him from spending as much time as he had left with her. He wrapped his arms around tightly, hand going to hold the back of her head. There was a sort of buzzing coming off her. She was frantic, desperate to leave Neverland with her husband and son. After a moment, she looked up at him. Her eyes were wide, but she'd stopped wrestling with whatever decision she was trying to make.

"What is it, love?" he asked, fingertip brushing over her cheek.

"I have to kill him," she whispered.