AN: I hate colds. But it gave me time to finally finish up this chapter, at least! If there's any mistakes, it's my cold medicine's fault. Just kidding. But seriously, I hope I did an adequate job this chapter because I have been half asleep most of the day.
Third Person P.O.V
Chapter 21.
"So now what?" Serena asked cheerfully, perched on Felix's shoulder while he sat against a tree.
Shrinking to her fairy size and sitting there, or climbing into his pocket, had become among her favorite things to do. Felix didn't mind like he thought he would. It became as natural to him as it was to her. He knew they had a relationship that would be considered strange to others, though he wasn't sure "relationship" wasn't quite the right word. They'd kiss and fooled around a couple times, but there wasn't exactly anything romantic involved when they talked.
For a fraction of a moment, Felix envied Peter and Amy. But that thought was gone the second it entered his mind. Things were fine the way they were. He didn't need the drama of romance and love.
In response to the magenta-colored fairy's question, Felix shrugged, making him snicker as she struggled not to topple off. It reminded him why he liked when she was in her small fairy form.
After receiving a smack on the cheek, which he barely felt from the size of her fist, he said, "Well, we warned Tink like you wanted, and now I want to lay low again like I want."
Serena rolled her eyes. "Uh, babe, we've kinda been laying low. Pretty sure Pan still wants you dead."
"Helpful as always," Felix said dryly. "And it's just until we find a way to get him to forgive me."
"Good luck with that," Serena said, nodding seriously. "Meanwhile, I'm going to be thinking of a real plan."
Felix stood up, making Serena have to grab his shirt to keep from sliding off. He began to walk, looking more cheerful than Serena had seen him in a while.
"You'll see, little fairy," Felix said with a smirk. "The opportunity will present itself at the right time. We just have to wait for that to happen."
"You do that," Serena said dryly. "I know you're waiting for some magical opportunity to get his forgiveness to fall from the sky but life doesn't work like that."
Felix started to retort when he cut himself off abruptly, standing on top of a small hill that overlooked a medium-sized frozen river. A light layer of snow covered the ice, except for a large spot of water in the very center of the river that was completely thawed.
It intrigued him. It wasn't cold enough outside for it to be frozen like that. Felix stared at the center, squinting his eyes to see better. There was something strange inside of it. It was clear and circular, like a force field. Something curled up inside.
"It looks like a giant bubble," Serena commented curiously. "What's that in it? An animal?"
Felix leaned closer, trying to get a better look. Almost immediately, his heart stopped, a strangled hiss slipping through his lips.
"What's wrong?" Serena asked nervously, putting her small hand on his cheek as if to comfort him.
His lips barely moved as he spoke. "Go look closer and tell me that's not what I think it is."
Serena frowned but jumped off his shoulder, flying down to get a closer look at the water. For a second, there was only the sound of the early morning crickets and the birds singing a cheerful song. The tranquility the forest offered shattered when a horrified gasp escaped Serena, confirming Felix's fear.
"Shit," she whispered. "Who the fuck did she piss off this time?"
Felix stumbled down the hill to get closer to the water, his heart pounding. In the giant bubble, Amy was lying there with her eyes shut.
"Is she-?" Felix couldn't finish the question.
"She's alive," Serena said, causing a huge rush of relief to go through him. "I-I think, at least. The bubble thing must be filled with air." She pointed. "See, she's not wet or anything. It's a spell to just make it harder to get to her, I think." She flew back to him and shifted to her human-size, crossing her arms and scanning the forest nervously.
"Where the hell is Pan?" she demanded angrily.
Felix just shook his head. Never would his leader would have allowed this to happen unless he was so completely distracted that someone were able to slip in and drag her off, or something.
Peter had far too many enemies to figure out who did this.
Felix hesitated, staring down at what was Neverland's only Lost Girl, trapped and helpless. He had always prided himself on being the most loyal follower, the second in command, the one person that Peter Pan trusted since they were children. But in the end, the girl who had spent so long questioning his intentions had stuck by his side through it all for no reason other than her honest, pure love for him.
If she died, Peter Pan would break.
Felix sighed, rubbing his temple. He was going to regret this.
"If you can't lift the bubble out of the water, can you destroy it?"
Serena blinked in surprise, but nodded cautiously. "Maybe. But she's unconscious. She'll drown or freeze to death in there."
"Really?" Felix asked sarcastically as he began to pull his hoodie off. "I didn't think of that."
"Oh, hello," Serena said, staring wide-eyed. He was incredibly thin, more so than she'd realized. But there was a definite muscle tone in his arms as well as a hard, lean chest.
Felix smirked, handing her the hoodie. "Down, Tiger. Unfortunately, I've got another girl to rescue."
Serena smiled cheekily. "Just as long as I'm the favorite." She winced, shooting the icy water a reproachful look. "You're going to have to wait down there so you can grab her the second I pop that thing."
"Got it."
"Oh and one more thing."
She got up on her tiptoes and held his shoulders, pulling him down slightly so her lips could meet his in a soft kiss. It didn't last long, but it sent a warm flicker through him that made him feel like he could do anything. Like how he used to feel on Neverland.
"Don't die."
He raised an eyebrow. "That sounded more like a warning than a 'be careful'."
She smiled sweetly. "It was a threat. Now get in there already."
Not wanting to waste any more time, Felix kicked off his heavy shoes and padded barefoot across the ice coated river. He didn't mind the cold so much at the moment. He was used to Neverland's horrible, unpredictable weather changes, according to whatever mood Peter happened to be in at the time.
When he reached the hole in the ice, he glanced back at Serena who nodded encouragingly. "Just jump in and get it over with."
Felix took a deep breath before complying.
It felt like a million swords were stabbing him at once. For a second he just kept his eyes shut, waiting for it to get better, but it wasn't.
A blinding light urged him to open his eyes. His vision was dark and blurry in the water, but he could make out a small, yellow beam hitting the bubble. Water began flooding inside of it as it slowly began to dissolve. Felix forced himself to swim forward towards the now floating, limp body. He couldn't believe the freezing water hadn't woken her up. Whatever had been done to her, was incredibly effective. Unless she really was dead, but he refused to think that.
Felix pulled her heavy cloak off before he wrapped an arm around her waist and began to swim up. His lungs were beginning to burn for air and Amy had no time herself. She wasn't awake to hold her breath. As he reached the top, his head slammed into thick, hard ice.
"No!" gurgled out of his mouth before he could stop himself. The opening was completely gone. It must have been a trap.
He began pounding at the ice with his fist. He had not come this far to let either one of them die now.
Serena sprinted across the now completely frozen surface of the river, sliding around clumsily. She heard Felix pounding on the ice as he tried in vain to break it. She threw her hand out and a burst of light shot out, putting a small crack in the ice.
Over and over she kept hitting it until it was in several large chunks, giving Felix the opportunity to get out.
His head burst through the surface of the water and he gasped for air. Serena grabbed Amy and dragged her freezing, wet body out, watching Felix nervously as he climbed out, his body convulsing from the cold. She waved her hand and magically put both Felix and Amy into the thickest, softest clothes she could think of. Felix scooped Amy up and without wasting another second, they took off back into the forest, putting as much distance between them and the river as they could.
Finally, they collapsed under a tree. Felix quickly passed the girl to Serena, who awkwardly held her tightly, trying to warm her.
"I think she might be under a sleeping curse."
Felix furrowed his eyebrows. "How do you know?"
"I saw Snow under it," she explained. "Besides, whoever put her in there wouldn't have gone through the trouble to give her air if she were already dead. Pan's just gotta kiss her and she'll wake up."
"That seems too easy," Felix said slowly.
Serena shrugged. "It's how it works."
Felix shook his head. "I mean, if that trap was set for Pan then he would have gotten through it without an issue with the kind of magic he has. He would have been able to melt the entire river without an issue."
Serena paled slightly. "Unless the trap wasn't for him."
As if on cue, an unpleasantly familiar voice chuckled. "It's been too long, Tiger Lily. Miss me?"
Serena gritted her teeth, slowly turning her head to fix a cold, hard glare on the Wicked Witch as she emerged from the trees, a cold smirk on her face as she stared at the pink fairy.
"Can't say that I have," Serena said calmly. She practically shoved Amy back onto Felix who was staring at Serena incredulously. She figured she probably she have mentioned her brief, but bad, history between her and the Witch, but it was a little late for that.
Serena stood up and crossed her arms, looking at the green woman in thoughtful silence for a long time.
"You know," Serena finally said. "I think I sneezed something like you once, Zelena."
Zelena's mouth tightened. "You haven't changed a bit, have you?"
Serena shook her head cheerfully. "Nope!" She smirked. "You have though, Green Bean. The Wicked Witch, huh? Do you still throw tantrums at the drop of a hat?"
Zelena growled, making Serena burst out laughing. "I'll take that as a yes."
"This was a warning." She narrowed her eyes at Serena, who continued to grin at her. "Stay out of my way with or I will kill all of you." She nodded her head at Amy. "But thank you for showing me just how desperate you both are to redeem yourselves." She smiled dangerously at Felix. "I'm sure Pan will appreciate it."
He curled his lips into a snarl and she smirked, her eyes flickering back to Serena. "And as for you, well, you really are determined to finally give a happy ending, aren't you?"
Serena raised an eyebrow. "You ruined your own happiness. Don't blame me for your mistakes."
"Oh but I shall have my happy ending," Zelena hissed. "I promise you that." She snapped her fingers and both Serena and Felix were frozen in place.
"I'll send for Amethyst shortly, I'm sure." With one last wicked smile, she vanished in a cloud of green smoke, her cold blue eyes never leaving Serena's light brown ones.
The second she was gone, Serena sighed. "You'd think she'd remember that I taught her the 'freezing people' trick. Dumb fuck." She closed her eyes tightly and a moment later, both she and Felix were unfrozen. "Let's go."
Felix blinked, slowly standing up and hoisting Amy over his shoulder. "Fine. But I want to hear all about this mysterious past later."
Serena cocked her head. "My entire past or my past with her?"
"Both," Felix said immediately. She knew he'd been dying to know how she'd hidden from the fairies after she left them but she refused to say.
"That'll take too long," she told him solemnly.
Zelena let out a scream of rage as she took the meat pie she had so carefully prepared for her mentor and threw it at the wall. After everything he'd taught her, after all he saw that she was capable of, he still picked the other sister, the less powerful one. Now there was a hideous green mark on her throat, all because he failed to see that she was the only one capable of helping him.
"I'm the better one!" she shrieked, hurling another plate of food. "I'M THE ONE HE NEEDS!"
"Ooh, someone's having a bad day."
Zelena whirled around, brandishing a candle like a weapon. Foolishly remembering that she had magic, she tossed it aside and angrily looked around.
"Who are you?" she snapped, fear creeping into her voice. "Show yourself!"
"Uh, honey, look up."
Blinking, Zelena slowly lifted her head to see a young girl, less than a foot tall, floating in the air. She glowed with a dark pink essence and wore scanty pink clothes, decorated with flowers.
Briefly forgetting her fury, Zelena asked curiously, "Are those wings?"
The small girl grinned. "Well I wouldn't much of a fairy without them, now would I?" She floated closer to the ground, shifting into a 5'5 foot sized girl, her wings no longer there.
"I've never met a fairy before," Zelena said awed, an incredulous smile spreading on her face.
"I've never met a woman going green before," the girl replied in amusement. "It's a nice color on you if it helps." She shrugged and walked over to the table, perching herself on it comfortably. Her gaze fell on the pile of broken dishes and mashed up food by the wall and she looked at Zelena in horror. "Did you seriously waste all that food?"
"Sorry," Zelena said hesitantly. "I-I could fix you something else, if you'd like."
She crossed her legs and rested her head on her hands. "Oh no, I'd much rather hear about what could warrant that kind of criminal behavior. I assume it has something to do with the lovely slap of green on your neck."
Zelena clenched her fists. "It's all Rumplestiltskin's fault," she hissed.
"Blame Rumplestiltskin for all problems should be the town motto," the fairy mused thoughtfully, almost to herself. She shook her head to clear it and raised her eyebrows. "So what happened?"
Zelena glared furiously. "None of your business!" she snapped.
The girl raised her hands up defensively. "Geez, calm down. I'm only here to help." She held her hand out and smiled. "My names Tiger Lily. Congratulations! I'm your fairy Godmother."
"Where's Amy?"
The noises and clattering of the large group of people abruptly stopped, all of them simultaneously turning to look at Peter Pan who was leaning against the extremely large doorway frame to the ballroom, where everyone had temporary gathered in. There were so many of them that it was really only the room they could all fit into at the time being. They all shot him confused, somewhat nervous stares, along with a few growls from where the dwarfs stood.
Peter quirked an eyebrow, amused. "Did none of you hear me? I knew you weren't the smartest bunch but it was a simple question. I'll ask one more time." He winked. "A bit more slowly." His expression changed abruptly from playful to frightening. "Where. Is. Amy?"
Regina rolled her eyes. "Oh, would you relax? She went on a walk with Belle."
He set his jaw as he stepped aside, revealing Belle who stepped around the corner from behind him, looking shaken.
"No," she whispered. "She didn't. Someone knocked me out from behind." She swallowed, gingerly touching her head. "Pan found me in the upstairs hallway."
"Zelena," David said with a sigh, exchanging a look with Snow. He raised his voice to be heard of the murmuring crowed. "Everyone outside! We'll spread out and search."
"That won't be necessary, Charming," Peter said darkly. "When was the last time you saw her?"
"About twenty minutes ago," Tinkerbell piped up.
Peter shot her a dark look, but she held his gaze steadily. After a moment, he simply nodded before red smoke enveloped him.
"Has anyone seen Rumple?" he heard Belle ask before he vanished from the castle ballroom.
He reappeared in the forest outside of the castle and began to concentrate on letting his magic detect where she was. He waited and waited, but nothing happened.
His palms began to sweat. It didn't make sense. His magic always went crazy when it came to finding Amy's magic. There wasn't a shield spell in all the realms that could hide her from him. They shared the same powers from the same person. They were connected. It should have lead him straight to her.
Unless she was . . .
"No," Peter said to himself firmly. His breathing grew heavier as the possibility kept replaying in his mind. She couldn't be dead. Zelena wouldn't have killed her. Not without toying with him first. Not without toying with Regina. He gritted his teeth and kept urging his magic to look for her, but it did nothing.
He felt his composure slip away, Amy's coy smile and laugh echoing in his mind. He'd lied and manipulated her again, using the one thing she wanted most as a distraction. Was it all for nothing? Was this his punishment? Ripping her away. Maybe for good.
"No!" Peter roared.
He took off running into the woods. His brain was screaming a million different things, unable to sort out where to go, or what to do next. The only thing he could pick out was that he had to find her.
She needed him.
Amy, Amy, Amy.
He needed her.
Amy, Amy, Amy.
She was around somewhere.
Amy, Amy, Amy.
She wasn't dead. His Lost Girl wouldn't give up. She promised to never leave him.
"You really should have been more careful about keeping an eye on her."
Peter snarled, halting to a stop several feet away from Zelena.
"It was disappointingly easy," she said with a sigh. "You're both so weak. But I'll make you a deal. Hand over the dagger and I'll give you her body to bury."
A twisted, sick grin crept up his face. "She's not dead! I'd know if she were dead. I don't know how you're hiding her, but she's still alive. I can feel it."
Zelena rolled her eyes. "I never expected the great Peter Pan to be so nauseating." She shrugged. "Maybe she is alive, and maybe she isn't." She held her hand out. "Only one way to find out."
Peter continued to grin. "I don't have Rumplestiltskin's dagger."
Zelena stared at him in utter disbelief. "There's no way you gave it back!" she cried, sounding hysterical. "Not after everything! Where is it!?"
Peter disappeared and reappeared in front of her, his hands wrapped around her throat.
"You underestimated me," he said, smiling. "Mercy is an emotion I'm not capable of, so we'll make this long and painful." He pulled the dagger from his boot and slit her shoulder deeply, making her whine slightly, though she quickly gritted her teeth to quiet herself.
"Don't you just hate it when your plans don't work out?" Peter asked softly. "Don't you just hate to lose to a villain much cleverer than you are?"
"I haven't lost in the slightest, dear," she said. "I will get that dagger, one way or another."
He raised an eyebrow. "You want it? Here." Peter dug the dagger into her shoulder and she cried out.
"Where is she!?" he shouted. When she said nothing, he shoved her against a tree and began bashing her head back into it repeatedly, immediately wiping the smirk off her face. "WHERE. IS. SHE!?" After about seven slams, she was unconscious.
Peter threw her to the ground in disgust. "So weak," he hissed. He raised the dagger, ready to plunge it into her.
"Are you going to tell her what you did, or should I?"
Peter spun around at the sound of Felix's voice, baring his teeth. The look vanished from his face when he saw Amy, slung over his shoulder. Serena stood next to him, staring at Peter with a sickened look.
"Amy," he breathed, his legs trembling.
Was she . . .?
"She's alive," Felix said quickly. "It's a sleeping curse."
Alive. He'd been right. The curse was just keeping her powers numb, as if she were dead. Nearly weak with relief, he slid the dagger back in his boot and stormed forward. Felix immediately handed her over, as though she were a small child and not a tall teenage girl. Peter noticed Felix was shaking.
Peter knelt to the ground, cradling Amy's body against his. "I've got you," he whispered, rocking her gently. "You're safe now, I promise." His fingers traced her face, which felt like ice, and touched her blue lips. He frowned, looking back at Felix. "Why is she so cold?" he asked sharply.
Felix cleared her throat. "Zelena was hiding her in a frozen river."
Peter tucked Amy's head underneath his chin, clutching her to him tightly as he stared at Felix for a long time. He wasn't shaking from fear, but from cold. He'd risked his life to get her. He was still loyal to him.
"Get her out of here while you can," Felix said quietly, staring at the dagger sticking out of his shoe. "Before they realize . . ." Serena made a small noise in the back of her throat and turned away.
Peter gave Felix a stiff nod. He was far from forgiving him, but this was a small start. He wasn't going to kill him, at least not at the moment. He'd decide later. Peter waved his hand over Amy and she was comfortably wrapped up in the multi-colored cloak he used to wear. He then slid an arm under her legs and stood up, holding her carefully.
It was wrong, leaving her so helpless like this. He knew she hated being vulnerable, as well as being lied to. But he'd wake her up later, once they were far away from all three of her sisters, who would surely tell her what he'd done.
Then, when Zelena's guard was down, he'd come back and destroy her.
AN: Thank you all for your amazing feedback! So helpful and encouraging! I love you, dearies!
Spoilers for 3x18
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Rumple . . . Zelena . . . kiss . . . *rocking back and forth in corner, whimpering* Someone please tell me that didn't actually happen. It was almost as terrifying as Zelena's mood swings.
But the Outlaw Queen kiss made me feel better.
GREAT EPISODE, though I'm extremely confused as to how King Leopold didn't recognize Cora when he was engaged to Regina (which is now a thousand times more DISTURBING). Really hoping they have an actual explanation for that . . .