Warning: Some violence but not graphic, language, and slight Disney bashing.
As usual thanks to RainMirror to beta this chapter for me and also her help about car mechanics. Also thanks for people who review this story as it keeps me going.
He needed to focus on driving quickly out of this town. Magic still made him nervous even if it was not new to him anymore. The faster they got out of town the better.
His brother could handle their captive. They had a practiced run about it. He tried not to use the captive's name. Less guilt if they didn't humanize him. They put the prisoner behind him while his brother sat next to their prisoner with a gun. He tried not to think too much about what they had done- separating a young boy from his father. The needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few.
"Inject yourself with this!" He heard his brother order their captive.
"What's wrong with you and injections? Don't you have any originality? Isn't cuffing me enough?"
"We know you were an ex-thief. We are not risking you escaping custody. You can choose injection or I can shoot your legs so you can't run."
Listening to the stern voice of his brother, he couldn't help but smile. Their practice and hard work of the last few weeks paid off. Soon they will have achieved their goal. He could focus on getting out of town now and tune out what happened in the back.
Around ten minutes later, his brother gently hit the back of his seat. He looked back via the rear-view mirror. Their captive was asleep with his head rolled back. He looked so peaceful and young when asleep. Also strangely familiar. He felt like they had met before but he shook it off. It was impossible. They had never crossed paths before. It was also not the time to get sentimental. He saw that the handcuff was still intact and breathed a sigh of relief that he didn't even remember holding. He signaled a thumbs up to his brother. His brother also looked more relaxed now for the first time today.
They were approaching the sign of "Leaving Storybrooke." He slowed down because he heard this place was accident prone because of the curse. He wasn't the least bit surprised when his car suddenly stopped just before they crossed the line. It was as if the engine just died.
He declared, "I will check the engine."
"Are you sure you can handle it? I'm more experienced in this."
"I'm fine." He gestured at their prisoner. "You make sure he doesn't escape. He is our top priority."
The drug would last at least eight hours. They will have reached their destination by then. But you can never be too careful.
He went to unlatch the hood of the car. Steam billowed out of it. It was so cliché. After a few perfunctory checks, he discovered a leaking hose from the radiator. The reservoir was bone dry. Luckily he had jugs of water in the trunk from their stakeouts. Hopefully he had enough to keep the car going until they could get the hose fixed.
As he circled the car to fetch the water, he found himself faced with the muzzle of a gun. He looked up to see the angry eyes of their prisoner staring down at him.
Their ex-prisoner ordered "Don't move!"
He noticed that his brother was fast asleep with a syringe sticking out of his neck.
He couldn't help but ask, "How did you do that?"
Around thirty minutes earlier
Neal made sure Henry was out of sight before focusing on these two guys. Once he saw that Henry had turned at the corner, he breathed out air that he didn't even realize he was holding.
He also just realized he was shaking. Get a hold of yourself. You have faced worse than this. However, the gun pointed at him didn't help. He had been shot merely weeks ago! He tried to take a steady breath. Just play along with them until you get your opportunity.
It didn't help that after two minutes of driving, the guy with the gun threw a pair of handcuffs and motioned for him to cuff himself. He could try to fight back with the chance of getting shot or he could jump out from the speeding car. The chance of getting injured from jumping out of a speeding car was really high. These guys could just drive back and retrieve his body. If he got injured, the chance of escaping was even less. So he needed to buy time and just did what they ordered. So he cuffed himself.
He rolled his eyes when the guy with the gun, he mentally called him Gun for short, produced a syringe from his pocket and tossed it in his direction. It dropped on his lap. These guys must have come from the same school of villainy as Tamara. A cold dread suddenly came over him. These guys had been following him. He had spotted this car the night he ran into the Cannery, although he had paid no heed at that time in his agitated state. He also saw this car every time he walked from his father's place to Granny's the last few days when he was allowed to go out of the house. And he thought he was being paranoid!
"Inject yourself with this!" Gun ordered him unnecessarily. As if the syringe could be used for other purposes!
He couldn't hold back his retort. "What's wrong with you and injections? Don't you have any originality? Isn't cuffing me enough?"
"We know you were an ex-thief. We are not risking you escaping custody. You can choose injection or I can shoot your legs so you can't run."
OK, so they had researched him. Of course they did. It was just his luck. On the first chance picnicking with his family too! Get a hold of yourself, Baelfire. You have managed it so far. You can do it!
He was shaking when he took the syringe. At least he didn't fake his shaking. Damn PTSD! He dropped it on the floor at the furthest corner from Gun who ordered him to pick it up. He squatted and made sure his body blocked Gun's view. He picked up the dropped syringe and switched it with the one he had put in his hoodie's pocket. He could have done it in a matter of milliseconds but his cuffed hands slowed him down by at least twenty milliseconds.
"Don't get any ideas. Now sit back, let me see your hands."
He sat back up slowly. There was really no need to make this process any easier for his kidnappers. Besides he really hated syringes. He showed his cuffed hands to Gun. His right hand was holding his own syringe.
"Inject the syringe in your neck." His hand still shook when he tried to find a vein on his neck. Now or never! He gritted his teeth as he emptied the syringe into his vein. It hurt! It really hurt! He took out the syringe and threw it in the direction of Gun. Gun seemed to breathe a sigh of relief after seeing he injected himself. Neal didn't know that he was that reputable that people took great precaution around him. Who are these guys?
Now it was the time for the fake sleeping. He had a lot of practice in Neverland. He leaned back and put his head on the back of the chair. He made a show to try to keep his eyes open for a few times but couldn't. Finally he closed his eyes and slowed down his breathing. He even allowed his mouth to open a little to complete the illusion.
Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. Neal lived by that principle after every shitty thing that happened to him since his father let him go through the portal. He was devastated that Tamara nearly got to him using a syringe. He had sworn to himself never to be a prisoner again since Neverland. He'd rather die. He needed to be prepared. After all he still carried a lighter around even though he didn't smoke in case Pan's shadow came after him. Adding a syringe was nothing. Obtaining one without suspicion given his PTSD and status as the son of the Dark One in Storybrooke was another matter.
Opportunity knocked when Victor had come to visit him. Victor mentioned about needing to learn to inject himself as it was less painful. He didn't take the offer seriously at first because he was sure his father had cured most of his injury using magic.
A few days later it suddenly clicked. Victor could teach him how to inject himself and provided him with a clean needle. The doctor didn't mind providing him with needles and teaching him how to use them because they had become fast friends.
They had bonded through the fates of being dragged to another world completely different from their own not by their own choices. Besides, neither of them were bona fide fairy tale characters. Victor would be the first to get offended if he was mistaken for any fairy tale characters. With the exception of Rumplestiltskin, who was a master manipulator, Victor thought these people had rather simple thought processes. Everything could be cured by true love kisses, rainbows, unicorns, curses, and magic. He was rather proud to come from a legend, not fairy tales, in this world. Baelfire himself was not really a fairy tale character. Neal assured Whale that Disney would never make any movies or stories about him. The son of the Dark One was not interesting. Disney was only interested in princesses, villains, and the vapid princes who married those princesses.
Victor had taught him how to find veins on his hands, chest, and neck, just in case. They didn't really spell out loud what the "case" might be. The doctor had also warned him that if he wanted to carry a dummy syringe, it was best to fill it with saline solution, not water. Contrary to popular belief, it was dangerous to inject oneself with water. Neal was thankful that he had actually asked a proper doctor for advice. He also hadn't expected he would put his newfound knowledge to use so soon!
As he closed his eyes, he focused on his hearing to get to know what was going on. They were still speeding. Suddenly, the car slowed down and then completely stopped. He took a peek when Gun talked with Driver. So they were at the "Leaving Storybrooke" sign. He was not surprised. This place seemed to be more accident prone than the Bermuda Triangle. He then realized perhaps only Whale or Emma would appreciate his joke. Focus, Baelfire! Don't joke until you are out of danger. You made a promise to return to Henry.
So he was an important cargo for them. He wondered why. As soon as he heard the hood of car being opened, he took another peek. Gun's attention was at Driver. Thankfully his gun was not trained on him. He quickly produced the syringe with the drug and plunged it at the vein of Gun's neck while his left hand covered Gun's mouth to muffle any sound. Thankfully, the drug worked really fast and Gun started to doze off and slept. Neal would send a fruit basket or two to Whale. He quickly took the gun and put it on the other side so that Gun needed to pass him to reach it. Just in case!
He found the paper clip at his breast pocket. He quickly straightened it up and used it to work on the cuff. He kept glancing at the hood while he worked. He saw that Driver was about to walk back pass the driver seat. Just two more turns then the cuff was open. He quickly grabbed the gun and stood up from the back seat. He masked his shaking hands by glaring. At least his anger was real as he really was not sure whether he could fake that. He got really tired of being a pawn in other people's game.
He was satisfied by the shocked look of Driver. "Don't move," he said and realized that was rather unnecessary. He couldn't blame Gun now, who had barked obvious orders at him. Must be from the nervousness of holding a gun.
"How did you do that?" the Driver asked.
He couldn't help but smirk. Again he was not a super villain or even a plain villain. He wouldn't narrate how he did something. He answered casually, "I can assure you it was not magic. I'm the one with the gun so I should be the one ordering you. Now cuff your hand with this." He threw the cuff at Driver. Driver looked scandalized but followed his order. Payback is a bitch!
"Now slide to the passenger's seat and don't move." Neal opened the back door, came out and moved to sit at the driver seat, all the while the gun still trained on Driver.
He was a bit more relaxed now as things started to be under his control. Constant vigilance! A voice that annoyingly sounded like Peter Pan reminded him. Since when did Pan watch Harry Potter? Focus, Baelfire! Ask them the important questions. "Who are you?"
"I'm John, that's my brother Michael."
"Why do you want to capture me?"
"To ask the whereabouts of our colleague, Tamara and also to get our sister back."
"Isn't Tamara with the Federal Police?"
"No. She disappeared as soon as she was asked to retrieve you."
So either Emma or his dad had been lying to him. He started to feel sick. He was not a fan of Tamara, not by a long shot. But he was against killing. He needed to know more information. "I was not aware of that. What have I got to do with your sister?"
"Our sister was held by Peter Pan. We needed someone who had escaped Neverland. Your name came up. You could be our guide there. Besides, your father would be more inclined to help us if we have you."
He gritted his teeth. So they really had come from the same mold as Tamara. However, one thing was different. They wanted to rescue their sister. "What is your sister's name?"
"Wendy. Wendy Darling."
He dropped his gun involuntarily. Luckily it didn't go off. He didn't expect this! "John? John Darling? I'm Baelfire. I'm sorry that I injected Michael. I didn't know!" He went to hug an equally shocked John Darling. They released the hug after a few seconds.
"Baelfire, how you grew up! I should have known. You looked familiar but again you used the name Neal. The Home Office didn't tell us about that."
"I guess they only give select information." He suddenly felt a cold sweat start to creep in. "Did you say Peter Pan has Wendy? How?"
"After the shadow took you, Wendy went to Neverland to find you. She never came back. We went to follow and Pan used her as a leverage to order us around."
The cold sweat had started to spread to his whole body. He started to feel numb. All for nothing! All for nothing! His sacrifices so far were for nothing. He couldn't help his father from the dark curse. He couldn't help Emma to be reunited with her family. He thought at least he could keep Wendy's family intact. But it was not the case. It was all for nothing. And it was all his fault!
He heard John's voice from very far away calling his name. He would have been better off staying in his cocoon of guilt and hatred. Why shouldn't he hate himself? The world must really hate him now.
Note:
-And that's how the PTSD came back with full force. I'm so sorry. Rumple and Emma are in the next chapter.
-I guess most of you would have guessed who the brothers were after a few paragraphs. Some even have guessed from the last chapter.
-I'm not experienced in writing thriller and action so I hope this chapter works. I know I mix genres in this chapter. Now sure if it works as it was supposed to be thriller, action, friendship/family, then angst in that particular order. I even inserted some humor which might actually lessen the thriller part but I can't help it.
-Please tell me what you think.