Neal was exhausted after playing 'chase the ball all the way to New York City', but Rumpelstiltskin wouldn't let them stop. Neal had been worried the last hour about them running out of gas, but by some miracle, they had managed to make it into the heart of Manhattan before his car finally gave up and they had to walk, keeping the ball in line the entire way. With Rumpelstiltskin's cane, it was difficult, but they were managing. Gazing at the older man, Neal noticed that he appeared to be tense, his free hand clenching and unclenching every few steps they took.
"The island's only seven miles long… we'll find him," Neal said, not really sure what else to say.
"Oh, I know that dearie. I am not worried about finding him, I'm worried about him running away the minute we do," the older man replied.
"I'll talk to him. He trusted me in Neverland, I don't see why he wouldn't trust me now." He would just have to make sure that he distanced himself from Rumpelstiltskin when they finally had Peter… no, Baelfire in their line of sight again. He didn't want to worry about breaking the trust of the person who had taken such good care of he and his twin brother when they were children, Lost Boys, in Neverland.
Though it had been years since he'd seen Baelfire, Neal didn't dare break the trust that the Lost Boys had.
New York City was crowded though, something Neal had known (after all, its reputation preceded it), but had never expected to ever have to experience… and he wasn't sure he wanted to experience this amount of crowds ever again, especially if he had to play 'chase an enchanted ball through city streets' again.
Which he really hoped he wouldn't.
Rumpel's eyes stayed glued to the ball as it rolled almost lazily down the street, missing each person as it zigzagged through the people completely unaware that the people that were chasing it were two childhood characters that they grew up reading about.
This was ridiculous, Neal thought. He obviously believed in magic, and he believed that this would work, but why couldn't they just find the kid already? He did want to talk to Peter, badly, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to keep chasing after him, especially after a seven hour car ride with his moody-as-all-hell father. If they went to the Enchanted Forest, Neal would make sure that David and any other future children he and Emma had, would know to never, ever, ever associate with Rumpelstiltskin. These deals were just insane. Snow probably got the best end of them – only needing to tell him Emma's name, out of all the things he could have asked for (like getting out of the jail she and Charming had locked him in before the curse hit).
Neal frowned a little as he noticed someone walking ahead of them, his thoughts of deals breaking up as he tried to think of why the man looked so familiar to him.
The ball had plans too – nudging against the foot of a boy walking with the strangely familiar man.
"BAELFIRE!" Rumpelstiltskin yelled from just behind him. Neal's jaw dropped a little when the other man turned as well.
His brother.
Then, Baelfire started running, and Neal mentally groaned – not wanting to chase after him. He was exhausted – running was the last thing he wanted to do right now.
"Find him. This is the last part of your deal. Get him to talk to me!" Rumpelstiltskin said, clinging to his arm.
"Alright, alright…" Neal grunted, sprinting after the teenager, completely ignoring his brother for the moment.
Until his own name was shouted out.
He forced himself not to turn around though, as much as he did want to see his brother.
"PETER!" he shouted. "SLOW DOWN! PLEASE!"
But Baelfire didn't stop. Neither of them knew where they were going.
He felt another body tackle his, and the man yelled out, grunting as he was dragged to the ground, Baelfire disappearing from his view in the crowds. Neal struggled against his captor, who finally released him once the boy was gone.
"What the hell are you doing?!" his brother's voice shouted at him as he stood up shakily.
"What does it look like, brother?" Neal replied gruffly. "I'm trying to talk to Peter."
"Baelfire," his brother replied. "He doesn't go by Peter anymore. He's left Neverland."
"Yes, Thomas, I got that when he showed up in the middle of New York City!" Neal replied. "Now I have to find him or – "
"Or what? You don't get to run away from the law?"
Neal's eyes narrowed. "Don't even start with that. Everything is cleared." He didn't have time to be lectured by his brother right now.
His brother snorted. "Please."
"I don't have time for his," Neal said, sprinting off in search of Baelfire once again.
Dammit. Where could he have gone? The city was crowded with buildings squished next to each other. He could be anywhere by now… and on any of the floors of these buildings. Where would Peter Pan flee to in New York City?
Neal let out a sigh and rested against a building, closing his eyes and trying to think.
The only thing he could think of was that Baelfire would be a fish out of water in New York City with the cement, tall buildings, and cars… the only place he knew Baelfire could go and feel… at least a bit at home would be…
"Central Park."
Great. Now how did he get there?
Neal let out another sigh, and began walking again.
"Twin number one. Come here," he suddenly heard as he was walking past a seemingly-empty alleyway.
"Baelfire…" he sighed in relief, going over to the boy. "Are you okay?"
Baelfire nodded. "I just… couldn't face him that's all."
"Who?" Neal asked, playing stupid on the off-chance he hadn't been spotted before Baelfire took off running.
"My father. He's here. He's looking for me," Baelfire whispered. "How did he end up in this world?"
"A curse…" Neal said. "It ripped everyone away from the Enchanted Forest and brought them to this world. Your father included."
"How do you know that?"
"My wife broke it… she's the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming."
"Who?"
Neal blinked in confusion for a moment, before he remembered that Baelfire was born long before Snow and David were. He shook his head. "Never mind. She broke the curse… that's all you need to know."
"And this curse brought them all to this place? This… city?"
"No. It trapped them all in another town about seven hours away. I made a deal with your father… and his end of it was to find you," Neal replied. "He missed you, Baelfire."
He watched the boy shift, visibly uncomfortable with his words. "He did?"
"Yes. Terribly. Why do you think it was the ball you saw first? He kept it. All those years you were gone. He kept that, and I'm pretty sure what he's wearing is your cloak…" Neal said. He would say anything at this point to get Baelfire back to Rumpelstiltskin so they could get back to Storybrooke.
"But he's still making deals."
"But to find you."
Baelfire ran a hand through his hair, the familiar look of frustration on his face. Neal could tell he was torn, and he understood why. It was a lot of pressure. Did he go back to the father that abandoned him? Or did he stay and force his father away from him?
Eventually, the boy nodded "Okay… I'll go with you. But what about your brother?"
Neal shrugged, rubbing his arm, the muscle still sore from when he was tackled. "I don't know. Guess I'll have to talk to him."
Not that he was looking forward to it. His brother was Mr. Perfect, and he… well, he wasn't. Sure he cleaned up his act, but his past was still there, haunting him. And somehow, his brother had found out about it.
"Listen Baelfire…my brother and I… we have issues. Since we got back from Neverland… I haven't been the, well, most… legal person. This world was hard to adjust to. Schools and universities weren't meant for me. I turned to doing what I do best. Thomas and I haven't talked to each other in probably five years now," Neal explained. "So, while you're nervous to talk to your dad, I'm nervous to talk to Thomas… but we're both Lost Boys, are we not?"
Baelfire nodded.
"We can do anything – including talking to those we're afraid to talk to. So let's both take a deep breath and swallow our fears. Like when we were battling Captain Hook."
He saw a small smile form on Baelfire's face, and he knew he had him.
"Let's go, Neal."
Neal let out a quiet sigh of relief, following Baelfire back to where they'd left Thomas and Rumpelstiltskin.
