Warning: This chapter contains violence and torture.
8 Hours Ago
Don't panic. Whatever happens, do not panic.
Panicking only let Pan knew you were afraid. So, Bae couldn't panic.
It was hard to do, though, when the Lost Boys had tied him to a tree trunk, far away enough from Pan's camp to not scare the younger boys, but nowhere near his cave. His arms were tied above him, and his feet were tied together. And, whichever boy did his knots, he really knew them. Bae would have to work on getting out when his hands were tied.
But, after that, they had just left him alone. Some may have wondered why, but Bae had a pretty good idea of what they were doing. They were letting him wait, and grow more anxious. More afraid of what Pan had in store for him.
So, the trick was not to panic. By staying calm, Bae could be ready to find a oppurtunity to escape, and take it.
He was just scared about Jess. That shadow...well, it hadn't looked like Pan's shadow, but who else would it belong to?
But, he didn't see her when the Lost Boys had dragged him away, and the boys had seemed surprised when the shadow grabbed her. It was possible she had gotten away somehow. That she was able to use a light to get the shadow to drop her, just has he had when he was first brought to Neverland.
He would have to hope that was what happened. If not...Jess was probably in more danger than he was. And if that was the case, Bae had to get out and help her, before Pan did something worse to her. He already knew how Pan was hurting her. How he was getting inside her head, and tormenting her. What would Pan do now that he caught her?
No, he couldn't think about that. He had to trust in Jess. He had to trust in his sister, that she would be resourceful enough to escape Pan. She had already done it several times, and she could do it again.
He heard a twig snap, and he looked up. He felt his heart sink as Pan and Felix made their way towards him. They looked no different than they had the last time Bae had seen them, when Jess was under the spell of Pan's pipes. No surprise there, since nobody grew up on Neverland.
"Been a long time, Baelfire," said Pan, smirking.
"Really?" asked Bae, keeping the apprehension out of his voice. "I thought this came all too soon."
Pan snorted, and Felix cracked a sinister smile. That wasn't good.
"So, you've managed to stay calm?" Pan noted, scanning Bae up and down. Bae felt his skin crawl as Pan looked over him. It was like looking at a roasted bird, and deciding which part needed carved up first.
"That's good," Pan said. "Panicking would just make this messy."
"And since when have you not liked messy?" Bae shot back, refusing to let Pan get under his skin.
Pan's eyes glinted, clearly enjoying the banter.
"Let's just say that I'm willing to clean up when it comes to a woman," he said, letting Bae take in his meaning.
Bae knew exactly what he was saying. That Pan would do anything to find Jess, and this time hold onto her.
"Now enough of this chit-chat," said Pan, crouching down to Bae's eye level. "Let's get down to business. This can either be very painless, or very painful, Baelfire. That's up to you. And all you have to do is answer one simple question."
Bae already knew what it was, but that did nothing to stop the knot of fear when Pan, his voice dangerously low.
"Where is Vin?"
Bae felt both a thrill of hope, and another feeling of fear. If Pan was asking where Jess was, then he didn't have her. She had gotten away. But, if Pan was trying to force the answer out of him, then he was getting more and more desperate. And, if Pan was getting more desperate, he was becoming more dangerous. And Bae really didn't want to be at the receiving end of this dangerous side.
"What happened?" he asked. "Did you lose her? I thought you knew this island like the back of your hand."
"Oh, I do," Pan said, almost reassuringly. "But I think we both know how powerful Vin is. Let's just say that she has found a way to shield herself from me, and that I can't find her, even when using magic."
That was it. That was why after all those years, Pan hadn't gone after either of them. For once, Bae felt was glad that Jess had magic.
"So, that's why I need your help," continued Pan, cheerfully, as if it were all a game. "I need you to tell me where Vin is."
Bae smirked, and shrugged as well as he could with his hands tied above his head.
"Sorry," he said. "Can't help you."
Pan looked at him, and let out a sigh, as if disappointed. But, Bae knew better. He had known Pan for too long to know that Pan never was disappointed. If anything, he was happy Bae was putting up a fight, just for the challenge of it. It wasn't good for Bae, but it was better than telling Pan where Jess was.
"Well, I was afraid you'd say that," Pan said, his voice mockingly said. "Felix…"
He didn't have to say another word. Felix stepped forward, almost eagerly, and punched Bae in the stomach. Hard.
If not for the ropes that tied his arms above, Bae would have collapsed then and their. He gasped, all the air knocked out of his lungs.
"Really, Baelfire," said Pan, condescendingly. "You know me. You know that I always get what I want. You know I'm going to get her back eventually, why put yourself through all the pain?"
Because it kept her safe. It bought her time.
Time for what, Bae didn't know. But it was time that Jess was free, and safe from Pan.
"All you have to do," said Pan, calmly and graciously. "Is just tell me where she is. After that, this all ends. You're free to go."
But Jess wouldn't be. Pan would just take her, and turn her back into his toy. He would use the younger Lost Boys against her, and try to convince her to become one of his. Bae wasn't going to let that happen. Not to Jess. Not to his sister. He had already lost Wendy to Pan, and to free her, he ended up on Neverland. He wasn't going to let that happen to his other sister.
He looked up at Pan, and didn't say anything. He just let his defiant glare do the talking. Pan looked back at him, and while his expression was considerate, his eyes were angry and annoyed.
Good, thought Bae. The more annoyed he gets, the more likely he'll make a mistake.
"Fine, then," said Pan, with another sigh. "Seems we have no choice. I expected a lot more from you, Baelfire. I thought self-preservation was something that ran through the family. I mean, look at your father."
Bae would have curled his hands to fists if they weren't tied so tightly. He had to keep his face clean of emotion, so Pan couldn't see how the last jab hurt him so much. He wasn't like his father. He wouldn't sacrifice his own son to keep his power. He wouldn't sacrifice Jess either, just to get out of this unharmed.
Felix drew a knife from his belt, and held it up to Bae. Bae caught a glimpse in the Lost Boy's eyes, and felt another wave of fear.
"Why have Felix do it?" he asked, looking over the burly Lost Boy to Pan. "Why not do it yourself?"
Pan shrugged.
"He asked for it," he replied casually. "He told me himself that he wanted to be the one to hurt you."
Bae racked his brain for something he had done to Felix specifically, but nothing came to mind. Pan caught Bae's confused look, and read it perfectly.
"Oh, it's not you, Baelfire," he explained. "Didn't Vin ever tell you? The night that she drank the water, and became a permanent resident of Neverland, she and the pirate captain met Rufio. You remember him, don't you? Felix's brother?"
Yes, Bae remembered. Jess had also told him what had happened that night. How Rufio had attacked her and Hook, and how Hook had stabbed Rufio with the poison laced sword to save them. And how at the boy's final moments, he had told Jess his real name: Sebastian.
"Well, the pirate captain and Vin killed him," continued Pan. "With his own sword. They left him for dead, and fled."
Lies. It was all lies. Bae knew Jess, and she had always respected the memory of Sebastian for showing his true self to her in his final moments. For fighting Pan in his last moments. That respect was too great to be false.
"So, Felix here, doesn't see this as a grudge against you," Pan said, a malicious glint in his eyes.
"I want Vin to know what it's like to see a brother hurt," Felix hissed. "To feel that fear, and realize you may never see him again."
With that, Felix brought his knife down next to Bae's arm, and slowly the blade cut into Bae's flesh.
Bae had to bite his tongue to hold back any noise of pain. He had been through worse. He had felt worse. He could manage this.
He wouldn't tell them where Jess was. He would not let them near her. But he knew, deep down, what they wanted was for him to give into the torture. To feel the pain they inflicted on him.
He wouldn't give Pan that satisfaction. No matter what Pan did, he would not let Pan have that satisfaction of hearing him scream.
It continued on. Sometimes Felix would punch him repeatedly, other times he would cut Bae with his knife, careful to avoid any veins and arteries. But that did not ease the pain.
And whenever Felix stepped back, admiring his handiwork, Pan would step forward, and promise an end to the pain if Bae just told him where Jess was.
Bae wouldn't do it. No matter how painful it was, he would not betray Jess. She would never betray him, so he wouldn't betray her. No matter what Pan promised.
Finally, after hours, Pan held up his hand.
"Alright, Felix," he said. "Bring us some water. I think our guest is thirsty."
He was right. Bae's throat was parched, but he couldn't let Pan know that. His mouth had the metallic taste of blood, from where he had bit into his cheek, but that was alright. He had held his resolve, and had not screamed throughout the entire torture.
He had made it. So far.
Once Felix was out of earshot, Pan turned back to Bae, before leaning lazily against a tree trunk. He looked Bae up and down, as if trying to figure out what was going on in Bae's mind. Bae's face was bloody and bruised, so he wasn't quite sure what Pan was looking for.
After a moment of silence, so thick, it could be cut with a knife, Pan finally spoke up.
"I can't help but wonder," he said. "What makes Vin so special? What about her makes you so loyal to her?"
Bae grit his teeth, and tried to clear his mind. He knew what Pan was doing. It wouldn't be torture if Pan didn't get to try to get into his head.
"You can't possibly hoping that she'll fall in love with you," Pan mused. "I mean, she is trapped in a seventeen year old body. And, she obviously has very high standards, or else she would be with me right now."
Every implication about that seemed wrong. Jess was no more than a sister to Bae. Anything else would be too wrong. Too strange. It wasn't that she was too old or too prideful. They just cared for each other as siblings. They wouldn't have it any other way.
"I wonder," said Pan, his eyes flashing with new malice. "If this has anything to do with dear Tiger Lilly."
Bae felt his heart go cold.
No, this was wrong. He could not listen to Pan taunt him about this. Never this.
Not Tiger.
"Yes," Pan said, stepping forward. "You were very close to our little indian friend, weren't you? She was the one who taught you to survive, right? The one who helped you learn how to live off the land on your own."
Yes. She had been. She had done it to repay him for trying to save her tribe. Before, the only reason he had ever stayed with Pan and the Lost Boys to survive, but Tiger had saved him from that. She had taught him how to make it on his own.
They had stayed in that cave for a while, looking after each other. Tiger wasn't like Jess, though. She had a blood lust that Jess didn't have, yet she also was a princess in her own right. But she never forgot what Pan did to her people. To her family.
Then, one night, she had brought her knife, and she found Pan, alone.
Bae hadn't even realized something had happened, she would come and go so much. It wasn't until he saw Pan carrying Tiger's dagger at his side that he knew she was gone.
"Do you know," Pan went on. "That even when a shadow rips out another, it controls that new shadow. It can use it to help it with its work, or it can play with it when it's bored. Like a puppet."
Bae didn't want to hear it. He didn't want to know what Pan was going say. Not about Tiger, not about his friend.
"And from what I've seen," Pan said, his smirk growing. "I think that the little indian's shadow is my shadow's personal favorite."
Without thinking, Bae thrust himself at Pan, but his restraints held him back. He didn't care though. He wanted to attack Pan. He wanted to hurt him. To make him take back what he had said. To make him pay for everything he had ever done to him, to Tiger, and to Jess.
Pan grinned, satisfied at getting a reaction out of Bae.
"Well, I have something to tell you, Baelfire," he said, his voice slicing into Bae deeper than Felix's knife ever could. "No matter how much you hope, no matter how much you think you can help Vin, you will never be able to redeem yourself for what happened to Tiger Lilly. Vin may take away some of the guilt, but she won't take away all of it. Vin will never be what you need her to be."
Bae blinked, surprised at what Pan said. He didn't need Jess to be anything. He didn't want her to be anything. He wasn't like Pan, thinking he could use people as toys. And Pan knew that.
Maybe this was something different. Maybe...maybe Pan was accidentally revealing what he truly thought.
Armed with this last, desperate weapon, Bae looked Pan in the eye, and forced himself to smile.
"She won't do it for you either," he replied, his voice hoarse from lack of water.
Pan gave him a look of confusion.
Yes, Bae had gotten something. It may only hurt him, and it may even cost him his life. If it saved Jess, he was willing to do it. To do something against Pan for Tiger, he was ready to do it.
"I saw the way you looked at her, Pan," Bae said. "When you had her under your power with your music. You liked it. You enjoyed being able to control her, even if it was just through your pipes. You may have plans for her, but I think the real reason you want her back so badly is because you want to have that power over her again. You want to control her again. Not just through your pipes, but through everything."
Pan narrowed his eyes, as if he was realizing what Bae was doing. Bae inhaled, and got ready for more.
"The problem is," he continued. "To do that, you need her to do one simple thing. And that's the thing she never will do."
Pan stepped forward, and grabbed a fistful of Bae's hair, forcing him to look up.
"And what is that?" he hissed.
Despite the pain from the torture, despite the agony of Pan's taunts about Tiger, Bae couldn't suppress a feeling of victory.
"She has to love you," he whispered.
Pan looked surprised, and released Bae, staring at him. Bae looked back up and met Pan's eyes.
"The only way you will ever control her is if she loves you," he said. "And not just an infatuation. She has to look you in the eye, know exactly what you are, and what you've done to her and those she loves. Then, she has to forgive you with all her heart, and love you, despite all the pain and misery you've put her through.
"And the truth is: she never will do that. You have pushed her too far. You took her away from her sister, who she loved more than life itself. You took Hook away from her, who was practically a father to her. You trapped her in hell, and you've played with her mind like it's your yard. You have done too much to her to earn Jess's forgiveness. You have put her through too much for her to look past that, and love you."
Pan's expression went from realization to horror to anger in two seconds flat. Bae knew he was already in danger, but he refused to draw the line there. What he had just said, he said for Jess. This next part was for the indians. And Tiger.
"You want to know something else?" he asked. "Jess is a fighter. No matter what, she always will fight for someone. She fought for her little sister. She fought for Hook. She is fighting for me. And you've seen it. Even when she was under the pipe's spell, she was fighting you. Do you know why? Because that's what keeps her going. As long as she has someone to fight for, she can push herself a little further, a little harder.
"That's why she'll never be Vin, and that's why you'll never control her. She is only going to become Vin when she loses herself to despair, and has nothing left to fight for. But, the funny thing is, no matter what you do to her, no matter what you put her through, Jess will always have something to fight for. That's why you'll never have her Pan. That's why you will fail."
He could have gone on, but Pan cut him off with a hard slap across the face. Bae caught the expression in Pan's eyes. It wasn't just anger and horror. It was hatred. Cold, undeniable hatred.
Bae felt the fear, but for some reason, he felt satisfied. He had told Pan. He had gotten under Pan's skin, as Pan had done so many times to him.
That was for Jess. For the Indians, and for Tiger.
Pan looked like he wanted to kill Bae then and there, and he probably would have if Felix hadn't come back, now holding a bucket of water. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Pan staring at Bae with undiluted hatred, and Bae, despite being covered in blood, wearing a triumphant smirk.
"What's going on?" he asked.
Pan looked up at Felix, then back at Bae. He met Bae's eyes again, and stepped back, an evil glint in his eyes.
"Change of plan," he said smoothly. "I think this is all for naught. Whatever way Vin has enchanted Baelfire, I don't think he will give her up."
I'll do that when papa gives up his power, thought Bae, bitterly.
Felix's eyes were only confused.
"So, what are we going to do?" he asked. "If we can't find Vin through him…"
Pan shrugged, as if it didn't matter at all.
"We may not be able to find Vin," he said, calmly. "But that doesn't mean we can't send her a message. And that is exactly what Baelfire here is going to do."
Bae felt his heart sink. He wasn't going to do it. He knew whatever Pan wanted to tell Jess, it wouldn't be good, and it would hurt her somehow. He was not putting her in that position, even if he had to die first.
"Yeah?" he asked challengingly. "What's the message?"
Pan's expression could only be described as eager as he stepped forward to Bae. He reached out his hand, and Bae instinctively tried to back up, fear now coursing through him.
"That's the funny thing, Baelfire," said Pan, his arm almost touching Bae.
But instead of touching Bae, Pan reached in and grabbed something else. There was a horrible ripping sound, then blinding agony.
Bae closed his eyes, desperate to hold back the pain that ran throughout his body down to the very core. Pan tugged, and Bae felt another wave of worse than anything he had ever felt before, as Pan slowly ripped out his shadow.
Through all the pain, Bae could hear the four words that made his blood run cold.
"You are the message."
Pan pulled Bae's shadow out a little more, and Bae's resolve broke. Somehow, despite his throat being dry, pain coursing through his body, and the exhaustion weighing down on him, Bae's lips broke open, and he let out a scream of agony.
A/N: Now we know what Pan did...
Hey y'all!
I'm sorry, I've fallen a bit behind in writing, and it looks like it may stay that way for a couple more weeks. I think by November, I should be back on track though. But, as I said a couple weeks ago, I am still going to update once a week, that I can guarantee.
Also, if any of you saw Chapter 1 sometime during the past few days, you may have noticed that it was very different from the original Chapter 1. I am so sorry about that. I was making some grammatical corrections to that chapter, and somehow, the classroom scene that I had taken out of the story found it's way back onto fanfic. That was on me and my computer, and it wasn't supposed to happen. So, if any of you saw that, I am very sorry for the confusion.
Anyway, a special thanks to Obscure Stranger, Drowned Island Goddess, . , and Tukie4 for putting this story on alert, and to Obscure Stranger, and HoneyGee08 for favoriting it. Also, thank you thewritershavetheTARDIS, sarah0406, Dreamer-Girl96, narisadar, scorpiongirl92, SansaFort, meguhanu, Tukie4, helloworld, the white angel, and Guest for reviewing. And, of course, a special thanks to my awesome betas, Uncommon fairy, and Can't-Escape-My-Fandoms. Thank you so much for your support; y'all are absolutely fantastic!
Please follow, favorite, review, or whatever y'all want! Thoughts on Bae's point of view are especially appreciated; it was very tough writing from his perspective. :)
