A/N: Hey y'all! I wanted to let y'all know before y'all got started: I have submitted this story for a fanfiction contest on inkitt (slash)fandoms. If y'all could go, and vote for this story, that would mean the world to me. You may have to sign up on the site in order to vote, but it shouldn't spam you or cause any other issues. So please, go vote. It's under the same name, summary, and cover picture. Thanks so much, y'all! Now, on with the story!


My eyes fly open, as if I only closed them for a second.

I'm laying down...why am I laying down?

Slowly, I sit up, and look around. I recognize this place, it's only a little ways off camp.

But how did I get here? I...I left camp. I was...I was with Bae…

Bae. Oh gods, they've taken Bae!

I get to my feet as everything from tonight comes back to me. Bae came back. Henry...Henry is his son, and Pan never told me. We left his father behind, and went to find Emma and Hook. And...Pan came. He came and he captured Bae, and he had the boys drug me with poppy dust when I tried to get away from them.

So why am I here?

"You weren't going to find out the truth about Baelfire."

I whirl around to see Pan leaning against a tree trunk, almost lazily, even though his expression is neutral. Except in his eyes. They seem to have lit up with something I saw when I told him I was with him. Something thrilled, but also triumphant. Like he's won a victory that he has been waiting to win for a long time. He almost looks...satisfied.

The son of a bitch. Why is he happy? I had everything under control. I was with Bae, we were safe from the Dark One, and we were going to approach Emma for help. She could have helped us, if she knew that the lives of every Lost Boy was at stake. And he couldn't have left it at that, could he? No, he had to take Bae, had to put him in danger, and take me back, just because I dared to walk away from him.

"Where is he?" I ask, bracing myself for another lie. "What did you do to him?"

"Oh, he's safe," Pan assures me. "I couldn't have you turning against me completely, now could I?"

The lying bastard...first he lies to me about Henry being a kid, he tries to hide me from Hook, then he keeps the fact that Bae is Henry's father from me. All of this time, manipulating and lying to me so I can help him with his dirty work.

Anger rushes through me, and I flick my wrist, ready to draw a knife. Nothing comes.

What?

I glance down, looking at my sleeves where I keep my knives. They're gone. Same with the knives in my boots and at my side.

He must have had me disarmed when I was drugged. The bastard. First he takes Bae, drugs me, now this?

For some reason, the idea that he had me looked over, and disarmed me when I was vulnerable scares me. It feels wrong, like he invaded my privacy. I understand why he did it, if he didn't want me to attack him, but he could have had the decency to do it when I was awake.

What am I saying, this is Pan. He has no decency.

Pan smirks as he sees that I've realized I've been disarmed. He sees what I have. He got me when I was vulnerable. He took something when I was helpless, and the bastard enjoys it. He enjoys that he took something from me, just because he could, because I was down.

"At least, that was the original plan," he continues, standing straighter, and starting to move towards me. "I was going to send you to do something. Maybe spy on the Savior and her little group. Maybe tell the mermaids to stay away. As soon as I felt Baelfire returning to Neverland, I was ready to move you out of the way."

So he knew all along. He knew Bae was coming. He knew that Bae was Henry's father the whole time, and once again, he was ready to manipulate me to have his way. So that I would still be oblivious to the fact that the boy I was trying to save was the son of the boy I once loved like a brother. Whom I still love like a brother.

This doesn't surprise me. Not anymore. All things considered, the fact that Pan was planning to keep me from knowing really isn't the worst thing he's done to me. The worst thing was how he lied to me in the first place.

"But then you came back from your walk to the jungle," Pan continues when I don't say anything. "You came, saying how you saw the pirate. I'll admit, at the moment, I was terrified. I thought I had lost you. That you were going to make good on your threat to leave with the others, once you found out the truth. But instead, you did the opposite. You told me that you were with me. That seeing the pirate only made your resolve stronger."

He's right in front of me, and I haven't moved. Why should I? After all he's done, after everything that has happened, why should I back down? He lied to me. He betrayed me. Why should I back down from him, when he's the one who has hurt me?

But if what he's saying is true...oh gods, I think I see where this is going.

Hook rejected me because I joined the Lost Ones. Because I made the decision that I was going to save my brothers, because I loved them. Because Hook didn't understand how much I depended on, how much I love my brothers. And I told Pan this. I told him that Hook's rejection only made me see that we had to save them. That we had to save them, no matter the cost.

"You thought Bae was going to do the same," I say, looking him in the eye. "That he would reject me, because I joined you."

Pan blinks, as if surprised that I caught on so fast, but he quickly covers it up with a smirk.

I shake my head, but I don't take my eyes off of him. He wanted to make my resolve even stronger. He thought Bae would reject me, and I would only cling to my brothers even more.

That was why he had me stay when he realized Bae was coming, I realize. When Felix came back, it must have been to tell him that Bae was on his way. But instead of moving me, he wanted me to stay, so that Bae would turn his back on me, just as Hook did.

But he didn't understand. He didn't realize that what Bae and I had was too deep for that. That Bae kept his promise to me, but he still was rational enough to realize that I needed the Lost Boys as much as they needed me. And, even though he hates Pan, and what he does, he still had faith in me, that I would not end up like Pan. That I would try to be a good person, to be the girl who got him out of Neverland.

His plan backfired on him. He thought he was going to make my resolve stronger. Instead, he tore it all apart when I learned the truth.

But that isn't the most infuriating thing. The thing that makes me angry the most is how he thought he could play me. How he wanted to manipulate me even further, make my resolve to help him stronger by using the people I love.

Despite everything that's going on, him dying, the Lost Boys dying, the others searching to get Henry back, he was trying to manipulate me for his game. He still was trying to use me, push me. Just as he was when he didn't tell me that Henry was a kid.

"You're sick," I say. "Do you know that? You lie to me, manipulate me, make it all seem like a game...Pan, lives are at stake! Their lives are at stake! And even though I swear that I'm going to help you, you still try to manipulate me and push me, just because you can. Well, Pan, I'm done. Do you understand? I'm done with helping you, and I'm done with playing your games. We are done!"

With that, I turn on my heel, ready to go back to camp, my mind rushing with different thoughts.

I'm not listening to him, not anymore. I'm going to find Henry, and tell him his father is here, and Pan has him. Then I'm going to find a way to help him, to help Bae. Then...I don't know…

"I hope you realize," Pan calls as I start to walk away. "That if you're done with me, you walk away, it isn't just me you're walking away from."

He's baiting me. I know he is. It's how he works. The Dark One was right, he plays mind games, and I refuse to play them anymore.

"You walk away, Vin," Pan goes on. "And you're abandoning them."

This stops me dead in my tracks.

No...no...that's...that's not what this is. I'm not abandoning them. I'm not leaving them. I can't, and I won't...but if I get Bae and Henry out…

"You see that, don't you?" Pan asks, noticing my hesitation. "You may be fine with leaving me to die. But if you leave, then you are leaving them to die as well."

No..he's not doing this to me. He can't...he can't do that...no, it...this is wrong!

I turn around, and I see Pan, looking dead serious.

"Don't you dare," I whisper. "Don't you dare use them against me. Not like that."

Pan steps forward, and the look in his eyes has lost it's triumphant look. He glares down at me, and I no longer see the boy I played games with, and helped for the past nineteen years. I see the monster I ran away from for years and years. Or, perhaps that monster was always there, and I chose to ignore it out of my desperation to save my brothers.

"You are talking about walking away," he says, his voice deadly calm. "And leaving me to die. Do you think I've come all this way for you to just walk away? No. Not when we're so close. So if I have to use the others to make you stay, so be it, Vin. You promised me you would help me save them, and I promised you that we would save them all. But you forget that it's my time that is keeping them alive. If you abandon me, you abandon them as well."

It's as if someone pulled out my heart again and squeezed it. This is wrong. This is wrong.

I can't abandon them. I won't abandon them...but if what he's saying is true...no, it can't be…

I can't abandon my brothers. I won't leave them to die. But Pan is right. I did forget that in order to save them, I have to save him too. It was the cost of saving them. I have to save Pan to save my brothers. It's the only way. Without it, they die.

"Don't do that to me," I reply. "Don't you dare. Don't you dare make me choose sides."

Pan shrugs, calmly, as if my words mean nothing to him.

"I will do what I have to to look after our family, Vin," he says. "Our family, remember? I told you, when I brought you to camp the first time, that the Lost Boys were your family. So if you walk away, if you try to free Baelfire, you're only betraying them. I let it slide the first time, because I didn't think Baelfire would come back, but now? You help him, and you're turning your back on all of us."

Something about that seems to fit, somehow. I'm not sure what. What he said about his time, it seems to fit with what was bothering me earlier. About Bae being Henry's father.

His time...his time that Neverland fuels...the magic fueling his youth because he...he gave up his son, Rumple.

Rumple...Rumple...as in, Rumpelstiltskin…The Dark One, and Bae's father. And Henry's grandfather.

Oh, gods!
The realization suddenly clicks into place, like pieces of a puzzle. How had I not realized that? How had I not seen it? The entire time it was there, and...oh, gods, how had I not seen this?

Rumple, the name of the boy he gave up to become young again. As in Rumpelstiltskin, the Dark One. Bae's father. Henry's grandfather.

"You…" I mutter, looking up at Pan, still trying to wrap my head around this newfound realization. "You...the Dark One...you're his...his...Henry is your great-grandson!"

For a moment, I can tell this catches Pan off guard. The way he reacts, his slightly stunned expression, the surprise in his eyes.

But that's as good as confirmation. I can see it. I'm right. If Henry is Bae's son, then that makes Pan his great-grandfather. And he knew. He's known it this entire time. If he knew Bae was the Dark One's son, then he knew that Henry was Bae's son. All this time, he knew who Henry was.

The revelation is both stunning and sickening. I'm not sure if I'm dizzy or if I want to vomit. Pan drove Bae and his father apart, because the Dark One considered killing Henry. But now, I'm not so sure. If he was going to kill Henry, if he needed Henry dead to live on, he would have left Henry to us. He would have walked away, and let Pan use Henry's heart. Instead, he took a risk, and rescued him. Not the actions of someone planning to kill. But Pan? Pan knew all along. He knew who Henry was, and he was planning to kill him anyways.

"How could you?" I ask, choking on the words. "He's your great-grandson. He's your descendant. Your blood. How...why...he's your great grandson, and an innocent kid. And you still want to kill him?"

Pan's eyes have lost whatever satisfaction was in them. Instead, it's replaced by a cold, calculating hardness, and for a second, I see a resemblance between him and the man his son grew up to be.

He abandoned his son, and his son became the Dark One. His son abandoned Bae, and he saved my life. And had Henry. And Henry? Henry is just a good kid. An innocent kid. He doesn't deserve this, I know that.

This, the lies, everything. It just never stops with him. I lived with him, worked with him for nineteen years, and I thought...I thought things were different. I thought that his concern for the boys redeemed him. That somehow, he had a saving grace in the Lost Ones. I was wrong. I was so wrong.

"He might be my blood, Vin," Pan says slowly, reaching out to touch my arm. Without thinking, I pull away. "But he isn't my family. Haven't you figured that out? When you become a Lost One, you leave your family behind. You forget about them, because they forget about you. You forget about them, and you join your new family. I gave up my son, and I found a family in boys who needed someone to love them. And you did the same. You left a family who forgot about you, and we took you in with open arms."

Once, in the past nineteen years, I might have believed him. I might have accepted that my family might move on and forget about me, even if I would never forget about them.

But he's wrong. He has never been more wrong. Because Bae gave me proof. Abby never forgot about me. She still hasn't forgotten about me. She believes in me, she's waiting for me. She hasn't forgotten me. And I never forgot about her, or left her behind. I came here to save here, and I ended up staying. I didn't leave her behind, I put her first.

"We both know that's a lie," I almost snarl. "Don't think that I've forgotten how you 'accepted' me. Or how you welcome the Boys into your family. You took them from their families, and convinced them that they were better off with you. You tried to do the same for me, except you never could. And it still doesn't change the fact that you are now planning to kill your own great-grandson, whether you see him as your family or not!"

I realize that my hands are clenched into fists so tight they're nearly bleeding, and I have to force myself to release them.

I'm not afraid of him. But I hate him. I hate him so much. Bae, Henry, the lies, all of it. I hate him, and if he wasn't the only thing that is keeping my brothers alive, I would be tempted to kill him here and now, for all the pain he has caused me and my loved ones.

But that is the problem: he's the only one who can keep my brothers alive, and for that, we need Henry to die. And it's wrong. The fact that we have to take an innocent life is wrong. The more I think about it, the more I wonder why I didn't turn on Pan when I first saw Henry was a kid.

And he's the boy's great-grandfather. And he still wants to kill him. He wants to kill his own great grandson, so that my brothers can live. He gave his son up for youth, now he is ready to kill his great-grandson to live longer.

Pan shakes his head, as if he can't believe me. As if it is my fault that I don't see things his way. I have to bite my tongue not to snap at him, and tell him not to patronize me.

But then he looks at me, and his expression is almost...understanding. Like a parent explaining something to their kid.

"I made my peace with Henry being my great-grandson a long time ago," Pan says, his tone gentle and patient . "I made my peace, and I moved on. And that's what you need to do, Vin. Move on. Forget about Henry. Forget about Baelfire, like you did the pirate. Forget them all, and help me finish this. Let's finish what we started, and save our family."

I blink, startled by the change in his approach. He makes it seem so easy. That I can just forget all those years with Bae. All those times we saved each other's lives. That I can leave all that behind to save my brothers.

The scary thing is: I could. If it had been any other child, any other person, I would do it. I would hate myself, but I would force myself to choose a side, and I would stick with my choice. But not Henry. I just can't choose a side between Bae's son, and my brothers. That was the reason that I felt so free after Bae left; I didn't have to choose anymore. I didn't have to decide between my brothers or the family in the land without magic.

"Pan, I can't," I murmur fiercely, as my vision becomes cloudy.

Dammit, why am I almost crying?

"You know that I can't," I go on, forcing the tears back. "I can't pick a side. I can't choose between them. I just can't."

So, what then? Do I just turn a blind eye? Let Emma and my brothers fight over Henry, and ignore the consequences? I can't do that either. I can't let my brothers die, but I can't let an innocent boy die either.

For a split second, I look into Pan's eyes, and I catch something. The same thing that I saw when I told him that Hook rejected me. He's happy about something, and I'm not sure what. What I am sure about is that it isn't good.

Then the spark, whatever it is, passes, and his expression is pleading and tender. His eyes are practically begging. And yet...it all feels wrong.

"Vin, we need you," he whispers, coming closer to me, not taking his eyes off of me. "I understand that you don't want to choose but...Vin, we need you to finish this. I know you hate it, I know you don't want to do this. Felix doesn't either. But we have to, Vin. I know you don't want to choose, but we need you too, Vin. There's no other way. You need to figure out whose side you're on. Ours, your family who loves you and cares about you, and who only want to protect you. Or theirs, the so called heroes who will abandon you as soon as your usefulness to them runs it's course."

His face is inches from mine, and...gods, it makes sense. It make so much sense. It makes sense for me to join the Lost Ones. Why shouldn't I? It may be the only way to save my brothers, the only way to make sure that they will live. And killing Henry...it might just be our only way. Our only way of saving the Lost Boys.

Gods...I want to believe him. I want to believe that I can just leave it all behind, and see this through.

But...the spark in his eyes. Bae...the lies…

Wait...Bae…

Something he said, right before he took Bae...everyone is where I want them…

He knew Henry was going to be his great-grandson years before Henry was even born. He knew that his son was Henry's grandfather.

He took me from my home as soon as he found me to preserve me. So that I wouldn't age, so that I would be ready to help him.

But Bae...he came to protect the Darlings. He was taken years before I was even thought of. Bae claimed it was because Pan was looking for a boy, and I always assumed they believed Bae had the Heart of the Truest Believer...but what if it wasn't?

Pan knew he needed the Heart of the Truest Believer. He knew what he looked like. He knew whoever had the Heart of the Truest Believer had to be born of light and darkness.

Bae, the Dark One's son, and Emma, the Savior. But Emma...she wasn't born yet. She wasn't born, and after she was, she was sent to my homeland, the Land Without Magic. If Pan knew he needed the Heart of the Truest Believer then…oh gods.

He didn't take Bae because he wanted to defend the Darlings. He took Bae, by threatening his family. Just as he took me by threatening Abby. He kept Bae trapped, for years. But even after Bae betrayed the Lost Boys to the Indians, he didn't go after him. He ignored Bae for years, let Bae live in a cave alone, even though it was Bae that cost him so many of boys.

Everyone is where I want them.

Even when Bae gave me shelter, Pan didn't hurt Bae. He didn't come after Bae when Pan controlled me with the pipes. He came after Bae when he knew it would get to me the most. He took Bae and tortured him when he knew I would do anything to protect him. But he didn't kill him.

What Bae said...about how Pan let him go...

Even after I joined him, I still kept going back to Bae. Pan knew this. He always knew this. The mermaids told me so much. It was only when I started figuring out that Pan needed me for something that he took Bae. And did he hurt him? No, he only threatened to kill him. He only threatened to kill him. He gave me time to wait, to get over my fear, and put together a plan. He let Felix take me to see Bae. Bae...the chains that held him...they were six-pin tumblers. I barely was able to pick them. But we're on Neverland, and Pan swore I was never going back to the cage. So why would I need to learn how to pick locks? And why would I need to know how to pick that particular lock?

Everyone is where I want them.

He only had to threaten Bae, because I had almost lost him once. He knew I would never lose him again. That I would do everything in my power to protect Bae, to make sure he didn't get hurt again. He only had to threaten to kill Bae, and what was the first thing I did? I helped him escape. I got him out. And, to ensure Pan wouldn't hurt him anymore, I sent him to the Land Without Magic. The land where Emma grew up. Where he would meet Emma, fall in love with her, and where she would have his son. Light and Dark. The Heart of the Truest Believer. Henry.

Everyone is where I want them.

I back away from Pan, and I realize I'm shaking all over. I see it now. He did let Bae go. He was planning on me getting Bae out. That was why he pretended he was going to kill him. He knew that if I thought Bae was in danger, I would try to get him out. But, it would have to be something drastic, or else I wouldn't believe getting him out of Neverland was the best option.

He played me. All this time, he played me, tricked me into getting Bae out. He didn't threaten Bae until Emma was a young girl. Just old enough for her and Bae to grow up, meet, and have a kid. But there was no way he could get Bae out of Neverland without Bae or me seeing that he was planning something. So he threatened to kill Bae, and I did all the work for him.

"You knew this would happen," I whisper, staring at him.

Pan blinks in confusion. He doesn't know. He hasn't realized what I've figured out.

I take a step back, looking at him, and for once I see him for what he is. Not as someone who was dying, and making a desperate ploy to save him and the people he cared about.

This is wrong. He could have taken the darkness from somewhere else. There are so many realms, he could have found some other form of darkness to have Henry. Instead he chose to preserve Bae until the right moment, just as he planned to do with me. He knew what he was doing the moment he brought Bae into Neverland.

"You let him leave Neverland because you knew he would be Henry's father," I say, shaking my head, realization washing over me. "My gods, you wanted this! You wanted me to get him out. You wanted him to father Henry. You wanted it to be Bae, and you wanted me to be the one who got him out. That's why you made it look like you were going to kill him to get to me. You were manipulating me, using me to get him out so he would meet Henry."

All this time...he's been playing me. He played me to get Bae out, so that he could have Henry. He hasn't been searching for Henry. He was waiting for him to come, at the opportune moment.

But if he did...why did he act like we were running out of time? Why did he act like there was nothing we could do? Why did he act like we had lost the Heart of the Truest Believer if he had already set the pieces in motion?

"Why?" I ask, softly, not taking my eyes off of him.

Any patience Pan had is gone. I can see it. I don't know what he hoped to gain by taking me aside like this, and confronting me privately. But it hasn't gone the way he was planning. I wasn't supposed to figure out the truth about who Henry's great-grandfather was.

He advances towards me, and his eyes have that same gleam that they had when I had Henry. It's predatory. He wants me to make a move, so he can get the jump on me.

My blood runs cold, and I suddenly want to run. Because all this time, when I thought I was the one he trusted the most, the one who he didn't keep secrets from. But now I see the truth. There was so much he didn't tell me. I thought I knew everything, but really, I knew nothing.

However, I plant my feet, and force myself to stay and look him in the eye. I won't run from him, like I used to. I need to know. I have heard so many lies tonight, realized so many things that I had missed when they were right in front of me. Perhaps I always knew deep down, but refused to see them.

But, if there's one thing I want to know, it's this. And I won't run until I know the truth.

I only asked why, but it's enough. Why the lies? Why act like we lost Henry? Why pretend that we were running out of time, when he was just waiting for the opportune moment?

"Why?" Pan repeats, his voice almost mockingly, as he steps closer to me again. "Why? You still don't get it, Vin?"

Without warning, his hand shoots out, and grabs me by my wrist. Instinctively, I try to twist out, but he holds on tight, holding up my wrist, forcing me to look up at him. And the look on his face...suddenly I feel very, very scared.

And I haven't felt that way since...since he tricked me into getting Bae out of Neverland.

Why? Why am I suddenly scared of him? I have helped him, I have followed him for the past nineteen years. Why, after all this time, am I scared of him? He won't hurt me, not if he wants to lose the Boys. So why am I scared of him now?

"You forgot, Vin," Pan snarls, the look in his eyes...it's twisted, and dark. Just like him. "You forgot what we were doing. You forgot what I told you when you were brought here."

That the Lost Boys were my family? That I would be the greatest Lost One?

No...no that's not it...he wouldn't be getting upset about that. No, this is different. This is...this about something else.

"I told you the reason I named you 'Vin,' didn't I?" Pan asks. "I named you 'Vin,' because when gave yourself up for that little girl, you gave up everything. That's what you've forgotten, Vin. You've forgotten the reason you're called 'Vin.' You think it's because the Lost Boys see you as a sister, and they know you as Vin. But that's not the reason. The reason that we call you that is because it's the name I chose for you. And I chose it for you because, even if you forgot, you still belong to me!"

He shouts the last words in my face, and instinctively, I punch him in the stomach. The blow is enough to distract him, and I pull out of his grip, and back away. Every part of me wants to run, but I'm rooted to the spot.

No...no, he can't be...it's been years. Years since he ever thought of breaking me. We both have known I was never going to, not after I accepted the Lost Boys as part of me. I accepted the name Vin as the name of the Lost Boys' sister. That's who I am. I'm their sister.

But Pan? He doesn't see that way. I don't think he's ever seen it that way. To him, Vin is the name of his toy. The name he chose for me to prove that he owns me.

I should have seen it, I realize. I should have seen it all along. Pan treats everything as a game. To him, I haven't been beaten, because I haven't broke. I stayed whole, because of my love for the Lost Boys. And to Pan, I've been ignoring the game. I've been acting like it doesn't matter, when to him, it means everything. And after all these years, he still hasn't forgotten. He never forgot.

Somehow I find my voice, and I force out the words that are lumping in my throat.

"Is that it?"

Pan seems to have recovered from the blow, and I'm ready to run the second he comes near me. But I have to know.

Is that it? Is that the only reason he acted the way he did? Pretending to be my ally, pretending that he cared...was it all a lie, just to try to break me?

Pan looks at me, and the predatory gleam still remains. It doesn't flicker and fade like it did when I first saw. It still it there, and that terrifies me.

"Of all the things I've done to break you, Vin," he says, calmly. "All the tricks I've had up my sleeves, there was only one that ever got to you, truly. Only one that made you hurt, but reconsider everything. And it wasn't when I tortured Baelfire."

What is he talking about? He did plenty of things to get to me. So many of his ploys actually worked on me. He threatened Abby, forced me to fire the arrow, forced me to dance to the music, made me leave behind the little ones…

Oh gods…

That was why he did it. He got Bae out of the way, and he would have broken me then and there. Except I changed the game. I chose to love the Lost Boys. I chose to be their sister, not his. I chose to be theirs, not Pan's. It's like Bae said. I joined them, loved them, because I needed them as much as they needed me.

But Pan had gotten Bae out. He had set the wheels in motion. All he had to do was wait. Instead he acted like we were running out of time. That we were losing them. Why would he do that, unless it was to play me?

Those nineteen years. Years of teaching me magic and how to fight. Games of Capture-The-Flag and reading to the younger ones. He was doing the same thing he did to me the night Hook got out.

These past nineteen years, he's always known he was safe. He knew that he would just have to wait for Henry, and convince him to give up his heart. He knew that he had saved himself and the Lost Boys.

This was never about me helping him, I realize. It was about me getting close to the Lost Boys. Truly loving them, becoming one of them. So that when the time came, and Pan took Henry's heart, I would have to face the same choice I did when I abandoned the younger ones the first time. The same choice, but with higher stakes.

That's why he wants me to choose a side. To decide between the Lost Boys or Bae. He knew that I would want to choose Bae the moment I learned the truth about Henry. So he made sure that I got close to the Lost Boys. That I loved them as much as I love Bae. Because now, no matter how badly I want to help Bae, I can't leave them. I can't abandon them to die.

This was never about me saving their lives, I realize my heart plunging to my stomach. Not to him. It was about making sure that I choose their side when the time came. That I choose them when the it came time to choose Henry.

It was about making sure that I have no other choice but to kill Henry, because it's the only way to save my brothers.

And it worked. I can't abandon them, no matter how bad I want this to stop. There's no way I can leave them, no way that I can just let them die. I can't do that.

Which is exactly what he wanted. He never stopped playing the game. He waited for nineteen years, playing a move I never saw coming. I love the Lost Boys. And because of that, I can't choose Bae. I have to choose them. I have to do the thing he wants: choose their side. Choose to save him, and my brothers.

If I want to save my brothers, I have to choose to kill Henry.


A/N: So Pan spent nineteen years, toying with Jess so that she would grow to care for the others. Even to me, that's pretty low.

I know this chapter is shorter than usual, but again, it is because it was originally over 12,000 words, so I had to split it into two chapters. But, yay! Early update!

A special thanks to Pandora0814 for putting this story on alert, and to 11. Amelia Pond .16, Rainyday116, and ShadowSpade for favoriting it.

Also, thank you sarah0406, mercenary2.0, LunaEvanna Longbottom, Shinonome Sakuya, GiraffePanda2, FurySaidtoaMouse, Lady Deebo, Taeneaia, ColdHeartAngel, Fangirl Moustache, 8839, savvystories, Gee Brittany, The Wolf Who Writes, ChristineDaae-ThePrincess, SilverFury01, chinaluv, Female whovian, Charmedhpgirl, Elvira Silver, meguhanu, Friday1221, Ellimac1776, ShadowSpade, ReginaQueenofHogwarts, NeverlandDreamer, SuperFanNumber1, Anonymous, Blooper, and the many other guests who left reviews! Also, a special thanks to annvar for suggesting that I submit this story for the inkitt contest. And, as always, a special thanks to my friend and beta reader Uncommon fairy, who somehow manages her job, work at home, and other stuff and still finds time to look over my crazy story.

Please follow, favorite, review, or whatever y'all want. And again, please, please, please go and vote for this story on inkitt. It truly would mean a lot to me. Thoughts on how Jess figured out the truth about Pan being Henry's great-grandfather, and the truth about Pan's plan are especially appreciated. :)