Chapter 29

Getting to shore was easy enough, the eight of us split between the two lifeboats from the Jolly Roger made for a quick, if cramped, ride. Fletcher was sporting yet another injury, as he had been knocked out in the storm when he'd been thrown into the steering wheel. Luckily, he wasn't concussed, but given how much shit he'd been getting from Skulduggery on the way in to the island, he probably wished he had been so he could have stayed on the boat.

"We don't have to do it this way." My mother called out as we made our way up the shore, sand sticking unpleasantly to my boots. "I can fix the Jolly Roger. My magic is powerful enough. We can still execute the pirate's plan." She sent a mean glare Jones' way at that, and I had to wonder what exactly they had been talking about earlier.

"Sneak attack?" Emma cut in, shaking her head. "Let's not be naïve. Save your magic. We'll need it later, because Pan already knows we're here." Mary-Margaret and David exchanged nervous looks, and I glanced over at Skulduggery, wondering if he was apprehensive about this bizarro situation as well. "It's time we stop running. Gold was right. This land is run on belief. All of us have been too busy being at each other's throats to be believers." I raised an eyebrow. Or too busy pulling our ex-villain mothers off of our stepsisters… "I was as wrong as anybody else." I elbowed Skulduggery's boney side before he could get a smartarsed remark out. "But it's time for us all to believe. Not in magic, but in each other."

"You want to be friends?" My mother drawled sarcastically, glancing at me in confusion. I shrugged back, shoving my hands into the still wet pockets of my coat. "After everything that's happened between all of us?"

"Allies, maybe. It doesn't seem like a bad place to start." Skulduggery cut in, swinging his gaze between those assembled. "We have at least one thing in common. I've fought side by side with people who I've share far less than that."

"I know there's a lot of history here," Emma continued on, shooting a thankful glance Skulduggery's way. "a lot of hate-"

"Actually, I quite fancy Ms. Cain from time to time, when she's not trying to stab me in an filthy alleyway." I flushed at Jones' comment, and the eyes that shot towards me, and I glared down the line at him.

"That was one time, get over it."

"We don't need to be friends." Emma continued on, ignoring Jones' responding smirk. "What we need to know is the only way to get Henry back is cooperation."

"With her?" David gestured rudely towards my mother, and I shifted my glare over to him. "With him?" Pointing at Jones. "No, Emma. We have to do this the right way."

"No, we don't." Emma cut in, a glint entering her eyes. "We just need to succeed. And the way we do that is by just being who we are. A hero. A villain. A pirate-"

"An reanimated skeleton detective!" Fletcher cut in, his enthusiasm quickly fading at the deadpan looks sent his way.

"It doesn't matter which," Emma said forcefully, "because we're going to need all those skills, whether we can stomach them or not."

"And what's your skill, savior?" Regina asked quietly, ignoring the sharp looks The Charmings sent her way at the question. Emma straightened up, facing my mother head on.

"I'm a mother." She bit out, staring the darker haired woman down. "And now I'm also your leader. So either help me get my son back or get out of the way." She turned, pulling a sword she must have taken from Jones' ship out of its sheath, and heading directly into the jungle. I sighed at the dramatics, smiling lightly over at my mother.

"We'd better follow the leader then, lest she get lost." I remarked dryly, trudging after Emma. Skulduggery's light footsteps followed, and I breathed a sigh of relief that, if nothing else, I had my partner by my side for the next leg of this journey.


Walking through a magical jungle in Neverland was surprisingly similar to walking through a normal jungle. Magic or no, bugs swarmed to the clammy climate, and, though swords took the place of machetes, sharp blades were needed to cut through the thick foliage as we made our way deeper and deeper onto the island. Hook had taken the lead, claiming that his familiarity with the island would help us locate Henry faster.

"The ridge is just a few hundred paces ahead." He called back, his eyes connecting with mine. Ever since our conversation in the bow of his ship, Jones had seemed… calmer. The anger he had from our discussion when we were leaving Storybrooke had melted away, and in its absence, I could see a strange fondness growing.

Maybe I wasn't the only one who started to feel something… I thought to myself, shaking the idea off as I realized I had slowed down enough to trail behind. Picking up the pace, I ignored the sharp conversation my mother was having with Jones in front of me, and the awkward one happening between Mary-Margaret and Emma behind me, in favor of treading ahead of the group to take in the greenery. I nodded to David, drawing my sword to cut through the vegetation in tandem with him.

An arm snapped around me, pulling me sharply back from a thorny bush that I had been about to cut through. I pushed out of Jones' familiar arms, glaring at him.

"I think I can handle a few thorns, Jones." He met my glare with one of his own, pointing towards the thorny undergrowth that appeared to be dripping a black oil of some kind.

"That, is dreamshade, love." He said gruffly. "It's not the thorns you have to worry about, it's the poison they inject you with." He glanced towards the plant again, something hard entering his eyes. "This plant is the source of the toxins I used on the Dark One."

"The poison that almost killed Gold?" Emma asked quietly, ignoring the sharp look I sent towards Jones at the reminder. He nodded, avoiding my gaze.

"Indeed." David lifted the lantern towards the plant, giving me a better view of the horrid thing. "I used a concentrated dose. In its natural form, death would be much slower, and far more painful." I couldn't help the scoff that escaped me at that.

"Thank you for the lesson in botany, now can we get on with it?" David nodded at my words, looking to Jones in question. The man glanced around, pointing to his right.

"I suggest we go this way." Despite this, David pointed to a path off to the left.

"We'll go this way." Was all he said, before marching off, followed closely by the rest of our group. The scruffy pirate grabbed my arm before I could follow, staring down at me for a few seconds.

"David's quite a distrustful fellow, isn't he?" He finally murmured, his eyes lightening as I scoffed.

"I think he's upset at the prospect of working with bad guys."

"I can assure you, on this island, I'm not the bad guy." I smiled mirthlessly.

"Who said I was talking about you Jones?" He blinked at that, assessing me for a long moment. I looked away. "I'll be honest, it's hard to imagine Pan as one either."

"I don't take your meaning."

"I mean it's hard to think of Peter Pan as any sort of evil with all the stories I heard growing up." I shrugged. Jones sighed through his nose.

"Well, those stories of yours got it wrong. Pan is the most treacherous villain I've ever faced." He grinned suddenly, leaning into my space. "Tell me something, love, in these stories, what was I like?" A smug look came to his eyes. "Other than a villain. Handsome, I gather?" I bit down hard on my lip to keep my grin at bay, noting mentally that if we got out of this alive, I was going to have to have a movie marathon with these characters and their Disney-fied cartoons.

"Sure." His grin widened. "If waxed moustaches and perms are your thing." Jones' head tilted at the amused note in my voice.

"I take it by your tone, perms are bad?" He questioned, and I chuckled in response.

"Let's just say that your current look suits you far more." I breathed out between giggles. Jones considered me for another long moment.

"Why is it that you are so upset with me today?" he finally murmured, his thumb rubbing gently over my forearm. I blinked at the change in tone, forcing myself to glare half-heartedly up at him.

"Maybe I don't want to be around my father's would be killer." I hissed quietly, a stone forming in my gut at the way his face fell at my words.

He frowned slightly. "And here I thought we had a moment, love." I made a face.

"You thought wrong, love." I intoned back at him, pulling my arm from his grip to follow our group. I told myself that the spot where his hand had held me didn't tingle from his touch, and after a few steps, I very nearly believed myself.


Several hours later, I found myself waking up from a dream that faded as quickly as I tried to remember it. I glanced around our hastily set up campsite, trying to puzzle out what woke me, when I spotted movement in the trees. Freezing in place, I hardly noticed that Emma was missing from her bed before more movement prompted me to slide out from under my blanket and into the jungle after it.

I'd never had trouble adjusting to the darkness, and Neverland was no different. I slipped between trees on quiet feet, following the moving shape for a few moments before it darted into a clearing. Following close behind, I was surprised to see the clearing empty of life. Turning in a slow circle, it took a few seconds to spot the slim figure perched on a branch a few feet higher than eye level.

The young boy grinned down at me, tilting his head in amusement.

"I knew you'd follow." His voice was tinged with something malicious, and I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Why is it you wanted me to follow you?" I asked as neutrally as I could, which was not saying much. A few years back, Skulduggery and I had dealt with a nasty case involving a rogue fae, and the experience had scarred me (literally and metaphorically) enough that I knew to be cautious with my words when dealing with strange beings in forests. Until I knew more about what Peter Pan actually was, I was not going to take any chances.

Pan's teeth glittered in the dim moonlight as he jumped down from the branch to the jungle floor, his feet barely making a sound as he did so. He stalked towards me, his dark green clothing blending into the night around him. He came to a stop a few feet away from me, watching my face for something unknown.

"I want to offer you something." I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?"

"A deal."

"And what would that entail?" I knew better than to take a deal from him, fae or no, but I was curious as to why he singled me out, of all people.

"Join us, and I'll spare you and your little friends." I nearly laughed at the offer. It was so open ended and vague, that even if he was fae and bound to his word, he'd have no problem killing us all when he got what he wanted. I smiled across the space between us.

"I'm alright where I am, thanks."

"I doubt that. You are no more a hero than me."

"I never said I was a hero."

"You fight alongside them well enough." I shrugged, watching as he began to circle me. I turned, keeping him in my sights.

"I've fought alongside many before. A common goal does not make them my friends." He paused for a moment, considering my words.

"I don't suppose you have many friends then." A fission of tension ran through my frame before I forced my posture to relax.

"I have enough." He continued on like I hadn't spoken.

"What a shame I'm going to take away what little family you have left." White hot rage burned through me like nothing before, and I glared openly at Pan. He grinned wider. "Maybe when you are all alone again, you'll rethink your position." A yell cut through the tension that had settled around us like a heavy cloak. He waved mockingly at me. "Best wake up now, love."

I shot up in my bed, breathing heavily and glancing around with panicked eyes. Skulduggery gripped my shoulders in his boney hands, steadying me gently. His façade was gone, but I could still read his worry in the tension of his frame. My mother crouched on my other side, her face pinched with worry.

"Alright Valkyrie?" David asked from over his shoulder, Mary-Margaret and Emma on either side of him. I frowned at the blank map in Emma's hands.

"Not really, but I'm guessing that map is bad news too." Emma sighed and nodded. I let my head drop forwards, banging lightly against Skulduggery's solar plexus.

"I hate this fucking island."