We continued our search through Neal's cave, trying to find something more to help us. I was sifting through various trinkets when I heard Emma. "Woah." She muttered. I looked over to see what she had found.

"What is it?" David asked her.

"It appears Neal marked his days trapped on the Island." Hook commented. Emma pulled herself onto a ledge to closer inspect the marks.

"What's wrong?" Mary Margaret questioned.

"Look here." Emma indicated. Mary Margaret and I approached the blonde. "Neal stopped counting."

"Because he got off the Island."

"He was here longer."

"Then why would he…" David trailed off.

"Because he lost hope."

"You got that from scribbles?" Regina demanded. Emma hopped off the stone ledge.

"I got that because it's what I did every time I went into a new foster home. Counted days until counting seemed pointless."

"I get that." I added softly. "When Maleficent banished Evie and I, and our Mothers, to the far edge of the Island, I counted the days hoping that one day, Mal would rock up and apologise for what she did and let us back into Isle society...took me about two years before I realised Mal would never change." I frowned. "Come to think about it she never apologised even after we left the Isle."

"You think the same thing's happening to Henry?" David questioned.

"Pan said that it would." Emma replied.

"Hey. We're going to rescue him."

"Yeah, I know that. And you know that. But Henry doesn't know that. Pan wants him to lose faith."

"So what?" Regina asked. "You want to send him a message? Because I haven't seen a Neverland Post Office. What are you suggesting?"

"Take a page from Pan, and we start being clever. We need to send a simple sign. A sign that we're coming."

"With lost boys around trying to kill us all?"

"Yeah so maybe we use that to our advantage." Mary Margaret suggested.

"How?"

"Follow me, I'll show you." Mary Margaret led us out of the cave. I followed after her, pressing my hand against my wound as it throbbed in pain. Mary Margaret soon had us tying ropes to make a trap.

"A trap?" Regina questioned. "That's your plan?"

"The Lost Boys wanna come after us, we need to go after them." Emma stated.

"You really think a Lost Boy is gonna betray Pan?" Hook asked.

"Thanks for the advice." Mary Margaret droned. "David, Hadley?" I looked up when Mary Margaret called my name. "We need more vine."

"Ok." I said, standing and brushing my legs off.

"You're coming with us, pirate." David stated.

"Why?" Hook demanded.

"Because we need more rope." Emma snapped.

"If the lady insists." I rolled my eyes as David, Hook and I went around gathering more vines. "What would you like to yell at me about now, Dave."

"Stay away from my daughter." He said.

"Well, she can take care of herself. She doesn't need your parenting. Which is a good thing. She's had twenty-eight years without you, no need to parent her, or Hadley anymore." My eyes widened when I realised what he was going to do.

"What does that mean?"

"Hook, don't you dare." I warned.

"Don't what?" I could see David getting annoyed and angry.

"It means, you're daughter's gonna die in a day or so anyway, so there's one less child to worry about." Hook said.

"What?" David demanded, turning on me. "You're gonna die?"

"Look, it doesn't matter." I told him. "The only thing that matters right now is getting Henry." I turned on my heel and started to walk away.

"What if I told you there was a way to save you?" Hook questioned.

"I wouldn't take it."

"Yes you would." David insisted.

"Henry is top priority." I reminded him as I paused walking. "If we do anything that takes us away from saving him, it'd be selfish. I expected Hook to go the selfish route but you, David? Not so much." David was silent for a moment.

"You're right." He sighed. "You're a Charming at heart." I gave him a small smile.

"You can't tell anyone about this, alright? Not until we have Henry." David nodded.

"Bugger off." Hook spat. "What, you think I'm being selfish? I'm risking my life for all of you. Every moment I'm here aligned against him."

"Please, you're not here out of any nobility." David snapped at him. "You're here for Emma. And let me tell you something else." David stalked up to Hook. "You're never gonna get her. I'll see to that."

"Good thing Hadley'll be dead then, you would have failed your daughter again." A wave of pain shot over me, and I felt my eyes roll into the back of my head. My knees buckled as the world went black.

TIMESKIP

I came too sometime later, something being pressed to my lips and liquid being poured down my throat. I hacked up the liquid, whatever it was, and started to sit up. "Hadley, you need to drink more." David suggested.

"I'm fine." I insisted, pushing his arm away. "I don't need any more." I shakily got to my feet.

"No, you're not." Hook insisted as he and David helped me sit on a boulder against a cave wall. "I thought you had days left. Let me see. Let me see." Hook gestured to my side. I rolled my eyes as I reluctantly pulled my shirt up to reveal the wound. "More."

"Inappropriate, don't you think?" I commented.

"Come on, Hadley, show him." David said. I huffed as I pulled my shirt up more.

"The Dreamshade has almost reached your heart." Hook commented.

"Dreamshade?"

"It's hours now, you have to tell the rest of your family."

"I am part Dragon." I said. "I can last the rest of the day. I still have to help save Henry." I went to stand again but was gently set back down.

"Catch your breath, lass." Hook told me. "Or what little time you have will be less." David lent down and picked something up from the ground. "What's that?"

"It's a Military Insignia." David replied. He turned it over. "'Jones'." David tossed it to Hook. "You know him?"

"Aye." Hook said softly. "He was my captain. And my brother. We voyaged to this infernal Island a long time ago. This was on the strap of his satchel, my brother lost in during a duel with Pan. It must have washed down with the rains from the storm that wrecked the Jolly Roger."

"From where?"

"There." Hook nodded to someplace behind me. With David's help, I managed to stand and turn. "Dead Man's Peak." I looked up to a looming cliff so high I couldn't see the peak. "I thought it was gone forever."

"What?" I questioned. "What'd you lose?"

"No, it's too dangerous." Hook said as he tried to walk away, but David caught his elbow with his free hand.

"What's too dangerous?" He asked. "If you know something that can help us, don't hold back."

"If this Insignia survived all these years, then perhaps my brother's satchel did as well. And inside that satchel is a sextant that can help us decode Neal's star map that can get us off this island."

"That's it." I muttered, looking down for a second. "That's how I'm spending my final hours. We're gonna find that sextant."

"You might reach the top but you'll die before you return." Hook warned.

"Do I look like I care? Besides, if you and David come with me then you'll be able to get the sextant back to the group. If you wanna be a hero, Hook, this is the time."

TIMESKIP

"A sextant?" Emma questioned once we told the group what we'd be doing."And you're telling us about this now?"

"How do we know you're not lying?" Regina asked.

"Oh, you don't." Hook commented. "But I'm not. This is the best hope yet we've had of an exit plan and don't forget we're gonna need one."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Emma said. I started to help David with packing for the trip. My hands were shaking the entire time.

"Emma, you were right." Hook told her. You need to get that message to Henry. Every day without hope is a day closer to becoming a Lost Boy. Your father, sister and I should go."

"Hook's right." David agreed.

"Uh, you want to split up?" Mary Margaret questioned.

"It's the last thing I want to do."

"But think about this logically." I started to explain, walking up to my mother. "If this can get us home? We have to at least try."

"Ok." Mary Margaret conceded.

"Emma, while I'm gone, just-" David started.

"Listen to my mother?" Emma asked sarcastically.

"Be careful."

"I always am." I stepped up to Emma, causing her gaze to turn to me.

"Listen, Em." I started softly. "When you send that message to Henry, can...can you tell him that his Aunt Hadley loves him?" Emma nodded. I then reached forward and pulled Emma into a tight hug, holding her close. This is probably gonna be the last time I ever saw her.

"Good luck." I separated from Emma and smiled at her. I then turned to Mary Margaret who had a crease in between her brows.

"Is everything alright?" She asked woridly.

"Yeah." I assured. "Everything's fine I…" I hugged Mary Margaret.

"I'll see you soon." I closed my eyes and held her tight.

"Neverland's pretty dangerous, you never know what's gonna happen."

"Hadley." We pulled away from the hug and Mary Margaret cupped my cheeks. "You are a Dragon, you're gonna be fine."

"I love you, mum…" I whispered softly before quickly turning around and hurrying to Regina. I pulled her to the side. "Gina, can I…" I huffed. "Look, I'm gonna ask you to do something and just...don't question it, ok?"

"Ok…" Regina trailed off. I took my necklace off from my neck and held it out to her. The heart glinting in the moonlight and gently swaying next to the gold rig.

"If anything happens to me, anything at all, you need to get this to Ben." I told her sternly. Regina took the chain and a look of realisation washed across her face.

"You're…"

"Yes. I am. But you can't tell anyone, ok? I don't need Mary Margaret or Emma freaking out, but you've got a level head." Regina snorted.

"Listen, I...If you're gonna you know...I just want to say that...I love you." Regina said softly. "You're a pretty amazing sister."

"I love you too." I replied in the same tone. We shared a hug before I had to reluctantly let go and take a trip with David and Hook.

TIMESKIP

"How are you holding up lass?" Hook asked.

"Don't call her 'lass'." David stated. "And don't worry about her, Hadley can handle herself. Just worry about getting us to the sextant."

"I meant the goodbyes. Looked a bit stormy back there."

"I did what I had to do." I told him. "And I did it out of love, they'll understand."

"And your little loverboy?" I paused for a second before continuing my walk.

"Ben...he'll understand when it's explained to him. If he were in my shoes, he would have done the same thing."

"You gonna tell them that from beyond the grave?"

"No, you both are is." I said to Hook before looking between the two. "You're gonna tell them that I spent my final moments fighting for a way to get everyone back home. But...don't tell them that I was already dead when I left them."

"You want me to lie to them?" David asked.

"I've been a liar, cheat and a thief my entire life, I don't want peoples final memories to be the person I once was." I pushed forward.

"Why should I help you?" Hook questioned.

"Well, because if you didn't steal that Bean, they wouldn't have had a chance to take Henry." David snapped. "We wouldn't be on this Island and my daughter wouldn't be dying of Dreamshade."

"Fair point. At least you got to say goodbye. Most people don't get that much."

"You lost someone, didn't you?"

"This is where we ascend." Hook replied, ignoring the question. "I'll climb ahead and throw down the rope." The three of us started to trudge forward once more.

"It was your brother, right?" David guessed. "I had a brother, too, you know. A twin. He died before I ever met him."

"I'm sorry, David." I sympathised.

"There were two of you?" Hook asked. "I can barely stomach one."

"Well, you would have liked him." David said. "He was a thief and a liar."

"Yeah? You would have liked my brother. He could be a stubborn ass. Now wait here." Hook ordered as we came to a stop at the cliff face. Hook started to ascend the rocks. He disappeared and for a while, it looked like he wasn't gonna throw the rope down. So what was my next logical course of action? Climb the cliff in my almost dead state. David protested, obviously, but the two of us managed to clamber to the top of the cliff. I pulled myself onto the rock, breathing heavily. "Bloody hell, I told you to wait." David stalked up to Hook.

"We're you talking to someone?" David asked as I hauled myself to my feet.

"Just talking to myself. Old habits from many nights on the lonely seas." I limped up to the two and noticed a flask in Hook's hand.

"Well, I'm glad you're making great use of what little time I have left by drinking." I snapped at him before moving on.

"Apologies, lass. It isn't much farther now." We picked our way more up the mountainous side of the cliff, inching past vines of Dreamshade. "Hadley, since you're already dying from the stuff, you don't mind if I stand back while you…" Hook gestured at the thorns. I rolled my eyes and drew my cutlass. I went to cut the vines before another blade was drawn. I turned and saw David pointing his sword at the one-handed man.

"I know about your deal with Pan." David spat. I blinked. I didn't hear about any plan. Was the poison affecting me so badly right now it was shutting down all my senses?

"You heard that then,"

"Yeah, I heard that."

"Then you know I didn't agree."

"Yeah, you also didn't disagree."

"Don't you see? This is what he wanted. To turn us against each other."

"Well, it worked."

"You're letting your daughter die before she's able to help her family, Mate." Hook tried to reason.

"I don't care how long it takes me." I snapped, anger at Hook coursing through me. "We just have to get that sextant back to Emma and the others. Now…" I turned my blade on the black-haired man. "Take us to it."

"My brother didn't lose his satchel up here. I made that up." My heart dropped.

"What about the insignia?" David questioned.

"I dropped it on the path so one of you would find it."

"Why?"

"Because I knew neither of you would make the journey here if I told you the truth."

"Truth?" I breathed. "Do you think I care about truth right now!"

"You brought my daughter here to die." David stated.

"I brought her here to save her life."

"You're a liar!" The two started to fight, and s luck would have it, I blacked out, the last thing I heard was David calling my name.

TIMESKIP

I awoke once again to David shaking me. "Dad…?" I muttered slowly.

"Hadley." David breathed, holding me close. "We've got a way to save you. But it comes with a price. If you drink this, you can't leave Neverland." My breath was getting shallow, I could feel it.

"Give it to me. I can help Henry. Help everyone get home." David pressed a canteen to my lips.

"Here, drink." David tipped the canteen slowly and I drank. I felt better almost instantly, laughing happily as I felt the pain subside and my strength grow. David helped me stand and I turned to Hook.

"What was the point?" I asked him. "Why would you risk your life for me? I...I can't give you anything in return."

"I didn't do it for you, lass." Hook said. After gathering ourselves, we started to descend down the cliff again.

"Neither of you can say anything to anyone about what happened here." I stated. "They don't need to know, not until we have to leave. Promise me."

"Aye, my lips are sealed."

"I promise." David said.

TIMESKIP

We returned to camp sometime later and was met with a fireball, sword and arrow all aimed at us. "Woah!" I exclaimed, holding my hands up. "It's just us!" The second that everyone's weapons were down, I ran up to Mary Margaret, throwing my arms around her in a hug so hard she stumbled back slightly.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, her arms winding their way around me. When the hug was over, I gave her a smile before going over to hug Emma. David swept Mary Margaret into his arms and kissed her passionately. "Not that I'm complaining but-" David cut her off again with a kiss.

"Ok, I"m complaining." Emma muttered.

"Me too." I added. "It's weird seeing your parents kiss."

"What I wouldn't give for another sleeping curse." Regina stated.

"Oh come on Gina." I laughed, separating from Emma and walking up to her. "You know you missed me." Regina glared at me for a moment before rolling her eyes. She pulled me into a hug and when we separated, pulled my necklace and ring out from her pocket. "You'll need these back." She said softly. I smiled as I slipped the chain back over my neck.

"Hook. He saved Hadley's life." David admitted.

"You sure you want to tell them that, Mate." Hook said, a warning tone in his voice.

"On our trek, we were ambushed by Lost Boys, pinned down, outnumbered. But Hook, he risked his life to stop Hadley from being hit with a poisoned arrow. If it wasn't for Hook, Hadley wouldn't be alive." David approached Hook. "Your flask, please?" Hook reluctantly handed it over. "I thought he deserved a little credit." David took a swig from the flask, handing it to Mary Margaret after.

"To Hook." She declared. When Mary Margaret offered it to Regina she declined, stating.

"I don't do rum."

"And I'm underage." I added before Mary Margaret handed the flask to Emma. I smiled before returning to the camp.