So this chapter sort of got away from me, thanks to my muse deciding to take this in a different direction. This chapter was supposed to the end of this fic but as it has taken a different road than I intended I'm extending this to probably three or four chapters. I originally intended this to be a lighthearted continuation of chapter one but thanks to Emma and a certain lost boy it quickly turned down a darker road. Angst warning ahead.
Night seemed to last an inordinately long time in Neverland Emma thought as the stared up at the sky. It had been night when they arrived and that had been over twelve hours ago. It didn't seem that so much could have happened in such a short time but she knew better. From the storm to the fight with Pan and his lost boys it had been nonstop and Emma felt the ache of the day's hardship in her bones. All of them had been hit hard in the hours since arriving, and the fight had taken its toll leaving them all worse for wear. Regina had collapsed in a dignified heap, a feat that Emma had never realized could be pulled off until seeing it, atop her bedding. The extensive use of powerful magic in such a short period overtaxing the other woman's already tired body. David and Mary Margaret were again curled up together, sleeping soundly despite their aches. Emma wondered if Henry was sleeping comfortably somewhere or if Pan had him locked up in some strange plan to break down her son. The thought of Henry out there with those boys, with Pan tore at her heart. What Pan had said to her after the fight, what if he was right? She would certainly understand if he was. She couldn't forgive her own parents for abandoning her when she knew the whole story behind why they did it, how could she expect Henry to understand what she'd done, when she couldn't tell him everything about why she gave him up? He idolized Neal, and now that he was gone Emma couldn't bring herself to tarnish her son's memory of his father.
She looked over to where Hook lay near the fire. Hook had warned them to watch out for the lost boy's arrows tipped in poison but he hadn't been hit by one. The only injury he'd sustained was a shallow gash inflicted by the boy he called Felix. He'd said it was nothing, but now she could see him shivering in the glow of the firelight, despite how close he lay to the blaze. Her mother had offered to look at the wound despite David's whispered protests and eye rolls but Hook had waved her off saying it was nothing. Obviously he was worse off than he'd said and had managed to convince Mary Margaret that he was fine. She rolled her eyes at male pride but quietly slipped out of her own sleeping roll and tiptoed over to him. Kneeling down she placed a hand on his shoulder and shook him gently.
"Hook?" She whispered leaning down to look at him in the light. There was a sheen of sweat covering his brow and she realized that he was probably feverish. She felt her heart skip a beat as she continued to shake him whispering his name frantically in an attempt to rouse him. He didn't even twitch. Was it possible that Felix's blade had been poisoned as well his arrows? Emma's hands shook as she pulled back the blanket that covered him and raised the edge of his shirt where she had seen him tending the cut after the fight. She fought back a strangled cry as the wound was revealed. It was long and jagged, running from the bottom of his ribcage toward his hip in a diagonal slash. The skin around it was red and angry looking, the gash weeping blood and yellowish green fluid from the opening in his skin. She tentatively ran her fingers around the edge of the wound only to pull back quickly at the amount of heat radiating from his skin. It was infected or poisoned and the idiot had let them think it was nothing. He was going to die.
"Emma? Honey what is it?" Suddenly there were hands in her shoulders and Mary Margaret's voice whispering softly in her ear. Emma hadn't realized that she'd started crying, muttering no over and over as she looked at Hook's stomach until her mother laid a hand on her shoulder.
"You've got to help him. Look." She pointed at the wound. Mary Margaret's hands left Emma shoulders and she knelt to inspect the damage that had been to done. Emma unconsciously held her breath as Mary Margaret skillfully probed the wound. Hook groaned and jerked as she pressed gently on the skin surrounding the gash and Emma quickly grabbed his hook before he could swing out at her. It was pathetically easy to hold him down, a stark contrast to his usual strength. She still remembered their fight at the Lake Nostos, how easily he'd fought her off until she took him by surprise. Seeing him like this now was a blow she wasn't prepared for. Even after being hit by a car he'd never been this bad, she recalled the sight of him lying on that hospital bed, his face relaxed and peaceful for the first time she'd ever seen as she waited for him to wake up. Back then she'd taken the time to study the man in front of her where no one, especially him, could see her do so. Then she'd been stuck by the gentleness that his expression held underneath all the anger and bitter resentment of a man who'd has entire world torn away from him. She'd recognized a part of herself in him then, had seen through some of the mask that he always wore, as he was so easily able to do with her. They had that same child inside who only wanted someone in the world to love them, to value them, to stay. The realization had shocked her, made her value her decision to protect him from Gold's retribution even more. When he'd woken she'd quickly schooled her own face into a mask of stern authority, still trembling inside at the thought of how much they were alike.
Now she was watching him again, but this time she didn't know if he would wake or even if he would realize she was there. Suddenly she wanted him to know that he wasn't alone, that just as he'd been there for her when she needed help, she was here for him. She reached up to brush the hair from his brow and frowned. His skin was tacky with drying sweat but the heat of his skin told her that it hadn't gone. Wasn't it bad when people with fevers stopped sweating but stayed hot? She jumped a little when Mary Margaret sighed and sat back on her heels as she finished her inspection.
"Well?" Emma asked as steadily as she could.
Mary Margaret shook her head and Emma felt her heart jump into her throat.
"He's bad Emma. It's definitely poisoned but I've never seen anything like this. I don't know…" she trailed off biting her lip.
"What about Regina?" the question was out of Emma's mouth before she even realized she'd asked it but Mary Margaret nodded and went to rouse the other woman. Emma watched her mother shake Regina's shoulder, calling her name to no avail.
"She's out cold. She won't wake for several hours. I'm sorry." Mary Margaret said pulling the blanket she'd knocked askew back around Regina before returning to her daughter.
Emma pressed her lips together against the cry that wanted to burst from her. If Regina was out and Mary Margaret couldn't help then there was nothing they could do. Emma rubbed at her eyes and the rough leather of the lace around her wrist brushed against her cheek. This was like Graham all over again, only this time she would have to watch as Hook slowly slipped away from her, another person lost before she really got the chance to let them in. She could feel Mary Margaret's eyes on her but for the first time in her life Emma didn't care that someone was there to see her cry.
"Maybe I can do something. I've never dealt with this poison before maybe I can at least get his fever down. Maybe if we can wake him, he can help us find an antidote." Mary Margaret's voice was soft and hopeful. For the first time since finding out that this woman who'd she'd grown so close to as a friend was in fact her mother, a fairytale princess who embodied everything good and beautiful, Emma was glad to hear the note of optimism in her voice. She looked up at her mother through tearstained lashes and saw a look of determined resolve staring back at her. Emma nodded and stood.
"Then let's get to work."
Emma gripped her sword in hand as she tramped through the trees surrounding their camp. She wondered if part of the reason that Mary Margaret had sent her to collect plants, after giving her detailed descriptions of the kinds of plant to look for that had left Emma's head spinning, was that she simply wanted to give Emma something to do. She remembered the determined yet worried look on Mary Margaret's face as she strapped the sword to her back and picked up the lantern.
"Hopefully the fauna here isn't too different from the Enchanted Forest. I've seen some similar plants already, even have some things in my bag that might help but I don't have enough. Don't go far though, if they catch you alone –"
"They won't. I'll get what we need." She'd taken her mother's hand, squeezing it gently before stepping through the underbrush, lantern in hand. "And thank you."
Even if that was the case, Emma found she was grateful. She hated being useless and she'd been feeling more and more that way since falling through the portal after the curse broke. Suddenly she stumbled over a root that she hadn't seen and the lantern went flying as she put out a hand to break her fall, trying not to stab herself with her own sword. She fell heavily, the wind knocked from her chest from the force. She lay there for a moment wheezing harshly before managing to clamber up onto all fours panting as she gasped for air. A branch snapped to her right just as a sharp point dug itself into the side of her neck and she froze.
"Well well well, if it isn't the little orphan. What are you doing out here all by yourself?" a voice crooned in her ear.
It was a lost boy, it had to be. The voice was familiar but she couldn't place it. It wasn't Pan.
She gritted her teeth and tried to shift so that she could see him but he pressed the point of his dagger sharply into her skin. She gasped when the point scratched her, a think line of blood trickling down toward her shirt.
"I asked you a question. Answer it and I might let you up." It dawned on her that this was Felix. Emma had overheard the conversation between him and Hook during the fight. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing how badly he'd injured Hook.
"I had to pee." She said through gritted teeth. The pressure of the dagger against her neck relaxed and Emma used the leeway to glance up at Felix. She would have laughed at the baffled look that had come over the boy's face if the situation weren't so serious. The look faded quickly, replaced by a smirk.
"They let you go alone? Hook should know better. How is he by the way?"
Emma glared up at the boy but said nothing. Felix's smirk widened.
"By now he should be doing pretty badly after taking that blade to the gut. Let me guess the real reason you're out here. Trying to save the pirate? I'm disappointed in you Emma. We all are." Felix moved around to kick her sword away from her hand. Once it was safely out of reach he let her sit back on her heels.
"I don't care what you think. All I care about is my son and getting him back." Emma snarled.
"Then why are you out here helping Hook?"
"Because…" Emma cut herself off. She didn't owe anything to this miserable excuse for a boy.
"Let him die. He deserves it after all he's done. Let him die and I'll take you to your boy." Felix knelt down so that they were eye to eye. Emma stared at him trying to gauge if he was lying. He wasn't.
She looked down at her shaking hands as she considered the offer. If she let Hook go, then she could save Henry. She was frozen between going after her son and letting the man who had given up everything for her die.
"This is a limited time offer, lost girl."
Emma started at the words, almost agreeing to the proposition before she caught sight of the leer of Felix's face. This was personal for him, he couldn't guarantee that she'd get to Henry before Pan found out about his betrayal and killed them both. She shook her head.
"No. I'll get my son back without your help. I won't leave Hook behind again." She whispered, taking pleasure in the sour look that crossed the boy's face.
"So faithful, are you sure you're putting that loyalty in the right place?" He sneered rising up from the ground and kicking her sword back over to her.
"What you're looking for is over there." He pointed to a thicket of brambles stretching between the trees. Emma saw a flicker of white under the green and knew he was right. Those flowers were what would save Hook.
"Be careful of the thorns, they bite." With that parting shot he disappeared through the greenery as silently as though he'd never been there. Emma looked over at the thicket and groaned. It was dreamshade covering the flower she needed.
I admit it, I'm enjoying this a little too much. Please review!
