It's been awhile! I ended up taking a break during the Once break apparently. I got into law school! So, I've been focused on that! Here's another chapter! I think this may have one or two more then it's over!

Memory
All alone in the moonlight
I can smile at the old days
I was beautiful then
I remember
The time I knew what happiness was
Let the memory live again

Hook had known lies. He had known guarded hints of subtle body language and deceitful looks. But he'd never known a betrayal that cut him so deep. Lying there, in front of the giant hourglass, his spit trickling down his chin and tears flooding his eyes, he'd never felt so broken. He forgot words. He forgot happiness. What was a smile? Could he muster one? What was love? This? He looked down at his shaking hands curled into his chest, seeing the blood reside there from where Pan had tried to dig in and remove his heart. So this was what he wanted all along? All those nights of soft giggles, stolen kisses and even random sneezes that caused such elation. It was all for this…

Hook never felt so cold. His knees were pressed up against his ribs as his body convulsed in compete horror at the actions that had transpired. Peter Pan had used him. Strange though, that for a moment, Hook considered giving up his life for the other. He'd considered allowing his own heart be torn from him. He would have died… but at least he would have died in the name of love, right?

He swallowed hard, choking back a sob as he curled in harder against himself. No. This had never been love. This had always been a game of cat and mouse and Hook had most certainly been the mouse. He cried out, it was a hollow sound that barely sounded human. It echoed off the walls of the cave and into the night's sky. He saw the waver of flame out the corner of his eyes as the wind carried that sound. In one, small split second he had recoiled his love as he had become truly aware of hands inside him, watching Peter's gaze as he hungrily sought after Hook's heart. In that instant, Hook had stopped believing in Peter Pan. Perhaps that's why he could no longer remove the heart? Perhaps that's how Pan failed? It was funny, suddenly. Hook allowed a twitch of a smile to play at his broken features. Peter Pan never failed. Yet here was Hook. He could leave the island and Peter Pan. Standing up, he felt his uncertain knees lock into place gingerly as he took a few steps.

So this was how his life with Pan ended… He'd known all along. All along.

He rolled his shoulders as he tried to alleviate the stressed muscles of his back. He was watching Peter's Thinking Tree from a safe distance. He knew Peter needed to stay there. It was the best way for him to be protected. Still… he didn't like being so far away.

It was astonishing to Hook, looking back on all those years, all those….stilted memories. Which were real? Which were lies? Was this real now? He bit his lip as he furrowed his brow, thinking back on all those lost memories, ones he'd forgotten about. Ones that… he'd forgotten.

"He's going to die Peter!" Hook said incredulously. "Why waste your time…"

Peter didn't respond. Hook watched as the boy picked up the small fox gingerly, almost as if it were the most holy of objects on this island. He saw those soft hands stroke its fur and heard the soft sniffles of his lover. "We can use it for meat."

"No!" Peter said defiantly. "No one deserves to die alone…"

Hook watched on from behind, seeing with new eyes. Peter's face was pained. He chewed at his bottom lip as tears slipped down his porcelain cheeks. His arms were shaking as if he were enraged, but he continued to hold the small fox gingerly. "Peter…"

"I know he's dying. I know I'm being foolish. He didn't deserve this… No one deserves this."

"Everything dies, Peter."

"Not me…" He looked up, his gaze locking with Hook's. It was frightened and so very innocent. "I don't. Everyone else around me does and they just leave me."

Hook licked at his lips as realization set in. Familiarity was ripped from this immortal child each time someone died, or an animal perished. Each time was a small reminder to him that no matter what he tried, Peter Pan was always alone.

Peter began to sob as the fox's eyes slipped shut. He set the creature down on the soft earth, stroking its face one last time. "We should bury him."

"Alright, Peter. How about under that tree?" Hook said as he motioned to a willow not far beyond. It was astonishing to Hook how childlike this boy could be one moment, and so hard the next. Moments like these, where Peter showed his true self, showed his fears and insecurities. It reminded Hook how human this boy once was. "And Peter?" Hook waited for him to meet his gaze. "This is Neverland. As long as I'm here… I'll never leave you."

Peter never answered.

Hook sat back against the tree, feeling its bark bite uncomfortably against his skin through the tunic. He chewed lightly on his lower lip as memories he'd long forgotten rose to the surface of his mind. He remembered how Peter cried each time someone left Neverland. He remembered how much it hurt him when a Lost Boy would challenge his authority or manhood. He'd even remembered how Peter would mumble out a name at night; one so unique that Hook always felt it was made up… till he'd met Rumpelstiltskin. There was so much kindness in Peter Pan that it almost hurt Hook to think about. It was trapped so deep inside the thorny protective outsides that Hook had almost forgot it existed.

CRACK

Hook looked up, seeing the Thinking Tree as Peter, Emma, Snow and Regina all came head-to-head with each other. Hook's eyes widened as Peter had them trapped against the tree, but it didn't hold. Running, Hook didn't see what happened next. He flew through the thick jungle, feeling branches hit his cheeks, long brush cut lightly at his arms. He didn't care. He kept running.

When he finally arrived, there was no one. Frantic, Hook looked up the tree, around it and scanned the immediate vicinity. "Peter!" he shouted. "Peter!" As he was about to run to catch Emma, he saw an arm grasp desperately at the dirt near his shoe. Squatting down, he pulled Peter out of the brush and into his arms. "What happened?!"

Peter felt cold, not just like he'd been sitting in the dark too long but a cold that death gave someone just before they perished. Hook's heart slammed erratically inside his chest as the horror of Pan's possible demise set in.

"Regina…she took- she took Henry's heart back," Peter gurgled as he gasped for air. Hook watched as he had to fight for every ounce of strength, every breath and every vowel.

"So we get it back," Hook said as he pulled Peter into his arms, resting the boy's head against his chest. "We fight back."

"N-no… You can't. They can't know…"

"Can't know what?"

"That you've been with me."

Hook couldn't believe this. He was able to do something for Peter. He still had his strength! He'd figure out something! "I can't just watch you die…"

"I won't die. I had his heart long enough to achieve immortality. I know what to do. I just need you to go with them."

"Why? If you already got what you wanted, why?"

Peter offered a weak, crooked smile. He didn't have the strength it seemed to look up at Hook, which only made his face look more menacing to the pirate. "I got part of it. I need the other."

"Power? More magic? Peter…why don't we just let them go?"

Peter seemed to go rigid in Hook's arms. "Just go with them."

Hook sighed heavily as he looked about the dark forest. He shook his head in disbelief. They could be together again. They could start over and this was what Peter would rather do? Continue pursuing a family that really had done absolutely nothing wrong?

"Sometimes, I'm reminded how beautiful you were once. How kind you could be. You were never inherently good, but you were never evil either. You're walking a tight rope, Pan." Hook watched the natural instinctive move as Peter's gaze glared up at him at the use of his title instead of his name. "Don't fall off…"

Peter didn't respond. He clenched his jaw tightly as anger continued to drip into his features, aging him, dehumanizing him. More and more he looked a demon instead of an angel. More and more Hook was reminded what this boy had once done to him… "Can you stand?"

"I can fly…" Peter counted, removing himself from Hook's arms and up into the air. "Just go to them! I can finish this myself!"

Hook was once again left alone, completely astonished and more than angry. It didn't have to keep going. It could all be over. Why did Peter have to keep pursuing what he didn't need? He didn't need more power. He didn't need more magic…

"You have me…" Hook said silently as he stood, trudging back to find Emma and company.