I think I'll just say right here that the only thing I own here is my character and the storyline. All settings, other characters, base plot etc. belong to the wonderful gods over at Once Upon a Time. And if any Robbie Kay or Parker Croft happen upon this, I just want to say that I am awfully, terribly sorry. Thank you. Enjoy!
Chapter Six
Killian Jones swept aside the tall grass with the crook of his hook, stepping around it with an equal amount of measurement and grace. He was looking straight ahead of him with a frown. There were so many memories of this place that he found it hard to think of anything else. Not that he didn't have anything else to think about.
First, there was David. He hadn't even known David before he arrived at Storybrooke, but he couldn't escape the feeling of comradeship that he had for him. Although, the feeling was not mutual. David only saw him as a greedy, selfish pirate. But Killian simply couldn't shake the worry that he had for him after seeing the effects of the Dreamshade. He had seen it before and he had no desire to see it work its poison again. Especially with the victim being Emma's father.
And then there was that problem, too: Emma. The beautiful, feisty, independent woman who was too heartbroken over the death of her true love to even give him a second glance. All he wanted to do was show her that there was always another opportunity for love. He knew that. But she was blind. And stubborn. Bloody stubborn. Besides, even if she did decide to act upon the emotions that he believed she was harbouring deep down, her family would never let him get anywhere near her.
But the biggest problem of them all was the fact that, right as he was wandering through the jungle in search of an angsty wingless fairy who may or may not be able to help, Pan could have been repeating the same thing that he did before. And that was what was eating away at him. It wasn't the fact that she had been taken, because he was going to get her back. It wasn't the fact that she was probably living amongst a group of rowdy and unruly teenage boys, because he knew that she could handle herself. It was the fact that Pan had the ability to get inside her head. And when that happened last time, it pushed him, her father, out. He was still haunted by the savage expression on her face when he first found her in the camp all those years ago. She hadn't known him. The only thing that had been on her mind was destroying the threat. At that moment, Killian had not been a father to her; he had been the threat. And if Pan got her to forget again, he was afraid that this time she would never remember.
Emma looked back at him from where she was marching on in front, "Keeping up, Hook?"
Hook smiled a crooked smile, "Always, love."
She tried to hide a smile back, "Good," but then, after a moment, she fell back to walk beside him, "We'll find them, right?"
"You tell me. You're our fearless leader."
"'Course we will," she said, but she didn't look completely convinced, "Of course we'll find them."
"Right," he looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. Her hair was beginning to stick to her face as she cut dangerous branches out of her way with her sword. "Of course."
Peter aimed the arrow. She was still trembling in Felix's arms, but something seemed to click in her mind. She took a shaky deep breath, looked Peter in the eyes and lifted her chin up defiantly. If this was going to be how she died, she was determined to die with dignity. Like a queen rather than a pirate.
Henry's voice cut through the tension, "Stop! Wait, I'll do it. I'll do it, just leave her alone. Let her go."
Peter looked at him for a moment before allowing a smug smile to stretch his lips.
"Taking after your mother now, are you?" he said, snidely, "Trying to be a hero."
Abigail looked at Henry and she wanted to tell him to stop, he didn't know what he was doing, but Felix's grip on her arm had tightened in a warning. She held her tongue and tried to stop him with her eyes instead.
Henry took on the look of a little boy who had seen too much, "Leave her alone. I'll do whatever you want. Just don't hurt Abby."
All she could do was stare in horror as Peter laughed such a gleeful laugh that she knew whatever was so funny was not going to be good. She found herself gripping Felix's arm which was still holding her tightly around the waist.
"Lovely," Peter said.
He motioned to one of the lost boys who scurried over to give him a small glass pot full of a dark liquid like ink. Taking the arrow from the crossbow, he began to dip the tip delicately into the liquid. Abigail went still.
He hadn't done it. The thing that would have killed her, he hadn't even considered doing. She was so sure that he was going to kill her. She had been so certain that she had broken the final straw somehow, and that he was going to shoot her with Dreamshade. But he had never been going to do that. He was just trying to scare her.
And she had bigger problems. He was going to hill Henry.
"Peter, please, don't hurt Henry," she begged, her voice much too calm for the amount of adrenaline pumping through her veins. She was shaking again, "I'll do anything."
He looked at her. Felix's grip tightened. Peter smirked, a familiar look of victory gleaming in his eyes. Giving the pot of Dreamshade back to the lost boy, he carefully lowered the bow and arrow to the ground. Then he stepped closer.
"Do you swear it? Will you really do anything?"
Immediately, she became wary but didn't regret saying it. She wouldn't let him hurt Henry, no matter the cost.
"I swear. I'll do anything as long as you don't hurt him."
His smirk grew. The victorious glimmer in his eyes made her knuckles turn white but she refused to give up. Henry was protesting but no one was listening to him. All eyes were on the former rulers of Neverland.
"Anything," Peter repeated, turning his gaze up to the sky as if pondering what on earth he would choose out of the thousands of options for Abigail to do to humiliate herself. Finally, he looked back at her, "Kiss me."
She blinked.
"W-what?"
"Kiss me," he said with such a commanding tone that his voice seemed to vibrate through her.
"I – I," she stammered, her mind whizzing with a mixture of confusion, fear, hurt and panic, "I don't think –"
A dangerous darkness blanketed his features.
"Fine, don't then. Henry," he began turning back to him but panic took over Abigail as she pushed herself out of Felix's reluctant arms.
"No! Stop! Ok, I'll do it."
He turned back, "What?"
"I said I'll do it."
"Do what?"
"I'll kiss you."
He smiled, and this time it wasn't a smirk. It was not a sneer or the cruel, malicious type of smile that she was so used to seeing from him. It was a wide smile of excitement.
Slowly, heart thudding, she walked closer to him. Her palms were sweaty and she rubbed them self-consciously on the scratchy fabric of her dress. She could feel the eyes of the Lost Ones on her and Felix's eyes seemed to be burning into her back most of all. She couldn't look at him as she approached. Instead, she stared at the ground, stopping only when her own feet were close to his.
Her stomach seemed to be twisted into a tight knot as she looked up and found his face looking down at her from above. He was so tall. Had he always been that tall? She would have to stand on her toes. Unless he bent down, but even then she would still have to stretch, and besides she couldn't see that happening. He was standing with that irritating superiority that he always seemed to radiate. He wanted her to do all of the work so that he could mock her and humiliate her for the rest of her life. Because it wasn't looking good. She was already starting to lose track of time, and there was no message from her father. It was starting to seem very likely that she would end up having to spend the rest of her life on that cursed island of children's nightmares with the boy who ruined everything.
Taking a deep breath, she put her trembling, clammy palms on Peter's shoulders and reached up on her toes. Her mouth found his much easier than she had expected. Another thing that she had not expected was the feeling that rushed through her as they touched. It was such a powerful feeling that it knocked her off-guard and away fell her barriers. Memories flooded back like water of a broken dam. She could feel his hands on her back, in her hair, at her waist. The kiss was deep. It was like there had been no time since the last time even though decades had passed. They were the same but completely changed. They were different but the old jigsaw pieces still fit. She remembered the power in her veins of when she had ruled Neverland. She remembered the happiness, the freedom and the safety that she had felt as she had lived her life hand-in-hand with the boy who promised her everything. She remembered the love.
Suddenly, she pulled away. She felt hot. Her face was burning. Peter had his eyes closed and he held her arms like he needed them to survive. She looked at the floor, stepping away. She drew herself away from it all. Everyone was staring, she could feel their eyes like tiny daggered pinpricks in her skin. Even Peter was watching her now, curiously. Everyone was waiting for her reaction. The reaction which she could feel bubbling up inside her.
Against her better judgement, she looked at Henry. He was staring, mouth open, eyes wide. But the thing that broke her heart was the look of utter betrayal on his face. Everything had lined up, the dots had been connected. He understood.
"You – you were here before," he said, glancing quickly at Peter and back again, "You and Pan were… together?"
"No," she interjected, quickly, feeling her face heat up even more, "Well, sort of, but it's not what you think, Henry. I want to get away just as much as you do. I don't want to be here."
But even as she said the words, she could hear how empty they were. And she felt a huge tug on her heart as she realised that the truth in those statements was starting to wear thin. All of the memories were swimming around in head, making her feel sick and dizzy. She needed to get away. She wanted to be alone.
Peter looked between them and then bent down and picked up the crossbow and poisoned arrow.
"Henry," he said, with a return of his infamous cruel smile, "We have a story here about a man who once shot an apple off his son's head with an arrow. Let's find out if it's possible."
Abigail screamed, "No! You promised! I did what you wanted, Peter!"
He chuckled lowly but didn't bother answering her.
"If you're shooting an apple, what's the poison for?" Henry asked, distractedly.
"Motivation not to miss. Felix! Get over here!"
Felix, who had been crushingly silent throughout the whole ordeal, did as he was told, his expression blank. He refused to look at Abigail.
"Peter," she pleaded, and then changed tactics, "Felix. Please, you can't let him do this. Please."
But he still didn't look at her.
Henry was terrified, "Is – is Felix good? Is his aim good?"
"Doesn't matter," Peter thrust the crossbow into Henry's arms and Abigail felt so relieved that her legs gave way and she found herself sitting on the floor, "You're the one doing the shooting."
Henry protested but no one was listening. Felix put the apple on his head, staring at him mockingly. The lost boys began chanting. Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot over and over again.
"You won't hit him," Peter assured, "Go on. It's exhilarating."
Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot.
At a signal from Peter, the chanting stopped so suddenly that the silence was deafening. Abigail's breath was in her throat. So Henry wasn't going to die. What about Felix?
Henry steadied his arm, narrowed his eyes. He aimed. And then suddenly, he whirled around, letting the arrow go right at Peter. There was an audible intake of breath. Abigail's heart stopped. But the arrow was caught. Peter held it an inch from his chest, only just not touching the Dreamshade. The camp breathed a sigh of relief. Abigail felt like crying as they cheered.
"Told you it was exhilarating," Peter said to Henry, and then walked over to Abigail, his footsteps crunching in the foliage until he was stood in front of her. He knelt down. His fingers brushed the side of her face making her want to both flinch away and lean in to his touch. "And I told you I wouldn't hurt him. I don't break my word."
She looked away. He paused for a moment and then headed back to Henry.
"Come on, I want to show you something," he said and led the little boy away into the jungle. She would have wanted to go after him, but she couldn't. She was drained. She was exhausted and confused.
With a painful sob, she buried her face in her hands and began to cry.
A/N: Hehehehehe. What did you think? I hope you liked it! I love you guys! More to come, I promise :-)
Find me on tumblr and twitter, the addresses are somewhere in other chapters. I love talking to you so come along and join in the craziness that is my mind.
Love from Beth :-) xx