Nothing But a Pirate

Chapter Eight

It took longer for Neal to return to them than Emma would have liked, but a short time later he finally stepped out of the cave again and motioned for her and the others to join him inside. Tinker Bell walked inside first while David and Mary Margaret looked at each other and let out a nervous breath as they followed after the Savior, not sure of what to expect from the real Rufio. Exactly how crazy was a little crazy? For their daughter's sake, they really hoped Neal was right and that the former Lost Boy would really be able to help them find a way to save both Henry and even Hook too, no matter what they thought of him.

When they passed under the waterfall and entered inside the cavern hidden behind, a boy with sandy blond hair looking to be the same age as Pan himself immediately spoke up sternly as he glared between Neal and the newcomers saying, "So which one is she?"

Neal chortled as he looked toward Emma, then turned back to the younger man and answered, "You'll have to forgive him. Rufio, this Emma Swan and her parents, David and Mary Margaret. And of course you remember Tink?"

"Yeah, of course I do," Rufio replied curtly as he nervously twirled a strand of his hair on the side of his head between his fingers. "You didn't tell me that Pan's fairy was here with you too, Baelfire? Forget it, I can't talk to you. Get out! Get out!"

"It's okay," Tink responded quickly as Rufio suddenly became agitated and started to pace wildly back and forth. "Please, Rufio. I promise you I'm not working with Pan any longer. I haven't for a long time. I'm afraid of him too."

The former Lost Boy glared at her as he asked, "I don't trust you. You and Pan have always been pretty chummy."

Neal walked over to stand in front of him as he grabbed him by his shoulders and looked into his eyes as he answered, "They haven't been for well over a century. You've always trusted me, Rufio. I need you to trust me now. We really need your help."

"I told you I don't know anything about him," Rufio replied angrily and collapsed in the makeshift chair behind him, then took a few minutes to calm down. "I don't keep track of Pan or the others anymore. I haven't for decades."

"Please," Emma whispered sadly, kneeling down in front of him as she attempted to reach out to set her hand down on the boy's knee until she realized it wasn't a good idea, then pleadingly and sincerely looked directly into his eyes. "My son's life is in danger and now a friend's life is too. If there is anything you can tell us…"

He suddenly interrupted her as he responded, "Baelfire never mentioned a friend. Who's your friend?"

The blonde woman glared at Neal for a moment, then turned back to Rufio right away and answered, "Captain Hook."

"Hook's back?" Rufio asked with surprise. "He's your friend?"

"That's right," Mary Margaret replied. "He's come here to Neverland to help us to save Henry, but he was taken captive by Pan too. We want to help him if we can."

Rufio swiftly became agitated again as he stood up and shouted, "He can't be back! I don't want him to know. If he knows…"

Neal grabbed the boy by his shoulders again to get him to stop moving as he stated, "Just try to calm down. Hook won't ever have to know. But we owe it to him to help him out. If there's anything you can tell us…"

"I don't know," the former Lost Boy responded curtly as he sat down again and pounded his fist against his forehead, then stopped as he glared between Emma and Neal again. "If I help you, Pan will find me too. I can't go back. He'll kill me."

"Is that why you asked Hook to help you?" Emma questioned quietly. "To help you fake your death so that you could escape from Pan?"

Rufio closed his eyes as he pulled his knees up to his chest and then he answered nervously, "Hook is a villain. I hate… hated him. But he is an enemy to Pan, the only one who can help me. We have a plan."

When he stopped talking, Neal looked over at Emma, her parents, and Tinker Bell again as he spoke up again in frustration saying, "I told you he was a mess. He's become paranoid and he has trouble differentiating between past and present. I don't think we're going to be able to get any more out of him. It was a waste of time to bring you here. I'm sorry."

"What the hell made him this way?" Emma asked again with remorse after everyone stepped away from the boy.

"I didn't actually know him before he supposedly died," Neal continued worryingly. "But from what I know from my time spent among the Lost Boys after I was taken prisoner by them because of Hook… Sorry, I'm trying. I heard from a few of the other boys that Rufio has a brother and both were abandoned and then were brought here to Neverland by Pan's shadow, a long time ago. Both of them were very angry and soon became cruel, but eventually Pan chose Rufio to be his second in charge over Felix; his brother. Felix had become jealous and Pan knew it, as did the rest of the boys. I asked Hook once when he came back from a mission for Pan for the rest of the story because I figured he might be the only one who might be willing to tell me what the others didn't. Hook only agreed to open up about it because he thought it could help him to get back into my good graces by telling me that he somehow learned that Pan had manipulated Felix into plotting to kill Rufio so that he could prove his loyalty to the villain and Felix was desperate to do so. When he told Rufio, he refused to believe his brother was capable of it, yet they both came up with a plan to fake his death in order to escape Pan, but… Well as you know, whatever Hook's plan to help him escape was, it failed. And whatever the hell happened, it somehow screwed Rufio up badly and as you can see, the years haven't been kind to him. Even though Pan believes he's dead, and Hook believes it too, Felix wound up having to be saved by Tiger Lily."

It was then that Rufio looked up suddenly as he said strangely, "Tiger Lily? Pan's taking Hook to Tiger Lily."

Emma stared at the boy as she asked, "What did you just say?"

"I don't trust Hook and I don't like him, but if Pan captured him, then he'll take the pirate to the Indians so they can kill him," he replied quietly as the Savior knelt down in front of him again. "Hook tried to help me. You want to help him, go to the Indians' camp. You don't, he will die."

"How do you know this?" David questioned in disbelief.

Felix looked up at Neal, who then responded with frustration upon realizing what the boy was trying to explain, "Because Hook is the one who killed Tiger Lily's father. I heard the Indian Chief was killed from rumors after I escaped from Pan and the Lost Boys myself, but I never knew for sure. I actually believed it was Pan who killed him. Felix, how do you know Pan will deliver Hook to the Indians?"

The former Lost Boy turned from Emma to look at Neal as he answered, "I heard whisperings while I was in the jungle gathering food. The others are everywhere in the jungle and they talk. I heard them say a truce was going to be formed between them."

"Between who?" Mary Margaret asked in confusion.

"It makes perfect sense," Neal replied quickly. "The Lost Boys and the Indians have always had an uneasy relationship, but they didn't become enemies until a fight broke out among them and Chief Great Little Panther was killed. Hook must have been there with Pan to help him with whatever he needed him there for and then killed Tiger Lily's father. Maybe that was why Hook was there, though I heard that Pan's been trying to rebuild a truce between them for whatever his reason might be. Handing Hook over to them would do it."

Emma sighed with frustration and then responded, "Fine, then we're going to the Indian camp to save Hook."

Neal scoffed and then asked curtly, "What about Henry? He's our son. He needs to be our priority."

"Henry is my priority," the Savior answered angrily. "Believe me, I want to save him more than you do. It's killing me that we can't just charge into Pan's camp right now and get him back, but for right now I have to believe that Henry's safe so long as Pan still needs him. Hook isn't. If we don't help him now, he's going to die. He may be a pirate, a villain, and whatever else he is, but he's done a lot for us and got us this far. Besides, I've already betrayed him once when we first met in the Enchanted Forest. I can't do it again. If you guys want any hope of helping me to admit that I'm your Savior, then I have to be able to save Hook too. Please, help me do that."

"Of course we will," Emma's mother replied with sincerity, as she smiled at her daughter proudly.

David nodded in agreement and then looked between Neal and the Green Fairy as he asked, Can you get us to the Indians' camp?"

Tinker Bell smiled as she responded confidently, "I can. It's a half a day's walk from here, so we'd better move if we're going to be in time to save him."