Chapters: 2/?

Rating: K+

Relationships: Killian Jones/Emma Swan & Victor Frankenstein/Red Lucas

Genre: Romance & Adventure

Summary: When Killian Jones steals Rumplestitskin's dagger, he takes cover in an old and abandoned tower. Little does he know, the Lost Princesses, Emma Swan and Red Lucas, are hidden away in that tower, kidnapped as babies by a spiteful Evil Queen. Along with Dr. Frankenstein, these four might just find what they never knew they were looking for: Love. Tangled AU. Rating will change.

AN: This has been updated a bit! When I first wrote this chapter, it was before the season 2 finale. Now, my version of Neverland DOESN'T MATCH UP WITH THE CANON VERSION AT ALL. Just so you know.

And wow, a warning, as I'm rereading this, I'm finding out that Victor is super fucking angsty.

I've kind of molded these character's Storybrooke identities and their fairytale identities. Fore example, Victor is still called Dr. Frankenstein and has an english accent (because HOT), but he also has a little bit of the ladies-man attitude he had as Whale (though to a much smaller scale). That shows up in most of the characters, like Snow/MM, Charming/David, etc.

Oh also, because I bet someone will ask just because they're curious after this chapter, no, Snow and Victor never had a thing like they did as Mary Margaret and Whale. They're just very good friends.

I'll give a virtual cookie to anybody who can guess which character from Tangled Victor is representing in this fanfic.

Enjoy, favorite, subscribe, and please please please please review!

Chapter 1

"I'm sorry boys, but my real home isn't here. I need to return," Victor told the Lost Boys as he slung his bag over his shoulder, filled with his few precious possessions.

"No father no, you can't leave!" "I'll make you stay!" "Who'll tell us stories?" They all shouted chaotically. Victor smiled weakly. He cared deeply for them, but he needed to return to Snow and Charming. He had pledged to protect them and their children, Red Emma, when Regina had sent him here.

He was getting back via magic bean. He obtained one from making some shifty deals at the island's tavern. There always tended to be some creepy fellows in there that conveniently had exactly what you were looking for. Well, almost all the time. But it had taken Victor just a little bit less than 22 years to find something that could transport him back.

He fondly thought back on the days when he had jumped from land to land using Jefferson's hat. Those days were long gone. If rumors were correct, Jefferson too had suffered the same fate as he; marooned in some distant land, with limited resources to get back. But he was finally going to be able to return, despite all of the gold it had cost him.

Actually, at the end of the day, the gold wasn't the cost. It was the Lost Boys' happiness that he had to pay. Or maybe it was his own. He knew that once he was gone, they would forget. That's what everyone does in Neverland. They forget. Especially the Lost Boys. They were children who had come to escape their awful lives in their homes. They came with the sole purpose of forgetting. If they got to forget pain but he did not, perhaps it was he who had to pay the price.

Through all of Neverland's magic, Victor had always remembered. He had kept focused on getting back to the Enchanted Forest all these years, and he had finally gotten his ticket home. "I'll never forget you, trust me," he told them. They all assured him of the same thing, as Victor threw the magic bean into the ocean. It was a lie, and they didn't even know it.

Passingly, Victor thought of the two princesses he woud soon be meeting. He wondered how they had grown up, and if life had burnt them in the same way it had burnt the lost souls in Neverland. It probably had. It was impossible to make it through life without getting hurt. Maybe once I'm with them, I'll be able to help. Maybe there are still some things I can fix, he though bitterly.

One boy, Slightly, latched his arms around the doctor's leg. The other boys, following suit, clung to him for dear life. It broke his heart that he nearly had to kick them off. "Boys! I don't know how long this'll stay open, and I need to leave, now. I'm sorry, I really really am, but I have to- It's just grown up stuff. I have responsibilities."

"Then don't grow up, father!" Curly yelled.

"I'm truly so sorry..." Victor knelt down, and turned each of their heads so they were looking at him directly, "but we all have to sooner or later." He nodded at Slightly. "You'll take care of them, now that I'm gone, right? I'm entrusting that responsibility to you."

"Aye aye!" Slightly responded, throwing his hand to his forehead in a salute. His posture was suddenly straightened dramatically, and his eyes held a new gleam of purpose.

"Then...goodbye, children," Victor said quietly, and with that, jumped into the portal that would lead him home.

After centuries of trying to find out, Hook finally had it. The whereabouts of Rumplestiltskin's dagger. Some men had come into the local tavern recently, talking about how King James and Queen Snow were hiding it up in their castle, and how you'd have to be mad to try to take it. Lucky for him, he had nothing to lose. Perhaps a dangerous quest to get it was what he needed. If he died along the way, so be it.

That had, in fact, been his outlook on his extended, miserable, singularly focused life for a long time. While he had sworn to get revenge on the Dark One for cutting off his hand and killing Milah, his love, in cold blood, he had never lost the "I laugh in the face of danger" attitude that he embodied in his youth.

He was so close to revenge that he could practically taste it. Hook had also heard that the Lost Boy's "father" (detestable man, Hook thought viciously. You see, ever since the doctor and the pirate had met, there had been a long-lasting disdain. Victor, who had always been a proper man with good raising, considered a pirate to be about the lowest "profession" one could have. Hook was exactly the other way around, thinking of Victor as incredibly uptight, and with a significant 'holier-than-thou' attitude. Their personalities clashed more than any other man the two had ever met.) had found passage out of the godforsaken island. If rumors were correct, he had managed to get a magic bean. Sneaking through the forest to the Lost Boy's hideout, Hook saw that the rumors had been correct. The portal was open, and he just saw the Doctor disappearing into the frothy sea.

Without thinking, he began to run at the shore. He needed to get there before the portal closed. He had been planning on bringing his entire ship and crew, but circumstances had presented themselves in a such a convenient way, he couldn't resist. Victor had already been swallowed by the water once Hook got there. The pirate heard a few shouts of, "Hey!" "It's Hook!" "Stop him!" coming from the boys, but he didn't pay attention. They would be incapable of stopping him.

Nothing would be capable of stopping him.

Not slowing down, he ran straight off the dock, reaching the portal just a few moments before it closed.

"Your majesties, Dr. Frankenstein requests to meet with you," a guard said nervously from the doorway to the throne room.

"Doctor..." Charming trailed off, gaping at his wife. Her pretty face had the same shock etched on it. Neither of them had expected to see him again. "Send him in, then! Quickly!"

"What, does nobody remember me?" A soft, english accent came floating down the corridor, the same humor in it that the Charmings remembered from 21 years ago. Their old friend's face appeared at the door.

"Victor!" Snow shouted, and, hoping off her throne, ran to hug him. He laughed, and tightly hugged her back.

"Your majesties," he bowed low, still smiling.

"How are you here? When Regina took you, we thought..." Snow asked.

"I thought she would too, but she banished me to Neverland. Quite conveinent, really," he said casually, pretending to brush dust off his shoulder. "Still as handsome as ever, what with the not aging thing." All three laughed. He saw a question of their faces, and knew what it was asking. "And don't worry, I hid the curse there. Nobody but me knows it's location. Trust me, it'll never be a problem." They nodded in thanks.

Charming said, "Well, it's good to have you back. At least it's something..."

"Charming, we don't need to get into that now," Snow said quietly. Victor looked between the two, and noticed something about them that he hadn't before. Yes, they were older, but they really looked like it. There were worry lines etched into their faces, and their big grins looked unnatural, almost like they hadn't done it in a while. Before he could ask about it, light, brisk footsteps were heard running up to the door.

"Mother, father, I- who's this?" A young boy, he couldn't be older than 12, ran up to their congregation. Victor glanced down at him, and then back up at his friends.

"Mother? Father?" He questioned jokingly. "When did this happen?" He then turned down to the boy. "If I'm right in assuming that you aren't Emma, that is." The other three in the group all became tense, looking everywhere but him. The boy was the first to speak.

"No, I'm Henry."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Prince Henry," Victor said, but was still distracted by the look on their faces. "Pardon me, but what am I missing here?"

"Oh Victor, it's just that...Emma isn't here," Snow sniffed, holding back tears, and Charming put a protective arm around her shoulders. "She hasn't been here in 21 years." Snow tugged herself out of her husbands grip, and ran from the room.

"Please, I beg your pardon, I had no idea-" Victor began.

"No, don't be sorry. She can be really emotional about it," Henry said.

Charming looked aghast. "Henry! Don't talk like that about your mother!" he yelled, and Henry quickly apologized.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry, It's just..."

"Yes, she can be emotional, but Emma and Red were are children. She has every right to be. How would you expect her to react if Regina kidnapped you?"

"Oh dear, I've definitely overstepped some boundaries. Forgive me," Victor said, making plans of how he could manage to leave the room without being too tactless. How did I manage to not hear this story in Neverland? He thought to himself furiously. But, he thought back on the Lost Boys. Keeping them in line had been more than a full time job. He must've been so cut off from regular civilization that stories of lost princesses in the Enchanted Forest had never reached his ears.

"No, you're a good friend. I'll tell you the story. Henry, could you excuse us?" Charming asked kindly. Henry just nodded, apologized yet again, and walked out of the room. Charming turned to Victor, his cloak swooshing around him grandly, and he gestured for the doctor to follow him.

He led him to a dining room, with a large table made out of some expensive looking wood, decorated with candles and fancy silverware. it seemed very foreign to him, after living in the makeshift tree that was transformed into the home of the Lost Boys for years.

Charming jumped into the tale with no preamble. Victor could tell that he wanted to tell the story as quickly as possibly. He suspected that Charming was not as strong as he appeared to be, but he stayed this way to comfort his wife. That had always been a quality Victor had tried to embody for the Lost Boys. Being able to put his own problems behind him to help them. "Not long after she took you, Regina kidnapped Red and Emma. We haven't seen them since, but Rumplestiltskin has told us that they will find us one day. We've just had to keep that in mind, but..it's been hard. We love Henry with all of our hearts, but there's a hole there, that just can't be filled. We've needed to have blind faith in Rumplestiltskin, which, as you can imagine, causes us to doubt that it'll ever happen." Charming's voice broke, and he cut off.

There was a silence for a few moments, while Victor took in that information. A sudden thought dawned on him, and he slumped down in his chair a bit. "If I hadn't taken the curse from Regina, Emma would've been the savior like it said in the first prophecy. That would've been Regina's revenge. She never would've gone after Red and Emma. This...this is my fault." He didn't say it like a question, but Charming jumped in to deny it right away.

"No! No, you can't blame yourself. That's ridiculous. Of course it's not your fault!" Charming said with furrowed eyebrows.

"But it is," Victor muttered. "Most things seem to be." Thoughts of his brother's death plagued his mind every day, as did Regina, in her new black garb. He had helped darken her soul. he caused her to become the Evil Queen, and that guilt would weight on him until the day he died. He then looked up at his friend with vigor in his eyes. "I'll find them. I promise."

"No, that would be pointless," Charming sighed, and then. "Rumplestiltskin specifically told us that we would be reunited as long we continued searching for them, but in the end, they would find us. We keep soldiers looking for them nonstop, and we have a festival every year on Emma's birthday."

"He's been wrong before, hasn't he? He said there was nothing that could stop the curse. Besides, he said you wouldn't be able to find them. He never mention me, did he? Come now, I must do my part." Charming shook his head, but Victor put his hand on his friend's shoulder, and gripped it tightly. "Please. This is for my own conscience. I can't be left thinking that they're gone because of me. I need to help."

The king seemed to consider him, and then said slowly, "Yes. You may." Victor smiled brightly, and let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you. I'll leave as soon as possible."

Hook had dropped into the middle of the forest, but he stayed silent for a few minutes. Barely 20 feet away, he could see Frankenstein as well. He didn't want him to know that he had been followed. Especially not if he was going to reunite with his old royal friends, the very people that Hook would be stealing from in a matter of days.

The actual act of stealing was something that Hook hadn't gotten to thinking about much yet. He knew that he wouldn't be able to do it on his own. He would've done it with Smee, but his companion was back in Neverland. He would need to find somebody new to commit this crime with. Knowing that the "creepy but intelligent men who had unnatural knowledge about whatever thing you needed" type tend to hang out in shady bars (just a little fact he'd picked up over the years). His first act was to attempt to find such an establishment.

After finding a road through he forest, it took him mere minutes to find a small tavern called The Snuggly Duckling. It could've not been less aptly named. There was dirt and grime covering almost every surface, all of the drinks were strong enough to make even a pirate like Hook grimace, and terrifying men sat in every corner of the place. Well, terrifying to most people. To Hook, they didn't look threatening. Despite looking like a young man with a hook for a hand and an affinity for leather and eyeliner, Hook was just as menacing as any of them.

He was pleased to see the whole room grew quiet the moment he entered. It seemed that all eyes were focused on the spot were his left hand had once been. The metal appendage straped to the stump certainly earned him a strong reputation.

He strolled to the bar, where a young man actually scurried out of his seat to open up a spot for him. Knowing that he must keep on this attitude, he sat down without sparing a glance to the boy. He needed to make it clear to everyone that he was in fact the feared pirate captain they had all heard about. He couldn't let anybody know that he needed their assistance until he knew they wouldn't question his authority, simply because it was always easier to have the upper hand.

He ordered a rum from the bartender, and kept his head focused forward, not looking around at his surroundings. Again, it would be another sign of weakness. Conversation started to pick up again, and his drink was placed in front of him.

Much to Hook's shock, however, the man next to him, who was wearing a conspicuous top hat, spoke to him with no fear in his voice. "Captain Hook, right?"

Hook turned to glare at this man who dared to not be nervous. He was met with the face of a man with shaggy, unkept hair, a crazed glint in his eye, and very peculiar clothing, looking like it had been sewn together from bits and scraps of other fabrics. "Depends on who's asking."

"Jefferson," the man said simply, but then got back to Hook. It was clear he didn't want to talk about himself. "If rumors are correct, you're looking for the Dark One's dagger?" Hook neither confirmed nor denied it, just took another sip of his drink, which Jefferson took as a yes. "Well, might I offer my assistance it helping to steal it?"

Hook stared at the man in confusion, one of the few times he had ever been surprised. How was it this easy for him to find the very type of man he was looking for? "And why do you want it, mate?"

Jefferson cleared his throat. "Regina, the queen, abandoned me in Wonderland many years ago, taking my portal-jumping hat with her. I tried for many years to make a hat that could bring me back to my daughter, and eventually I did, but we're quite poor. Having the Dark One's power would make me rich." Again he tried to change the subject back to Hook. "You want it for revenge, correct? What did he do to you?"

"That's none of you're business, I'm afraid," Hook said pointedly, and the two fell into a silence. Of course it was to help a child. Parents always wanted to help their children.

This Jefferson seemed like an honorable enough man. Hook doubted he had another agenda. Perhaps he could trust him.

"I actually worked with Rumplestiltskin once." That sentence cause Hook's head to pop back up staring at his companion in alarm. "I helped him ruin the queen's life." Jefferson let out a bitter laugh. "I guess that came back to bite me in the ass."

"Wait...Does the name Victor Frankenstein mean anything to you?" Hook asked, surprised yet again. Who knew the Crocodile would work with such a strange man as the one sitting next to him, and the old father of the Lost Boys? But he did recall from stories that he heard that the two men Rumplestiltskin had enlisted to help break the queen had been a doctor and a...hatter? Well, it explained the top hat.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, it does. Why?"

"No reason, I just know him. I trust that the fact that you've worked with the Dark One won't cause you to take pity on him?"

"Definitely not. Our alliance is long since forgotten," Jefferson assured him.

After another brief silence, Hook felt that he needed to ask him a few more questions. "And you are aware that you have to be mad to try to steal from the royal palace?"

"Funny you should say mad, that happens to be the best word you could possibly find to describe me," Jefferson laughed, and Hook saw the slightly crazed smile again. Yes, he could see the truth of Jefferson's words clearly.

"Very well, what can you do to help me steal the dagger? Apparently it's placed under the highest guard that the Charmings could come up with."

"They don't have this though," Jefferson smiled, with a hint of an eccentric edge to it, and he held up a small bottle filled with...

"Sparkly water? Wonderful," Hook rolled his eyes. Perhaps this man was worthless.

"No, not water. Poison. It makes people fall unconscious in a matter of moments."

"Ah. How did you happen upon that?" Hook questioned.

"I told you, I was a portal jumper. You tend to collect some interesting stuff after doing that for half your life."

Hook looked yet again at this man with newfound respect. "Well then Jefferson, it appears you'll be useful to me after all," Hook nodded in approval. A part of him felt bad. He had betrayed some men similar to Jefferson; men who were desperate, and willing to do anything to help others. While he wasn't planning on doing it now, he never knew how situations would pan out. If he ended up being given the choice between helping Jefferson or getting the dagger, there was no question that he would choose the latter. He just hoped that time wouldn't come because, despite his reputation, he didn't exactly fancy the idea of separating a man from his daughter.

"Why is it that the royal family guards this dagger, anyways?" Hook asked. He suspected it would have to do with some deal, but he was curious to see if Jefferson knew how that deal had come to pass, and what both parties had given. The more information he knew, the better.

"Apparently they promised to keep it safe in exchange for Rumplestiltskin looking into the future to see if the lost princesses were safe," Jefferson replied nonchalantly.

"I'm sorry, the what?"

"The lost princesses."

"What the bloody hell does that mean? Are they like the Lost Boys?"

"Do you not get information in Neverland or something?" The Hatter laughed incredulously. "I've never met anybody who hasn't heard of the Lost Princesses."

Hook stared at him, obviously prompting Jefferson to tell the history of these princesses. He merely continued to stare into space until the pirate cleared his throat loudly.

"Oh, right. Well basically, the story goes that after Regina failed to enact this curse, she stole the two daughters of Snow and Charming. Well, technically only one was their daughter. Her name was Emma, and the other one they had sort of adopted. Her name was Red They were both supposed to have been absolutely beautiful and perfect in every way. Well, you can imagine the uproar when these two got kidnapped. The Charmings panicked so much that they made this deal with Rumplestiltskin, and he told them that the princesses would find them, as long as they keep looking. So, they send out parties of soldier all the time, and they celebrate Emma's birthday every year by launching hundred of lanterns into the sky." Jefferson's voice grew softer. "Grace loves the lanterns. Everyone does. They look gorgeous, all floating through the sky..." Hook could only assume that this Grace was Jefferson's daughter.

The lost princesses. It didn't ring a bell in Hook's mind, but then again, he had heard so many stories in his time that they all blended together. "How long ago was this?"

"Um, about 21 years I believe. Emma's 22nd birthday is coming up soon." Hook didn't know where this curiosity came from, but the tale intrigued him for some reason. Shaking his head slightly, as if to clear it of his unwanted thoughts, he raised his glass.

"To Grace's good health," he said to Jefferson. His neighbor lifted his in return.

"And to your vengeance."

Their glasses clinked together, the sound forming a bond between the two that was, sadly, destined to break.