"Where are we going?" Sophia asked as she they followed Felix into town.
"Hades wants as much people in the Underworld as possible so every time someone moves on he is kind of pissed, but his power also weakens that way," Felix explains.
"So if we help people with their unfinished business than they can move on, Hades power will weaken and ours will return to us," Pan said, trying to understand where Felix is going with this.
"Hopefully."
"But wait," Sophia stopped suddenly, looking between them when they stopped as well and turned to her. "How do we know someone's unfinished business and how can we help those people?"
Pan and Felix shared a look. "You know when I told you Neverland wasn't exactly like the Disney version everyone knows?" Felix said. Sophia nodded. "Well, often enough Lost Boys died on the island. I'm sure there are some of them down here. That a start."
"Plus, there are enough people my son killed. I'm sure we can help those as well."
They both turned their heads to look at Pan. She knew Rumpelstiltskin was his son, but him talking about it just felt a bit… awkward. Partly because he looked the same age as they looked.
"What?" Pan said, raising his eyebrow when they kept staring.
"Nothing, just forgot about the fact that you do indeed have a son," Sophia said, shaking her head.
"I still have trouble believing it, to be honest," Felix mumbled.
"And why's that?" Pan asked Felix, crossing his arms.
"I just don't see you walking around with a little boy as an old man."
"Just to be clear, you did see me once with Rumple."
Felix eyebrows shot up. "I did?"
A smirk grew on Pan's face as he walked over to Sophia, resting his elbow on her shoulder and looked at her very amused. "I remember seeing a blond little boy with grey eyes running through the streets in nothing but sock."
Felix face became red as he glared at Pan. "Okay, that's enough."
Sophia crossed her arms with an amused smile, glancing at Pan who was still leaning on her shoulder. "Go on."
"Not one second later a woman ran after him with his cloths, yelling furiously. But no matter how hard she yelled that little boy wouldn't come back. After he and the woman passed Rumple and I for the fourth time she asked me if I could help her catch him."
"You were that crazy old man with the creepy kid?" Felix asked surprised.
"'Come on, laddie. You've shown more than enough of yourself.'" He quoted himself in a much deeper and rougher voice.
"What happened?" Sophia asked curiously. Felix looked up, turning away from them in embarrassment while his face became even redder.
"We were able to lead him into a corner and trapped him there. You should have seen his face."
"Please don't tell me he started peeing." Sophia bit down on her lip to keep herself from laughing.
"He did."
"Bye!" Felix said as he turned on his heels and pulled up his hood, walking away from them. Both Pan and Sophia laughed.
"Love that idiot," Sophia said when her laugh died down. "who was that woman, though?"
"She worked at the orphanage where he lived in."
Sophia frowned. "Where were his parents?" Felix had told her some bits and pieces of his childhood before Neverland but not much. He never talked about his parents or if he had any brothers or sisters. He didn't like talking about it so she didn't push him.
"They abandoned him not long after he was born, but that's not my story to tell."
"Did you know them by any chance?"
"I knew many people back then. Perhaps, but I wouldn't have recognized them."
"Well, he has Ingrid now," she said, smiling fondly at where Felix was leaning against a tree with his arms crossed and hood up. Pan removed his arm from her shoulder as she started walking towards Felix. "Done sulking, laddie?"
"If I just use Pan's life we wouldn't have this trouble with the not being able to leave thing," he grumbled, still a bit red.
"Come on, don't you think it sweet he remembers?" she said, shoving his lightly.
"Not really when the memory includes a naked version of me."
A laugh escaped her lips. "You were a kid."
"Pan just likes to see me naked."
"Please don't ever say that again, it sounds really disgusting."
"He once made me walk around the jungle for a whole day in nothing but a skirt of leaves."
She laughed. "Why?"
"Lost a bet," he shrugged. "but the part that pissed me off was that every time a Lost Boy would walk by they would pull out one of the leaves. At the end of the day I had only one left."
"Really wish you had a camera back then in Neverland."
"Got back on him, though. He had to jump off a cliff naked." He chuckled, shaking his head. "The mermaids never looked at him the same way again."
"Those poor mermaids," she laughed, imagining their reaction as Pan jumped.
"Your turn, tell me an embarrassing story of your childhood." A smirk grew on his lips as he looked at her.
"You know that you shouldn't have to ask me if you had simple paid attention while I grew up."
"Sorry, I was to occupied avoiding little you."
"Seriously? Why?" She looked at him curiously.
He ducked his head, his smirk turning into a shy smile. "Since the first moment I saw you in the woods I knew I would never be the same. All this time I tried to ignore it, thinking that avoiding you would help, but it didn't."
She tilted her head, smiling at him. "I knew it. I can still see those big grey eyes stare at me just because I put my tiny hand in yours."
"And that adorable voice that called me 'Feiksh'."
Pan groaned loudly behind them. "Just kiss already so that we can go."
Sophia raised an eyebrow at Felix who responded with a smirk before they both looked back at Pan. Pan raised his eyebrow at them as they approached him. Before Pan could do anything Sophia and Felix kissed his cheeks. They laughed when his face turned disgusted and red. He wiped his cheeks while glaring at them.
"You two are disgusting."
"You suggested the kiss," Sophia said with an amused smirk. "Now let's go."
Felix took her hand and enlaced their fingers as they started walking. Pan followed after letting out a very audible annoyed breath. To their surprise it wasn't hard to find old Lost Boys down here and more surprising was that almost everyone's unfinished business had either to do with Pan or Felix.
At the end of the day they were able to help four Lost Boys move on. One even got to move on with his mother after he thought he lost her forever. It warmed Sophia's heart as she watched the boy with his mother walk over the stone bridge to 'a better place'.
The three of them left the cave. It was dark outside again, making her realize that they have been helping these boys all day. When she yawned she also realized that she was extremely tired. She let her head fall and rest against Felix shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her, holding her close.
"It's good to know those boys are in a better place now," Pan said from beside her.
"It is," Felix agreed. "but they still died young."
"Physically," Sophia reminded them.
"Age in years doesn't always mean age in wisdom."
"Says the four hundred something year old teenager."
Pan snorted beside them. "Can you please stop turning every conversation into flirting."
"Welcome in my world," Felix said, rolling his eyes.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Pan asked, looking offended.
"It means that while we were cursed the only thing you did was flirt if there was a girl involved. This is nothing compared to what I had to go through."
Pan looked like he wanted to say something but shut his mouth when he had nothing to say. Instead he just crossed his arms and started walking faster. A soft laugh escaped Sophia as she watched Pan. Felix brushed his hand up and down her arm as he kissed the top of her head.
They walked quietly through the quiet town to the woods when Felix suddenly stopped. She looked up at him, her eyebrow raised. Felix smirked down at her before turning a bit and pointing at something before them.
"Look," he whispered in her ear. She followed the line of his finger, seeing the broken top of the clock tower on the road.
"What is it?" she asked a bit confused when nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Well, the ordinary for Underbrooke that is.
"Wait for it…"
She heard a tick, and then another, and another. In total she heard five ticks, but she didn't only hear them, she also saw the hands of the clock move at every tick. She looked up at Felix, a smile forming on her face when she saw his.
"What does that mean?"
"Every soul that leaves the Underworld is a tick. Every tick is Hades losing his power," he explained, looking down at her with those big grey eyes. "We'll be home before you know it."
"Home," she repeated. "We'll all be home."
"So, who are we helping today?" Sophia asked the boys as they walked through town.
"Didn't your father have a brother?" Pan asked her.
"Yeah, but I don't think he's here. My father spook highly of him, an honorable man like him wouldn't be down here."
Pan scoffed. "Honorable? More like a stubborn ass."
"Hey!" she gave him a look at which Pan raised his brow.
"He killed himself by using Dreamshade even after I've warned him, so yeah, he's a stubborn ass."
"And this happened…?" Felix piped in.
"You remember when I told you there were intruders on the island?" Felix nodded. "That were Hook and his brother. They were looking for Dreamshade, and were told it could heal any injury."
"Their king told them that," Sophia said, trying to defense her father and uncle.
"And they were stupid enough to believe their king rather than the boy who lived on the island," Pan said, rolling his eyes. "your family isn't that bright."
"You know what else isn't bright? The place where I'm going to kick you if you don't shut up." Pan glared at her, but didn't say anything else. Felix just chuckled beside her.
Suddenly Sophia stopped, her eyes glued on a man who entered a bar. "Sophia, everything alright?" Felix asked.
"Come," she said and started sprinting. Pan and Felix followed behind her as she followed the strange but familiar man. She pushed open the door to the bar the man just entered. The bar was like everything else in the Underworld mostly red.
"Sorry, but we won't open until another hour," a man said, turning towards them from behind the bar. "Aren't you a bit too young to drink anyway?"
Sophia froze. That was him, Liam, her father's brother. But how? What could he be doing here? What unfinished business would he possibly have?
"Believe me when I say that we are much older than you," Pan said, stepping around her and Felix and walking closer to the bar. Liam straitened himself, eyeing Pan curiously. "Nice to see you again, Captain."
"What do you want?" Liam asked warily before looking behind Pan at her and Felix. "Who are you?"
Sophia opened her mouth to speak but Pan spoke before she any noise could leave her.
"What kind of way is that to greet your niece?"
Liam's eyebrows shot up. "Niece?" He walked around the bar, ignoring Pan as he passed him and went straight to her. "I have a niece?" he asked a bit awestruck.
"Sophia Jones, nice to meet you," she said, smiling at him and holding out her hand which he took.
"I can't believe it," he said after releasing her hand, shaking his head. "my little brother has a daughter, which by looks of it died sooner than he did."
"Oh, no, no I'm not dead."
Liam gave her a puzzled look. "Then what are you doing here?"
She looked behind her at Felix who had been observing them the whole time, and smiled fondly at him. He looked down at her, mirroring her look. "I came down here for this guy," she said softly, taking his hand.
Liam eyed Felix, crossing his arms. "I see," he said before turning to look at Pan. "and why are you here then?"
"Same reason as your niece, only I have another motivation than she has," Pan added quickly.
"I really hope you do," Felix mumbled under his breath. "Nice to meet you, sir," he said a bit louder, extending his hand to Liam.
Liam shook his hand, but the wary look was still in his eyes. "Come, I'm sure we have a lot to talk about," he said more to her than the other boys.
She nodded, following Liam to the bar and sat down on one of the barstools. Felix and Pan shared a look before following as well. Felix came to sit beside her and Pan on his other side. "Would you like some coke? Or maybe something else? I'm afraid that I don't really have much to offer that is nonalcoholic."
"Coke is fine," Sophia said with a smile.
"I wouldn't mind some rum," Pan said. Sophia shot him a look at which he rolled his eyes. "Fine, a coke would do, for now."
Liam started pouring them their drink. "So, how's my little brother?"
"He's great," she said, smiling at Liam. "he and my mother are expecting another baby."
"Really?" Liam said, smiling at the thought of his brother being happy. He handed them their drinks. "And who is your mother?"
"Her name is Emma, and technically she is the Princess of Misthaven, but because of a curse everything got messed up and now we just live in Storybrooke as a normal family."
"What you call normal," Pan scoffed, sipping his drink.
"Felix, can you hit him for me? I can't reach him."
"Sure." Felix turned to Pan, slapping him on the back of his head. Sophia laughed as Pan almost spilled his drink, glaring at both of them while rubbing the back of his head.
"Am I missing something?" Liam asked a bit confused.
"No, nothing important," she ensured him, shaking her head. She then leaned forward, her expression turning a bit more serious. "But why are you down here? My father told me you're a honorable man that never done a bad thing in his life, so what could possible your unfinished business?"
Liam sighed heavily. "That's what I've been trying to figure out ever since I came down here."
"Maybe we can help," Sophia offered, making him look at her. "we can't leave this place unless we overpower Hades, and to do so we have to help as many people as we can move on. If people leave the underworld than he loses his power. The more people we help move on the less powerful Hades is."
"That sounds like a good plan," he said, looking between the three of them. "but you know that he is a god, right? Even with less power he is still more powerful than any of you."
"Sophia is rather powerful, and her powers combines with those of Hades son makes them unstoppable," Felix said and took a sip of his drink, a proud look in his eyes when he looked at her again.
"Plus my magic we can easily overpower him," Pan piped in as well.
"Wait. Hades has a son?" Liam asked.
"It's a long story," Sophia sighed. "but if you know anything that could help us defeat him than spill."
"There is this book I've heard of, a book that contains information about Hades and his weaknesses," Liam tells them.
"The storybook," Felix said, sharing a look with Sophia.
"I think that we need more than stories to defeat Hades," Liam said, immediately dismissing Felix's idea. Sophia frowned slightly.
"No, you don't get it," she said. "there is this storybook which contains life stories of every person in Storybrooke. If there is such a book down here than maybe there is a story about Hades in which his weakness is mentioned."
"That's brilliant," Liam praised her. "any idea on where we could maybe find this book?"
"Last time we found it in the library, we could start there," Felix suggested. Liam straitened himself, clasping his hands together.
"Alright, you go ahead, I'll be right behind you."
The three of them stood, Pan already on his way to the door. Sophia took Felix's hand and he kissed her temple, ready to follow behind Pan.
"Felix, was it?" Liam said suddenly, making them stop and turn back to him.
"Yeah?"
"Could I talk to you for a second?"
"Uhm…" Felix looked down at her, silently asking her if it was okay. Sophia smiled and nodded. He looked back at Liam. "Yeah, of course."
Sophia stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek before walking outside where Pan was waiting. Pan was leaning against a wall when she came outside.
"Where's Felix?" he asked, raising his eyebrow.
"Liam wanted to talk to him." Sophia went to stand beside him. Pan chuckled and shook his head. "What?"
"Poor Felix."
"Why poor him?"
"What do you think Liam wants to talk to him about?"
Sophia laughed too when she realized what Pan meant. "Yeah, poor, poor Felix."
"What is it?" Felix asked as he looked at Liam. Liam crossed his arms, giving him a judging look that made Felix slightly uncomfortable. "It's about Sophia, isn't it?"
"Guessed right," Liam said, pausing for a second and stepping closer. "I don't want you anywhere near her again."
Felix eyebrows shot up. "What? You can't be serious, right?"
"I am serious."
Felix shook his head. "I don't mean to be rude but you don't have the right to tell me whether or not to be with her. You may be her uncle but you don't know me or her, you don't know what's best for her."
"And you do?"
Felix felt anger rise up in him, who does he think he is?
"I know it so much better than you," he hissed at Liam.
"You think you do, but what about the fact that you endangered her, that instead of sending her back you risk a part of your future just so you can be with her," Liam said calmly.
"She came down here on her own, she did it herself, I didn't know and if I knew I would have stopped her. How do you know about that anyway?"
Liam looked down for a second. "Everyone knows what's at stake when it comes to going back to the living. Are you really that selfish to risk that?"
"I told her what was at risk, it was her choice as much as it was mine." Felix was still angry, but there was something else about Liam that wasn't right. "You don't know us, what we went through and how much we care about each other."
"I know more than enough. She is a lot like my little brother at that age, and-"
"And what?" Felix snapped. "Is it because I'm a Lost Boy? Is it because you don't trust Pan and he happens to be my friend? Don't you think I'm able to take care of her?" he stepped forward, Liam held his ground. "I love her more than I have ever loved anyone in my life, and believe me when I say I have lived more years than you. I don't care who you are, I don't care that you don't approve. I didn't care when your brother, her father, didn't approve. All I care about is Sophia, all I care about is that she is happy. So no, I won't stay away from her unless she wants me to."
Before Liam could say anything else Felix turned on his heels and stormed off. He walked out of the bar, seeing Pan and Sophia stand there waiting for him.
"Hey, everything alri-" Sophia started but was cut off by Felix when he grabbed her around her waist, crashing his lips to hers. He held her tightly. Maybe it was a bit unfair that he was kissing her just to piss off Liam – and probably Pan – but he just needed her close to him as well, to make sure Liam was wrong about them. He wanted to forget that conversation, because as he felt the anger fade he began to doubt his own words.
Sophia pulled away from him. His chest tightened a bit painfully as he slowly opened his eyes to look at her. What the hell was he doing?
"Felix, what's wrong?" she said gently when she saw his inside struggle. She cupped his cheek, brushing her thumb over his cheek. "What did Liam tell you?"
"Am I good enough?" he whispered before he could stop himself.
"More than enough," she said, smiling fondly at him. "why do you think we are down here?"
He shrugged, looking away from her. Liam then closed the door of the bar and locked it. Sophia looked at him, her smile turning into a frown as she let go of Felix and walked over to her uncle.
"It's sweet that you are being the overprotecting uncle and all, but leave Felix the hell alone. He has it hard enough without another person to bring him down," she tells Liam sharply. Liam looked past her and met Felix gaze, his eyes hardened instead of softening.
"Needing your lass to defend you is bad form. Grow up and be a real man," Liam said rather harshly. The anger returned to Felix. He gritted his teeth as he walked over to the idiotic man.
"Listen here Jones, just because I share my troubles and pains with my love doesn't mean I need her to defend me. Again, it is her choice to help me, to stand by me, just like I do for her." He was standing in front of Liam. Liam was glaring at him and Felix had the idea his gaze wasn't that much friendlier. "Have you ever been in love anyway? Do you even know what it is like?"
"I don't need some boy to tell me what love is," Liam snarled back. "what do you think it is for her to always hear your troubles? To always hear your pains? Don't you think it pains her to always have to hear your troubles above her own? Always have to help, always have to comfort. You're nothing but a big baby who doesn't even understands the world after centuries of living on it."
Felix clenched his fist, his fingernails digging in his palm. He was hating the way he talked about Sophia, as if he knew who she was, as if she wasn't even here while she was right beside them. All Felix wanted to punch that bastard so hard, but he knew Sophia wouldn't want him to. So he kept his hands at his side.
"She is right beside us," he hissed, trying to stay calm. "ask her yourself if it troubles her, ask her if I don't do the same for her."
He looked away from Liam to Sophia who was glaring at Liam as well. Liam looked down at her as well, his eyes softened as if he was the innocent one.
"My father was wrong about you," she said eventually. She took Felix hand and unclenched it, slipping her fingers in between his. "you might be a hero in his eyes, but apparently death has changed you for the worse. We don't need your help."
With that she turned, pulling at Felix hand to follow her, which he did gladly.
"Pan!" she called angrily without looking. A few second later Pan was walking beside them, his face emotionless, which meant he was rather confused, shocked or just didn't know what to think of the situation. Felix couldn't blame him.
"I'm sorry," Felix said to Sophia after a while. Sophia looked up at him, the anger no longer in her eyes and a small smile on her lips.
"No, don't apologize. You did nothing wrong."
"Well…" Pan started but Sophia shot him a glare that shut him up immediately.
"Let's just find this book," he said quietly. Sophia nodded as they continued their way to the library.
A/N: Thank you all for reading! please let me know what you think! and what do you think of Liam?
Score:
Sophelix: 3
Calphia: 2
Calicorn: 2
Let me know who you ship and if there is a ship that isn't on the list! (you can't vote twice on the same ship)
