A/N: Hey Team!

Any Starkids out there? Because goodness, Twisted was absolutely amazing.

Thank you guys so much! Hit a hundred followers last chapter which is fantastic. But I'd love to hear from you guys, so please review!

Here's the next chapter; enjoy! xx

Dead Man's Cave

"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes."

Hook was surprisingly chirpy for someone who was awake five hours earlier than he normally was. Although, thinking about it, he could simply be running on adrenalin because he was actually completely exhausted.

Ella couldn't help but agree with his greeting as she saw him standing in the first light of the morning, his leather coat only giving distinction to the pirate's ruggedly handsome features that seemed to glow with the rising sun. She almost didn't respond to his comment, but she knew she had to. If they were playing at any sense of normalcy, things had to return to normal.

"I think I'd be a sight for normal eyes Hook," she replied with a small smile.

What! Ella inwardly screamed at herself. You're meant to be annoyed, not coy! What the hell is wrong with you? I give up.

"Aye, you would love," Hook said, a little too much honesty hidden beneath his smirk. "So I'm planning to go in first. Then I'll come back up and let you finish. You probably know what we're looking for better than I do."

"Sounds like excellent planning Captain," Ella nodded. "Congratulations."

"Yes well," he turned to the entrance of the cave with a shrug, "It has been known to happen."

It was almost an hour later when Hook reappeared. His eyes were red and raw, his hair dishevelled – but he didn't seem hurt, at least not on the outside. His breathing came short and quick as he collapsed onto a rock. Ella ran to his side to check what was wrong with him in shock. She knew it was hard to do confront your innermost self, but Hook's reaction was pretty insane.

"Just go finish it," Hook breathed out, refusing to look at her.

Ella knew that Hook needed some time alone to deal with himself. They were people with pasts; haunted people. Their worst enemies were themselves.

And with a terrified grimace she walked headlong into the darkness, her past swirling up within her as she climbed down through the echo caves.

Dead man's cave was within sight, but not reach, and Ella grimaced with herself as she let down her walls for the first time in…well, she didn't remember.

Her body was flooded with sensory memories and harsh incomplete emotions. She couldn't bring them back; even now, fighting herself at every turn, she held back tears. Filing through her memories like documents, she delved into those she didn't want to see, muttering words under her breath.

"I'm scared, not that Shang is dead, but that he won't want me anymore now that I've been with Pan. Because I've been used."

The ground beneath her began to shake as an avalanche of rocks fell in front of her. When they settled, she began to make her way across the rocky ground. Coming around a corner, she saw the vast expanse of Pan's treasure. Ella had seen it coming in gradually over the decade, she'd just never expected there to be so much.

But the compass was across the other side, in a compartment hidden in the wall where the most precious of Pan's objects lay. Stepping around the golden coins from ages past, she saw the most random objects filling the space. Half of this was junk, not treasure.

Arriving on the other side of the cave, Ella ran her hands over the rocks surface, looking for the crevice where she would find the compartment that Pan kept secret above all costs. She resigned herself to the fact that she would have to release another secret to get the compass. Ella knew why Pan put things down here. Because if you were stupid enough to seek it out, you'd probably kill yourself by looking at all your guilty thoughts and deepest fears.

And because she physically couldn't, it made her the perfect candidate.

"Pan destroyed my faith in people; in their goodness. He took that away when he took my free will. I'm less than human. And I want to be human again. I want…to be able to feel." Ella almost whispered the last words, watching as a square rock face before her began to disappear.

Within it were only two objects. The compass, Ella grasped quickly within her pale hand and threw into her pocket. But next to it sat a shining piece of metal curled into blossoming flowers that sparkled in the morning sun glistening off the water flowing into the cave. The shape was so realistic, it was almost as though real flowers had been turned to gold, glittering in the light.

And as Ella reached for it, she felt the world tremble beneath her feet. Just for a moment. But it was comfort; not a warning. Like the island wanted her to take the head piece.

So she did. Picking it up delicately, she began to make her way back across the gold, picking up a canvas bag that she found along the way. Dropping it lightly inside, Ella swung the bag over her shoulder and began the long ascent up the cave walls. She had to admit as she climbed, there was a reason why Hook was feeling so horrible. He'd done more than half of the work to get through; God knows what kind of things he had to dredge up to get this far.

She'd never ask him; merely thank him.

And as Ella walked, her walls began to build once more, blocking out the thoughts she'd let out. By the time she walked out into the light, her face was calm; she was back to normal.

But Hook was nowhere to be found.

xxx

"I can do this all day Killian," Pan had his dagger swinging around in his hand. "I'll ask you again. What were you doing in the Echo Caves?"

"I was…" Hook breathed, thinking on the spot, trying to ignore the pain building in his arms. "I was trying to figure out what you need those bloody boxes for."

"Finally," Pan said with a dark smile, "That wasn't so hard."

"Now," he continued, pressing the dagger along the pirate's collarbone seeing blood well up against his skin. "Why do you suddenly want my slave?"

"I don't." Lie.

"She seemed to have a different story the other night Captain," Pan said as Hook's eyes stared at the ground. Hook's hand was tied to his hook and then around his body for good measure. If they weren't, he'd be throttling the boy who was delivering incision after incision on his skin. "According to her, you wanted to free her. And Hart can't lie, so I'm more inclined to trust her."

The next second, Hook felt a small burning sensation on his chest. Pan was holding out his palm, a line of fire burning through his shirt and skin. It burned hotter and hotter until Hook was doing all he could not to scream.

"You have barely any worth to me anymore Hook," Pan said almost lazily, cutting of the magic to allow him a moment's respite. "So if you want to live long enough to find your poison, just tell me the truth."

Hook's eyes locked on Pan's in extreme hatred as he said, "Never."

"Even if I've got a hold of your fairy?"

xxx

It was only hours later when Ella gave up looking for Hook that she returned to the Jolly Roger, assuming he might've gone there for solitude. But the moment she fell onto the deck, she was met by Smee's hurried motions, mixing an ointment in a bowl as he rushed about.

"What's happened Smee?" Ella asked in shock. Smee wasn't exactly known for voluntary swift movement, so something had to be wrong. He looked at her warily for a moment before she explained quickly, "We were in the caves; then Hook was gone."

"Pan's shadow dropped him here about ten minutes ago," Smee said, heading towards the open cabin doors. "He's quite battered."

Ella closed the space quickly, regret plain across her face as she moved to take the bowl from Smee's hands. He raised an eyebrow at her but didn't question as she walked into the room. Smee shut the doors behind her which made her question exactly what she was doing; or what he was expecting her to do.

But as she crossed the room, all she saw was Hook's unconscious body lying on his bed. It must have been an effort for Smee to haul him up. Ella watched his face and took in the cuts over his skin, even what looked like burns, and felt a pang as she saw what he'd been through.

It was almost familiar.

Ella began to peel the bloodstained shirt from his chest. Out to the world, he didn't even realise that she was placing a stinging ointment on his burns. Layering the white ground up paste over his chest and arm muscles, she felt calm despite the marring of Hook's body. It was methodical and a little soothing. With a cloth and a wash bowl she cleared away the blood from the cuts, seeing that none of them were too deep.

Pan had done this purposefully to pain Hook, to see the pirate suffer for going against him.

Ella couldn't help but feel hatred towards herself as she dabbed at his wounds. This was her fault. If she hadn't wanted to get away from Pan so badly, Hook never would have gotten involved. This was her fault.

Hook moaned uncomfortably as Ella pressed down gingerly on the swelling around a cut on his chest. She tried to sooth him muttering, "Shh. You're fine. Just sleep."

But being the pirate he was, he ignored her and began to turn his head, his hand coming up to cover hers. His eyes were still closed as he ran his fingers lightly over hers. In that space between sleep and awakening, she decided there, it was easiest to say what she needed to.

"I'm sorry Pan did this to you," she murmured. "I should've been more careful-"

"It's nothing," he murmured, gently tugging her hand upwards towards his face. He bent it into her palm, feeling the softness of her flesh despite the hard life she'd lived. He left off the second part of his sentence, but it hung in the air between them. It was nothing; nothing in comparison to what Pan would have done to her. "I'm just glad he didn't know you were there."

"You didn't-"

Hook opened his eyes at that, his shining blue ones meeting her violet, "It would take a lot more than that to make me give you up, love."

Ella couldn't deny the warm fuzzy feeling that filled her at his words. Her fingers began to trace his face delicately of their own accord. As his eyes closed once more in peacefulness, she was suddenly aware of how close she was to his body, catching herself and pulling her hand away. Ella didn't need a repeat of yesterday.

"Thank you," she said genuinely. He nodded softly in response and they sat in silence, Ella tending to his wounds whilst a few miles away, Pan was locking up a cage as Tinkerbell swore her head off at him.