AN: Yeah, it's late I honestly have no excuses but I promise I'll update tomorrow as well. We actually are approaching the end of the story, but there will be a sequel! Yay! I can already tell you it will be called Get Out Alive. Thanks to everyone who followed, favorites and reviewed! As always, let me know what you think, reviews are awesome! Happy reading!

~Luna

Chapter 19: Viper's Nest

Peter and I fell into a more comfortable routine after that night. Even though the days were harder, I still found my sense of order. Peter was more open with affection, something I found particularly strange. I didn't question it however. He was still King of Neverland and despite being his second in command, I was still a Lost Boy.

My comfort was constantly challenged. Sometimes the new recruits didn't see Peter for months at a time and so they began to worship him with a sort of reverence. They would make up stories, only fed by Rufio's wild exaggerations and Felix's refusal to back anything they said, which only gave them more fodder. I found myself missing the old Boys: Slightly, Tootles, Cubby, and the Twins. Thoughts of them only brought on sadness. They were either dead or dying by that point, as it had been fifty years since we left them.

The strangest stories had to be the ones they made up about Felix's scar. One was that Peter (or Pan as everyone but I called him) had gotten angry and slashed his face. Another boasted that Rufio had smashed Felix's face into a rock as the former was being taken to Neverland. My personal favorite was one that Felix was the object of a local mermaid's desires. This story continued on for what seemed to be hours, with the mermaid scarring Felix's face, complete with the "if I can't have him, no one can" sentiment. It finally ended with Felix stringing up the mermaid above the water for her to shrivel up in unfiltered sunlight. The real story of his scar was much more embarrassing. Apparently as a child, he had been running and tripped, cutting his face on a sharp rock. Rufio highly enjoyed this, proceeding to point out any rock to my brother followed by a "Don't trip!".

The Land Without Magic was proving more and more difficult to gather recruits from. The children simply refused to believe in magic anymore, and the ones that did always had a glaring personality flaw. We kept one, a sixteen year old named Danny. He apparently told us that only a decade before, a war had ravaged the entire world, bringing a sense of adulthood into even the smallest child. That news was far from comforting to hear.

Raid parties were among Peter's newest games. Other tribes were formed, often ones of children brave enough to even still dream of Neverland, and would come and try to be the reigning group of Neverland. It was a game of cat and mouse, until Peter had enough and our forces descended upon the others, obliterating them from existence. Despite the rather bloody battles here, the children died in their sleep in whatever land they came from. We celebrated each raid, each destroyed clan. Neither was comforting.

As I was coming back from a recon mission one day, I took a different path. I didn't feel like flying over Never Mountain, so I took the scenic route. And stepped right into a trap. A carefully concealed rope tightened in the branches, bringing up a hidden net. I was caught in the net and struggled to be free, before taking out my dagger and sawing at my woven prison. It would take a while.

When I heard footsteps, I stopped. It was probably Peter, either planning some new game or come to gloat. The figure that emerged in front of me was tinier, with the same build but not the same height.

I sighed. "Do you mind letting me down?" When I didn't get an answer, I began to saw at the ropes again. "I guess this is going to be done the hard way then."

Without warning, the figure cut the ropes with a razor sharp cutlass. The net and I came crashing to the ground, the jungle a blur as I fell and then a fuzz as I hit my head on the dirt. Instantly I got up, weapon at the ready. The figure threw off their hood, revealing Baelfire.

My eyes grew wide in surprise, but I quickly hid it with a playful smile. "Someone's been getting good at this."

"I had to," was all he said.

I scoffed. "You had a place with us. We would have kept you-"

"And made me fight like an animal?" It was his turn to scoff. "That's not the life I want."

"We're your family-" I began but was cut off.

"My family is back in London, I'd never even consider the Lost Boys as a family," he sighed. "They're probably already dead but... I just want to see. To make sure they were okay."

I felt sorry for him, I truly did. Then something caught my attention. Loud and off-key singing. I quickly pulled Bae and I off the trail, into a bush for cover. I was just in time as well, as the pirates came stomping by, with Hook bringing up the rear. They all stopped to admire Baelfire's handiwork. I kept a hand clamped over his mouth, in case he decided to start screaming. I could only see the tips of their cracked leather boots, yet even that still put me on edge.

"We need to find her," a crew member, Starky, snarled.

Smee looked warily at the trees before whispering, "They don't like to be called a girl. It's best not to get on their bad side."

I peeked up when I realized they were talking about me. In a crouch, I slowly made my way over to another patch of bushes. I pulled Baelfire along with me and I could see his silent protests. Didn't really matter however. I wanted to know why they were talking about me.

Starlet let out a low laugh. "She's some silly little girl playing pretend, the sooner we get back to our realm the better, lest she calls her pet demon."

Pet demon? Even with my rising fury, I still picked that out. He could have been talking about Peter, I'm fairly certain I've heard Hook call him a demon several times. But Felix could have also been the pet demon, but he's more of the silent, kill you in your sleep type of evil. And then there was Rufio, whose loud laugh could be plenty terrifying. Honestly it could have been any of them.

As I was about to pull Baelfire away, he rushed out, right into the path of the pirates. And before I could slip away, he grabbed onto my arm, pulling me out of the bushes. I struggled, trying to fend off the approaching crew with my dagger, but both Baelfire and a pirate that had to be at least eighty subdued me. Caught by an old man and a scrawny kid; that certainly didn't boost my self esteem.

Even bound, I wasn't going to make it easier for them. I struggled and kicked and spat and yelled nasty things at them all, only halting when I felt an iron hook against my throat. I scowled at the captain, which only made his smirk grow wider. Damn pirate.

"And you're certain he'll come?" Hook asked, but not to me.

Baelfire spoke up. "To save them, Pan would give up his own life."

"Pray that you're correct," Hook whipped his arm away, nicking my neck in the process. "To the ship!"

The pirates all echoed the cry, tossing me back and forth like a sack of flour. After I had bitten four pirates, they finally gagged me and sent me to the back of the party with Baelfire, who wouldn't look at me. He had no right to, the little traitor.

"I'm not still working with them," he said softly, only gaining an eye roll from me.

"I'm really not! I just- I wanted the both of us to be safe. The Land Without Magic is an amazing place, we could stay with the Darling family," he sighed. "You're my only friend on this island, I wanted you to be safe. I bartered passage with them to use you as bait to get Pan to let them out of their deal."

I walked on in silence. It was a nice sentiment. Baelfire was just too noble for his own good. It was a surprising trait to have, as both his father, uncle, and mother weren't noble in the slightest. However, when it was taking me away from my home, my family, and my lover, it was something to be despised.

The trek to the ship was long and tiring. At one point I smelled roasting meet and knew we were close to camp. I tried to escape, managing to hid for a good hour until they caught me again. This time they threw a sack over my head as to blind me. I relied on touch and hearing to tell where we were. When I heard the gentle lap of waves, my heart sank. We were at the beach and once I was in a boat, I had nowhere to escape to. I was loaded onto what I assumed to be a dinghy, the pirates being unnecessarily quiet. I didn't think much of it until I was thrown aboard the Jolly Roger. This ship always made me uncomfortable, it was like stepping into a viper's nest. I was still blinded and gagged, and then they had the gall to bind me to the railing as well. Idiots. I hoped Peter would let me kill every last one of them.

Again everything was quiet, save for Hook and Baelfire arguing. I wasn't interested until I heard the pop of teleportation magic. Hopefully it was Peter.

As I listened in, my heart dropped. "Why hello dearies."

Shit.

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