Chapter 39: Game Board

ELLE'S POV

The pirate, having turned Elle around by her shoulder to face him, leaned back and peered incredulously at her. She took half a step back out of instinct, her memories of being alone with this man were anything but comforting. She knew she should feel more anger, more fear, but her chest just felt heavy and numb.

"What happened?" he breathed, eyes narrowed, shaking his head slightly. Elle just shook her head. "Between you two," he amended, probably thinking she didn't understand the question. She understood, she just didn't know how to answer. She didn't want to answer, especially not to him.

"Uh," the grown-up Baelfire tried, breaking the silence and earning all their eyes on him. His flitted around, clearly not actually having a plan further than that. "So…you're her, then?"

"Who's her?" she kept her face and voice as neutral as she could.

"When I was with the Lost Boys, they told, ah, they told stories about you," he stumbled out, rubbing the back of his head. "Always hushed stories though, never at the fire or in front of Pan or, or anything," he trailed, looking around and shifting his weight.

The pirate chuckled drily. "Yes, I'm sure they did," his eyes stayed focused on Elle, studying her. She kept herself stiff and strong under his gaze. "The game has changed, and for once in a way even Pan didn't see coming and doesn't know how to play," he said, obviously relishing the words. The other two didn't look quite as happy as he did, but still a bit relieved. Elle felt her stomach clench, wondering what had been going on.

The blonde woman stared at him for a beat, then shook her head and gestured loosely to Elle, eyes slightly narrowed at the pirate. "Shouldn't we tie her up or something? If she's so important?" At that, the anger and fear finally came. Her hair, strands still hanging in her face, glowed a bit brighter as she tensed. She wasn't going to run to Pan, and she had helped these grown-ups in his presence, but that didn't mean she was helpless or planning on being so.

Elle glared at the pirate, challenging him, who smirked at her. "No need," he said confidently, tightening his grip on her shoulder slightly. "He may not have realized it yet, but this is Pan's true love," Elle, though her mind went blank in shock and disbelief—and anger—still noted the audible gasps from the other two grown-ups. His laugh snapped her back to the present. "Told you the board has changed in our favor."

"No way can he feel something like that," the woman argued, scoffing. Elle silently agreed.

"Well, something obviously happened between now and the last time I was here," the pirate said slowly, half in thought. "And if you didn't resist me, and didn't just disappear like I know you can," the pirate breathed, blue eyes drilling into hers. Elle met his gaze steadily, silently, keeping her whole body stiff. "You're not going anywhere anytime soon," he finished, smirking slightly. It didn't reach his eyes. In fact, he seemed a bit sad…for her?

"And how are you so certain about this? He never said a word about her, the Lost Boys never even spoke about her in front of him," Baelfire shook his head. The blonde raised her eyebrows, agreeing. Elle looked back at the pirate, anger momentarily muted, just as curious as they were about how he could possibly come to such loud, stupid conclusions.

The pirate just chuckled. "I kidnapped her once." Then, as Elle involuntarily jerked back at the memory, he added, "thus, she doesn't like me much."

"That still doesn't explain anything," the blonde woman practically growled.

"I'm getting there, love," the pirate's voice still sounded relaxed, even a bit taunting. The woman's frown deepened, and Elle almost felt a bit of sympathy. He sighed, squeezing Elle's shoulder once. But it wasn't threatening. Elle arched an eyebrow as she watched him, it seemed almost comforting. "To shorten the tale, I'll just say this: I spent quite some time here, and I've ventured the seas of this realm and the Enchanted Forest. But, the time Pan came to rescue her was the only time I have ever been truly, completely terrified. Not just of him, but of anything."

No one spoke, Elle didn't think anyone knew what to say. Until the blonde woman broke the silence again. "We should get going, the others are waiting." With that, she sidestepped Elle and the pirate and pulled out a sword, stepping back into the bushes. Elle and the other two started after her, the pirate behind her and Baelfire in front.

"Oh," the pirate called over her head a few steps in, "and no one let anything sharp near her hair!" Elle looked back at him, eyes narrowed, rage shooting through her at that memory. The guilt painted across his face didn't soothe it, and she spat at him. He grit his teeth, but otherwise just looked down. He deserved more for all the fear and pain he caused her. Then, it just seemed to wash off. That had been so long ago, and things had been so different, and so much had happened. The images seemed to flash through her mind all at once, she couldn't even process them.

She didn't know how long it had been or what time it was, the dense trees shielded the normally weak sunlight from view anyway, when the pirate's jewelry-clad hand came down on her shoulder, slowing her. She scowled and looked back, but the expression melted. She couldn't hold onto it, she didn't feel the intense anger she should. Just emptiness, numbness, like always. Elle looked at him blankly, slowing so they walked side by side.

"I know this is overdue," he began, and Elle braced herself. He looked like he had a lot to say, and his furrowed eyebrows and lips silently forming the words before he spoke conveyed that she probably wouldn't like all of it. "But I need to talk to you."

All she could do was nod, her voice was buried under the sudden lumps on her throat.

"I apologize for the first time we met," he sighed, saying each word slowly, considering them first. "I was in a terrible place, I," he choked, "I still can't talk about it. It hurt, it still hurts. But no matter what pain I was in, you didn't deserve anything I did to you." His blue eyes, heavy and clouded, stared into hers. Elle honestly wanted to believe him, wanted to feel sorry for him. He looked so sad and lost then, he looked how she felt inside. He opened his mouth, then closed it.

"Go on," Elle just barely shoved the words out, past her tight throat and dry tongue and paralyzed lips.

He seemed to jump and latch onto the opportunity. "I can't undo it or make up for it, and I don't deserve forgiveness, but I thought of you and I regretted those few days every day. Of course, if I came anywhere near the island or you, even just to tell you this, Pan would've ripped me apart on sight," he chuckled sardonically.

Neither said anything after that. She didn't speed up though, she stayed walking next to the pirate. The evil man who had kidnapped and tortured and nearly killed her—intended to kill her—was gone, she wasn't sure how she knew but she did. Elle glanced up at him again to find him staring down at her, studying her, or perhaps expecting her to say something. She met his eyes, bright piercing blue against dark, stormy blue. The air she was inhaled stuck in her throat and she choked. Elle didn't know why the memory of his eyes stuck with her for so long, but it did. That same flicker in the back was there, but it seemed…double, a bit larger, but it was there.

"What is that look?" she blurted, not thinking it through and instantly stiffening when his eyes narrowed. He tilted his head, and it occurred to Elle that maybe he just didn't understand. "I saw it, that flicker of emotion, when you k-kidnapped me," she cursed herself for stuttering, for her shaky voice flinging the words out without even fully thinking them through. "Pan had it too," she whispered, not meaning to say the thought aloud. Still she knew he heard because his frown deepened and his lips parted. After a moment, his expression was the same but no sound had come out. Elle slowly turned her head and looked forward again, then down at the forest floor.

"Love," he said, just when she didn't think he was going to say anything at all. It made Elle trip. "I was so caught up in the loss of my love, my Milah, it probably looked wrong," he coughed out a humorless laugh. "But it was still love," his voice was thin and distant, his eyes unfocused as he looked through her. Elle was tempted to believe him, until she remembered that it was still there, looking different, but the same emotion. He was mistaken, or lying. It didn't really matter anyway.

"Tell me again, what happened?" he ground out, voice wavering but still urging. Elle clenched her jaw, he didn't need to know. None of them did. "How long have you been alone on the island?" Clever man.

"At least 30 years," Elle forced the words, surprised at how steady and neutral her voice sounded. Inside, she was in jagged pieces. Her chest burned and ached, her head was heavy and her vision was cloudy. "I stopped counting."

He dropped any more conversation, and she was grateful for it. Elle kept walking, not focusing on their surroundings or the oath or even the grown-ups, lost in her own pain and loneliness and thoughts.

Eventually, they stopped in a clearing outside the entrance to a small cave. Funny, Elle didn't remember ever seeing this one. Looking around, she didn't recognize this area at all. Then again, she hadn't wandered as far from her own little home in years, and the island changed itself often enough for her to lose track of where she had or hadn't been.

A blonde woman walked out, messy hair in a bun. She wore a dark green dress that looked to be made of several different hides and bits of fabric clumsily sewn together. She'd been in Neverland a long time, then. But…he didn't allow Lost Girls, did he?

"Tinker Bell," Baelfire murmured in Elle's ear, making her stiffen as his proximity startled her. She frowned, still not recognizing her. There were other people too, two more grown-ups. A man was dirty blonde curls, much shorter and cleaner than her Felix's, and a woman with black hair so short Elle almost thought she was a boy. A very pretty boy.

"Hey," the new man called, staring hard at Elle. She took a step back and straightened, matching his gaze. Hers was steely, the hair around her shoulders glowing brighter as she pooled the magic in her veins, again ready to escape if he threatened her. He didn't. His eyes looked confused, and slightly awed. "You're that girl," he trailed, and Elle tilted her head in confusion.

"What?" the new woman looked up at him, voice soft and curious. He glanced down at her, then around to the other grown-ups, then back to Elle. "I saw Felix talking to a girl, a girl with white hair, telling her to stay hidden."

The other adults gasped quietly, but Elle felt her eyes widen as her blood went cold. If he had hurt Felix after she had left, she was positive she would kill him. The boys were her brothers, still. Still under her protection.

"They both just walked away, I didn't really think much of it. I thought maybe she was a fairy or something," he finished quickly, glancing around. Elle relaxed, capping her magic. He hadn't hurt Felix. The grown-up looked at her again, this time with a hint of a smile on his mouth. "I'm David, and this is my wife, Mary Margaret," he gestured to the grown-up beside him, the woman with the short black hair. She smiled. It was genuine, and full of open kindness and a bit of curiosity. Elle instantly liked her. She would most likely die out here with that sort of naivety (as Elle would have had her arrival been even slightly different, and as she might as well have been anyway), but she still liked her. The woman wasn't looking at her hair when she smiled at Elle.

"Oh, right, introductions," Baelfire sighed. "You know me, Baelfire. I was a Lost Boy while you were…well, they said you were exiled," he rubbed the back of his head again. Elle nodded. He gestured to the blonde woman, "this is Emma," then the woman in the green clothes, "Tinker Bell," then the pirate, "and you know Hook."

Elle looked at the pirate and arched an eyebrow. He grinned. "My more colorful moniker, otherwise I'm known as Captain Killian Jones." Elle just nodded slowly. The grown-ups and Tinker Bell talked more amongst themselves, but Elle stopped paying attention.

She walked along with them, moved aside when someone wanted to walk ahead or behind, and tried to just keep calm and keep her magic under control. Elle didn't need to try to pull up a cloaking spell, she wasn't under any threat yet. Also, she couldn't quite admit it to herself, but this was new company, she hadn't had company like this in so long it hurt. The couple, David and Mary Margaret, didn't go one sentence without being optimistic or implying the value of family. Elle missed her family, her family she couldn't go back to and probably didn't even want her, let alone remember her.

Then they stopped, all six of them in a line, and Emma and David and Hook drew swords while Mary Margaret notched an arrow. Elle focused on the rustling bushes before them, gathering magic to her fingertips. She wouldn't defend the grown-ups, but what was threatening them was also threatening her.

A woman with black hair and in a deep blue jacket stumbled out of the bushes, sneering and brushing dirt off of her. She was followed by a man with long brown hair in a dragon leather suit. He was doubled over, but Elle thought he looked a bit familiar.

"Well, if this is your version of a rescue party, you got here just in time," the woman's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"What are you doing here?" Mary Margaret demanded, making Elle bite back a chuckle. She was too sweet looking to really seem threatening.

"Same as you," the new grown-up bit back. "Except we actually have a chance." She held up a small, dark gray box with a red…something, a red light of some sort on the top. Focusing, it looked to have small gears all over the sides. "Pandora's Box. It could trap Pan for an eternity simply by opening the lid."

Elle bit back a gasp and whipped down the emotion that suddenly swelled in her stomach. The very thought of being imprisoned again, trapped forever with no hope of escape, was enough to make her pulse race and she felt her magic inflate around her, instinctually protecting herself. It had been so many years, the mistress was probably dead by now, but Elle still clearly remembered it. The endless days. At least on the island she could go where she wanted and use her magic for herself, could interact with other living creatures—other magical creatures. This prison, it sounded, would be completely alone. Elle wouldn't wish that on anyone, not even Pan.

Elle blinked and refocused on the grown-ups, noticing the man's head was raised now and ice shot down her spine as fire lit up her insides. She didn't even bother trying to get his attention, she didn't bother to think at all. Before she had even fully processed it, her arms were raised, palms up, and her hair was so bright it lit the clearing as if it was noon.

Rumplestiltskin shrieked in pain and surprise and he bent over for a moment, before he straightened and Elle felt his magic roaring over hers, suffocating her and pinning her body to the forest floor. She felt it wrap around her neck, but she was stronger than the last time he'd come here. She managed to slip out from under it and was about to hurl more at him, she could see sparks around her fingertips as her anger was ready to set the clearing on fire. But arms and hands held her back, physical people. Not magic. Hands were wrapped around her arms, a black leather-covered arm was wrapped tightly across her chest.

"Stop, both of you," the blonde woman—Emma—shouted, panting and looking scared and confused. Still, her voice was powerful, and it cut through Elle's fury-clouded mind. She felt Rumplestiltskin's magic leave her, which made her calmer. Breathing heavily, she stood fully, shoving off and wriggling out of the people holding her. "What the hell?" Emma continued, whirling to face Rumplestiltskin.

The imp rolled his eyes and sighed. "We have a," his eyes darted to the new woman and he smirked, "complicated history."

Elle sneered at that, such a false way to put it.

"Rapunzel," he addressed, his voice rising as if he were scolding a child. Her scowl deepened, and she had to clench her fingers into fists to keep from lashing out at him again, regardless of the grown-ups still touching her. His eyes met hers directly, calm but firm, confusing her. They were brown, not the green, reptilian ones she remembered. And there was no malice in them at all. Still, that didn't mean she had to forgive him.

"You killed my parents," she hissed. Rumplestiltskin closed his eyes, and a grimace seemed to ghost over his face.

"No," he said slowly through his teeth. "I didn't. Your mother passed away naturally and your father lives," he seemed upset, his jaw clenched and voice tight. Elle raised an eyebrow. "Besides," he continued, relaxing a bit, "I'm not interested in you anymore, dearie. I just want to find Henry and be with my son, and be off this hellish island," he looked around at everyone as he finished. Elle just nodded, pushing her magic back down and letting her body relax slightly.

"Okay," Mary Margaret breathed, looking uncomfortable but also a bit angry. "Let's get going." Hook chuckled.

Elle walked with the grown-ups silently. They didn't speak to her, and she didn't speak to them. She made sure to not be near Rumplestltskin, though. She had no reason to ever trust him. Even so, the temptation to strike at him while his back was turned grew when she was directly behind him. It should have been the same for the pirate—Hook—but for some reason he didn't bother her so much. At least she knew she could fight and kill him without trying very hard, she had magic and he didn't.

The sun was beginning to set, not that it made much of a difference anymore, when Elle finally couldn't take it.

"Just be honest and say it," she snapped, a bit harshly, at Emma walking behind her. She looked taken aback for a second, then recovered and shrugged.

"Just wondering about your hair," she frowned to herself, "and really you." She sped up to walk next to Elle and her eyes scanned her body. "How you ended up in this place, and why you've been here for so long. I heard you and Hook, thirty years?" The woman's eyebrows were furrowed, her voice tight with curiosity and disbelief. The other grown-ups had slowed considerably, even if they weren't directly looking at her, Elle knew they were listening intently.

But she didn't want to tell them. She didn't want to tell her story at all, ever, to anyone. It was sad and it didn't make sense and she didn't even tell it to herself.

"My hair is magic, given to me by Rumplestiltskin when my parents asked for it," her voice was surprisingly steady, emotionless. Elle was glad, she needed to be emotionless to relive it. Already, her mind was jumping form far after her short life in the Enchanted Forest and onto her life here. "They didn't know the price, of course, and my life as a princess was consumed with people always trying to bribe them, or me, or kidnap or use me somehow for their own wants."

She heard a gasp from ahead, but didn't care to pick out who. Once the words came and the emotions left, or rather were ignored, she couldn't stop them. "I didn't know how to use it fully, and I was kidnapped by a woman when I was a young child and was locked in a tower. Only servants came to clean or feed me, and only she came to gather whatever magic she wanted me to perform. No one spoke to me, I never left the room.

One night, I don't know how I did, I summoned the Shadow and he took me here. And I've been here ever since," Elle stopped there, her throat tightening. The emotion wasn't so well suppressed after all, and she felt the heavy weights of sadness and old anger and loneliness settle on top of her chest.

"And what about living here? With the Lost Boys, and fairies, and everything?" the man—David—chimed in. Elle nodded, jaw snapping so tightly her teeth immediately hurt. She couldn't speak, she didn't want to. It hurt too much. The last time she had spoken to any of her brothers was at least 20 years ago, their leader had killed her multiple times in every way except in body. And this group of ignorant, blind grown-ups wanted her to speak of them.

He asked again, and gripped her shoulder a bit hard. Elle stiffened and her magic rose up inside her, of almost its own accord. Surprisingly, she didn't need to fight. A silver hook looped across David's wrist and tugged it off of Elle's shoulder. Elle glanced at the hook, following its path back to the side of the pirate, but didn't say anything.

"Told you she changes the game board, mate," Elle heard the pirate's laugh, voice thick with entertainment and anticipation. Elle herself didn't understand, but stayed quiet. The best way to find out whatever was going on would be to just listen and watch.

David sighed, but turned around and kept walking, his hand in the kind Mary Margaret's. Elle felt Hook's presence at her back, only a step away, but didn't acknowledge it. He didn't ask her to.