"Absolutely not," Hook says with his arms crossed over his chest.
I let out a huff over his inability to understand that I'm not a child anymore. He can't seem to get that through his head no matter how I try.
"It's a good plan, Captain," I try to argue. "You can't argue with that."
My father merely growls at me and casts his angered gaze towards Will. I instinctively move closer to him as if to shield him from Hook's ire. I can't do much else while sitting on a couch next to him.
I'm conscience of the slight movement towards him as I don't want to give either of them the wrong idea. I'm merely trying to protect my... well, I guess I can once again call him my friend.
Feels a little strange saying that as I swore to myself that if I ever saw him again after what he'd done to both myself and my father, that I'd kill him.
Yet here we are, sitting side by side on a couch in my apartment with my father and I'm trying to protect him from my father. Strange.
We've been sitting in my apartment for the last hour, trying to convince my father that it's a good plan but he thinks it's too risky as it puts me in a position of danger. Will wasn't too fond of the idea either and took some convincing but he eventually caved.
"How else do you propose we get close to Blackbeard so we can find out what he has in store for us?" I ask throwing my hands up in the air.
"We kidnap him or one of his loyal lackeys and... interrogate them," he suggests with a nasty grin growing on his face.
"You can't just kidnap Blackbeard, Hook," Will chimes in, some what annoyed that he suggested such a thing. "You can't torture him if that's what you are planning. I explained this to you. He's apart of Davy Jones's crew, making him immortal. The only way to kill him would be to kill Jones."
My father squirms slightly at the name as it is a name they share. A little disconcerting but nothing we can do about it realistically.
"Hook, it's a good plan," I try again. "It would be all too easy to infiltrate his business in town. He only ever saw me a few times and wouldn't remember what I look like. It's been a long time since he's seen me and I don't look the same as I used to."
As well as being older, the black faerie dust permanently changed parts of my which I have gotten used to now and have grown to really like. They give me this dark and mysterious air which I layer on top of my personality. Makes for a nice front to show the outside world.
I do my best to stay neutral and keep a calm tone every though I really don't want to do this but it's our best option here. I need to protect my family by whatever means necessary.
Hook doesn't budge. He stays staring at me with a hard expression and his jaw tightens in that stubborn line that frustrates me to no end. It always means I'm not going to get my way. That makes me sound like a brat but my father is a bit of a vulture parent. Always circling.
"You know I'm going to do this whether you agree with it or not," I fire at him with makes his face fall a little. I said that a little too harshly... Perhaps a different approach.
"Please, papa. Don't make me do this alone." I flutter my eyelids a few times. I hate myself for doing it but it has a guaranteed success rate. Never failed when I was a girl. I haven't resorted to or had the need to resort to such methods for many years.
Hook lets out a long breath and looks me in the eye with an expression that says a lot on his thoughts of the trick I just pulled. The only reason he hates it so much is because he can never say No to me.
"Fine but I want to be kept completely in the loop," he says with a stern look at the both of us. I laugh a bit and shake my head at him. "I'm serious! Every move that you make, every little piece of a plan, I want to know about. You are not to keep me in the dark about anything and I mean it, Shade."
I snort at his demands and try to suppress my smirk. "Sure thing, Hook," is the only thing I can get out without full on laughing. This does not impress my father and his demeanor darkens.
"Alright! Alright, we'll keep you in the loop. I planned to anyway as it's you he's after," I say holding my hands up as if surrendering.
"He'll probably suspect you to do something like this, Ky. You know that," Will chimes in. I turn my attention to him with a whirl. "He may not know what you look like but he knows that Hook's daughter arrived in town only a few months ago and he will be expecting you to make a move like this against him."
"Who's side are you on here?" I fire at him as I thought he was on mine. I glance at my father who has half a smug smile on his face.
"I'm not taking a side, Ky. I just still don't think this is the best way to go about things," he replies, rubbing the back on his neck.
"So we should go in, swords swinging and catch him by surprise?" I throw my hands up in the air and move away from the both of them. The both stare after me but remain seated.
"That's not what I'm saying but if you try to do this slowly, he might figure out what you are trying to do and set a trap. He's smart and knows how to find someone's weaknesses. He has heaps of connections, not to mention the immortality thing he has going for himself."
I groan aloud as this is not what I want to hear. I don't want them to sit here and pick out all the flaws in my plan but rather help me make my own plan better. Or better still, come up with an even better plan. My father is usually good at this, which is why I came to him in the first place. I shouldn't have said anything but Will insisted we include him otherwise he will be blamed it the plan goes south.
"That might not be such a bad idea actually," says Hook. Will and I both snap our head in his direction in a slight shock. "No, no. Hear me out. Barging straight in there might be the best plan as he won't be expecting it. He'll expect for us to make a long calculated plan to retaliate. If we storm the place, he'll be caught off guard especially if we are armed with magic to back us up."
I go stiff and very still. Will looks straight at me and realizes that I've said nothing to my father about my powers. He stays very calm and plays casual and I attempt to follow suit, playing dumb.
"Magic?" I ask with a fake curiosity that I hope sounds somewhat real.
"Yes. I'll ask Emma or Regina to help us out, love." I have to force myself not to sigh with relief but I instantly loosen up.
"Are you sure you want to bring them into this?" I ask just to confirm. "I don't want to endanger anyone else with this."
"Emma will be happy to help and want to help anyway," Hook replies. "No one will be in any real danger if we have magic on our side. Blackbeard doesn't have any magic as far as I know."
My father casts a sideways glance at Will for confirmation. Will merely nods which appears to be enough. I suppress my protests as I know it will only result in more arguing. I'm losing patience and will be likely to snap at someone unintentionally.
"Fine," I agree. I cross my arms and slump to the group with my legs crossed. Will smirks at me and my father just sighs in relief. I glare at Will and he smugness, rolling my eyes.
"Thank you Kyla," Hook says with an appreciative smile.
"Yeah, yeah."
Peter Pan's P.O.V
"Peter, I'm not sure this is the best plan," Slightly whispers from behind me. I look backwards at him and take a deep breath trying to calm my nerves.
"This is the only plan we have. It has to work," I say trying to sound confident. I know this is a risky plan but it's the best I've got. The shadow isn't responding to my call as I think Jinx has taken control of it. I moved my boys as soon as I figured this out, to ensure they didn't find us.
They have been hunting us for two days now. I've moved us all every few hours ensuring we are never in the same place too long just in case Jinx catches up to us and executes us all before we find a way off this island.
I know that's what Jinx wants, is for me to leave, but at this stage it is in our best interests for us to get as far from Neverland as possible. I don't know if we'll ever return home and I hope we do but right now, I need to protect those of my boys that are left.
And I need time to grieve.
We all do.
Slightly is the only one that I brought with me as I didn't want to endanger to rest of the boys in case this goes south. I figured a smaller unit would work better for this particular mission.
"Jinx has these magic beans that he used to send Kyla away to another land," I explain to Slightly. "They will be able to get out of here."
A pang goes through my heart over the loss of her and I have to force it out of my head and focus on the task at hand. I cannot afford to be distracted right now.
"Where are we going to go?" he asks, still uncertain of my plan. "Back to the Enchanted Forest?"
"No. Somewhere new to us all. I want to find Kyla's father and tell him what's happened to her." I let out a long breath thinking of how he'll react... and I don't really care at this point. As long as my boys are safe, I don't care what happens to me.
"You know exactly will happen to you if you go near him. You won't get the chance to tell him a thing before he cuts you down."
I don't respond to Slightly and turn back around and Slightly knows better than to argue with me when my mind is made up about something. He won't be able to stop me and I know he won't try to as he knows I don't make decisions like this lightly.
The guards outside of Jinx's camp go inside, as it's change over of guard schedules. Now is our chance to move. I motion to Slightly and we both break into a run towards the entrance across the clearing. It's not a smart plan but it's the best we have. I'd have teleported us in but Jinx has wards up blocking out my magic.
We both duck behind one of the large base trees, out of sight of the tree house colony balconies and windows. Slightly looks to me for instruction and I nod at him. We both begin scaling the center tree that houses Jinx's personal tree house. We've been watching their camp for years so luckily we know which one we need to get to.
I can feel my heart hammering in my chest as we climb up the trunk and through the branches. The adrenaline and fear pumping through my body urges me to continue. Slightly and I watch each other to ensure neither of us slips and falls.
Neither of us falters.
Out of everyone on the island, we've been here the longest so we have had centuries of practice climbing trees and other assorted skills that others aren't as adept with.
We reach the underside of Jinx's cabin within a few minutes and we both halt. I creep along the belly of his tree house using the wooden panels to hold myself up as it hangs over the tree. I reach the balcony and grip my hands over the edge.
I pull myself up just enough to peer over the floor, while staying mostly hidden. I glance around the interior of Jinx's cabin which is dark, telling me he isn't there. I hold my position for a minute to ensure it's clear.
I motion for Slightly to follow me and pull myself on the balcony. I grab Slightly's arm and help him up. We don't say a word to each other as we don't want to risk anything. He nods at me and I proceed into the cabin while he stands watch outside.
I slink inside, careful not to make a sound and begin to search through everything. I start with his desk in the middle of the room which is a mess. There is no order to anything which means this is going to take so much longer than I thought it would. Shit!
I shuffle through everything, trying to be both quick and quiet. Not the easier thing but I have to as I don't know how much time I will have. I open every little bag, look under every piece of paper, not caring about things not being put back in the same place as I plan to be long gone by the time he finds out I was here.
After double and triple checking the desk, I move on to check his cot to see if they are hidden in or under it.
Nothing.
I kneel on the ground to check the pieces of clothing lying around.
Again, nothing.
I stand and let out a long breath, trying to calm my nerves as my heart is beating out of my chest with adrenaline and fear. I move to cross the room when a floor board creeks, causing me to automatically drop to the ground in the dark of the room. I look out to the balcony to Slightly who is looking around frantically.
I don't move and neither does he while he is scanning the area. After what feels like forever, he turns to me and nods, telling me the coast is clear. I let out a breath I didn't realize that I was holding.
I move to stand when a thought hits me. I reach out my hand, feeling along the floor until I hear a creek. I push myself off the floor and move over to the panel. I pull out a dagger from my belt and dig the tip of the blade into the side of the board. I push down on the hilt and the panel gets pushed up.
I smile to myself over my brilliance over this idea. The panel doesn't move up enough for me to look inside, but I can fit my hand underneath. I move my hand around until in touches something small and hard. I grip it pulling it out and easing the panel back down.
In my hand, I hold a small glass and metal box that looks to have some sort of soft padding inside. I pop open the cap and low and behold, three little clear beans are cradled inside.
I don't waste a second to celebrate as we need to get out of here as soon as possible. I race to the balcony and get to Slightly when I begin to hear shouts from off in the distance. I look up to see boys in trees and on the ground, starting to assemble. Their gaze is all cast in our direction.
Not good!
Slightly and I both spur straight into action, and begin climbing off the balcony and down the tree. It doesn't take us long at all. The adrenaline pumping through our veins enables us to both move swiftly down the trunk without faltering.
Once we reach the ground, we take off running, full speed ahead. Jinx's boys hadn't fully assembled yet giving us the opportunity to get out without being followed too closely.
Slightly pulls to a halt in front of me, cause me to stop. He reaches for my arm instinctively. My confusion only lasts half a second before I realize what he means. I flick my hand in front of the both of us and my green smoke surrounds the both of us.
When it clears, everything is dark and quiet. Too quiet. If I didn't already know better, I'd know someone was trying extremely hard to hide here. I cup my hands over my mouth and project a small bird sound with a whistle and vibrating my tongue.
I wait a few seconds while my eyes adjust to the darkness before I see movement in the shadows. A single figure appears and moves towards us slowly.
"Do you fancy a stroll, my King?" Says a familiar voice. Felix.
"Only if it's by moonlight in the mermaid cove with a fiery little pirate," I reply with a slight smirk on my face.
"Clear." Felix closes the gap between us and clasps my shoulder in his hand as all the other boys come out from hiding.
"Did you find one?" Mikey asks walking over to us with the rest on his tail.
"We found three," Slightly says from behind me.
I spin on Slightly drawing a dagger. I press it against his throat and he puts his hands in the air. He has the nerve to look scared and taken aback by my actions.
"Peter, what..." Benjy begins.
"I never told you how many I found!" I shout in his face, pressing harder on my dagger, drawing blood this time.
The frightened look fades from his face and a wicked grin replaces it before his appearance starts morphing into another form.
A few gasps go off behind me as everyone can now see the Slightly has transformed into the wicked face of our executioner.
"What have you done with Slightly?" I demand, spitting in his face.
"Oh he's been dead for a long time Pan," he says very casually. My stomach plummets to the ground and I can feel myself starting to shake. "How did you think I knew everything about you and Kyla? Like I would send on of my lackeys to gather information from you when it's so much more satisfying to do it myself."
My anger reaches a peak and I lash out at Jinx. I drive my dagger into his chest to the hilt. Jinx drops to his knees and blood starts soaking his white shirt.
I don't waste a second.
I pop the cap of the small container in my hand. I pull out one of the beans and throw it at the ground, thinking of where I want to go.
One word bounces around in my head for some reason and I don't know what it means but it seems like a good option. If I don't know what it is, chances are, neither will Jinx.
The portal appears in an instant in a swirling mass of green smoke and magic, descending into the earth.
I beckon all of my boys to jump through and they all do without hesitation. I wait for them all to disappear into the portal to an unknown destination.
But anywhere is better than here!
I don't glance behind me as I want to leave Jinx and this whole mess in the past.
I close my eyes and step forward into the portal.
To the unknown.
To Storybrooke... Whatever that is.