#NLNY2022

[the-darkdragonfly]

NEW CHAPTER: Blood in the Water - A Captain Swan Tale

Chapter 5

Captain Killian “Hook” Jones refused a deal almost two decades ago, but time is creeping forward and he needs off the accursed island of Neverland. So when Pan comes to him with a chance to leave, he takes it; thinking he can outwit the demon child and stay one step ahead of the deal he had made. 

But deals do not work like that…

A What-If look at what might have been.

A feral post (unbeta'd) because I kind of forgot I was suppose to write this (oops) and I found it last night and just needed to share.

♥️♥️♥️

The night had dragged on as Killian paced the length of sidewalk underneath the street lights, casting in and out of shadow as he waited impatiently for the headlights of a car which belonged to a stranger to pull down the small, quiet street. 

His footfall was silent against the pavement- you walk like a cat, Papa- while the slight treble of his hand as he kept hold of his mobile phone betrayed his nerves. The rumble of an engine disturbed the silence, his skin prickled with sweat as he watched through the dark, two pin pricks of lights turned onto his street. 

Killian’s heart caught in his throat. 

They were home. 

They were safe. 

They were both grounded for at least twenty years.  

A yellow Volkswagen Beetle pulled up at the curb, lights shutting off with the engine, the movement of three people inside causing his blood to rush erratically through his veins. 

The door on the driver side opened and a woman slid out, glowing golden hair wrapped in a leather jacket- Killian Jones, I imagine?- in the pool of of the overhead street light. 

“Emma Swan, thank you for bringing my children home,” his voice sounded rough even to his ears, and her gaze softened incrementally as a smirk pulled at the side of her mouth. 

“Well, they’re shrewd negotiators, I’ll give them that.” 

Killian narrowed his eyes, knowing far too well the levels of mischief his two children could get into, and stepped to the side of the car, hand on the handle, stooping as the door opened, reviewing the nervous, still smiling faces of Henry and Alice Jones. 

“Out,” his voice was quiet, a subtle shake of adrenaline which had been roaring through his blood for the better half of the day, “now.” 

They scrambled, climbing over each other to escape the confines of the car that wasn’t his, and stood, wide eyes looking up at him- are we in trouble, Papa?- as the worry and fear which choked his heart since finding their rooms deserted had finally started to recede. 

“Yes, you most certainly are. Inside, hop to it.” 

♥️♥️♥️

Read the rest here.

Tagging!

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[zaharadessert]

The Heart of the Saviour (7/12)

Rating: Mature to start with, some later chapters will probably end up being explicit.

Warnings: Abduction, Ransom, Mortal Peril.

Summary: One night, in every corner of every magical realm, every boy aged nine to seventeen disappeared. Not one remained. That was when Pan made himself known to the realms, and from that night the eve of every boy’s ninth birthday meant their disappearance, until finally the realms demanded to know what he wanted to return their children to them. Pan told them he wanted the saviour, and while most realms were confused Snow and David knew what he meant and confessed the role their daughter was supposed to have played in breaking the curse. The realms voted and agreed to Pan’s terms, and Pan stopped taking the realms sons, holding the children he’d currently taken as insurance of their compliance. 

For the next fifteen years Emma’s birthday wasn’t a celebration, it was another tick on the countdown clock to the end of her freedom. Not that she was ever free in the first place, but to save every male child in the United Realms including her younger brother, Leo… She understood that she had a job to do, and she would do her duty with her head held high. What she didn’t count on was the sparkling blue eyes of the man Pan sends to escort her to Neverland in time for her twenty-first birthday.

Notes: Moving on from the last cliffhanger, I'd like to thank everyone who has commented and let me know what they think about the story so far. I've loved some of the theories about what Pan wants from Emma (some of which I never considered so that was fun!) but none of you are right so far! Thank you again to @kmomof4​ for betaing this absolute monster... though I have to say how incredibly proud of myself I am for making you break out of your beta-head mode with hate for Pan. Ooops? Thanks to the @neverlandnewyear​ mods for running the event! Things are still pretty dire for the next couple of chapters, so please do be prepared for mind games and manipulation. Enjoy?! Link to AO3 is down there somewhere!

Tagging: @jrob64​ @xhookswenchx​ @kmomof4​ @wefoundloveunderthelight​ @superchocovian​ @lfh1226-linda​ @teamhook​ @jonesfandomfanatic​ @tiganasummertree​ @onceratheart18​ @snowbellewells​ @karlyfr13s​ @itsfabianadocarmo​ @ouatpost​ @ultraluckycatnd​ @winterbaby89​ @thepirateandhisson​ @xarandomdreamx​ @xsajx​ @captainswan21​ @spaceconveyor @pirateprincessofpizza​ @sparlecorn93​ @hollyethecurious​ @anmylica​

As always, let me know if you’d like me to add you to my taglist for future fics :)

Read on AO3: Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five | Chapter Six | Chapter Seven

- - - - -

“I’m sorry, Tink,” he hissed, turning to look at her, seeing the tears in her eyes.

“I’m sorry too, Hook,” she replied, and he could see the misery and regret in her eyes now, realising she’d been wearing a mask all these years, just like he had. “I should have told you to run while you had the chance.” She let out a cough, groaning as the vines tightened around her chest too.

“What, lass? Leave you here to deal with Pan on your own? Not bloody likely,” he told her with a groan.

“Who knew pirates could be sentimental,” Roland snarked, coughing as he did so.

“Who knew royal guards could be such upstart, insufferable whelps,” he growled back.

“Upstart?” Roland challenged.

“Aye, because apparently you have just as many regrets as we do…” Killian panted as the vine tightened even more.

“But I…” Roland ground out, his voice choked and strained. “I don’t…” he admitted and Killian, with a vine now around his neck restricting his movement, strained to look at the boy. “I may have made mistakes, but all of them got me here, doing everything I can to save Emma. How can I regret that?” he explained.

“Then fight you imbecile, you’re the only one who can!” Killian rasped breathlessly against the press of the vine at his neck.

Killian could feel Roland pulling against the vines, felt as if something in the magic holding them there started to give, and suddenly, the crushing pressure around his chest and neck was gone, and he could breathe.

He and Tink stumbled away from the tree. Killian caught himself on a nearby rock and coughed violently at the sudden influx of oxygen making his head swim. After a minute or so, Killian looked up at Roland who had recovered a hell of a lot quicker than either he or Tink.

“What are you waiting for? Up you go…” he said, gesturing at the tree with his empty brace.

“Uh, what am I looking for?” Roland asked as he started to plan his way up the enormous tree.

“Bright pink flower in a cluster of bright green leaves. Pick one and bring the whole thing down,” Tink told him.

“And you two are just going to sit here and wait?” he asked, looking over his shoulder at them.

“No, I’m going to look for my hook,” Killian replied testily. Honestly, if it wasn’t for the fact that Roland was the only one of them who could get up the tree without the risk of being strangled by murderous vines, Killian would have wondered why the hell they’d brought him along.

He was sure Roland wasn’t a complete idiot, but he couldn’t help wondering exactly where his smarts lay for asking all of these bloody stupid questions.

He watched Roland for a moment, sitting on the rock with Tink next to him as they continued to catch their breath. Killian's arm was throbbing worse than before now, but he wasn’t going to admit it, not even to Tink who was looking at him almost knowingly.

“What it must be like to not have regrets,” she mused aloud.

“I don’t think I’ve ever not regretted anything,” he replied darkly, melancholy sinking into his bones.

Even after all this, even if they did manage to save Emma, she would still deserve better than him. He was nothing but a broken pirate with a drinking problem. Why would she want him when she could have someone healthy and whole and unburdened, like Roland?

With a scowl firmly set in his features, he pushed himself to his feet and started to comb the dirt and brush on the side of the clearing where Pan had so carelessly thrown his hook. They heard Roland whoop with victory from up the tree, and Killian rolled his eyes. Did he want to call Pan back here, letting him know they’d survived?

Roland was halfway back down the tree when Killian was finally locking the hook into its place in his brace with a relieved sigh. He was glad he’d found it. He’d felt incomplete without it there despite the fact that when he could see it, it only served to remind him of the myriad of mistakes that littered his past.

Roland’s boots hit the ground with a thud and he held out the flower to Tink with a smile.

“Good job, kid,” she said with a smile as she pulled a small cloth out of her pocket. She wrapped the flower up into a pouch secured with a strip of leather which she then put back in her pocket. “Okay, where to now?” she asked.

“Shouldn’t we wait for Tiger Lily?” Roland asked, but Killian shook his head.

“If we’re here, alive, when he brings her back, he’ll just try and stop us again. If we’re already gone, he’ll just try and be cryptic about it, like he planned for us to escape. And there’s always the chance we didn’t get what we came for…” he reasoned. Pan would be angry and they risked a swift death if they were here to face it.

“He’s right,” Tink offered. “We’d best get started. It’ll be dark soon and we’ll need to make camp and get some rest before long,” she added and turned to lead them back out of the pixie woods in the direction of Pan’s camp.

Killian couldn’t help but wonder what Pan had Tiger Lily doing, when she would find her way back to them, if she ever did. He just hoped that they weren’t heading in the wrong direction to find Emma, that Pan hadn’t decided to keep her somewhere other than his camp.

- - - - -

Read the rest on AO3

[zaharadessert]

Heart of the Saviour (6/12)

Rating: Mature to start with, some later chapters will probably end up being explicit.

Warnings: Abduction, Ransom, Mortal Peril.

Summary: One night, in every corner of every magical realm, every boy aged nine to seventeen disappeared. Not one remained. That was when Pan made himself known to the realms, and from that night the eve of every boy’s ninth birthday meant their disappearance, until finally the realms demanded to know what he wanted to return their children to them. Pan told them he wanted the saviour, and while most realms were confused Snow and David knew what he meant and confessed the role their daughter was supposed to have played in breaking the curse. The realms voted and agreed to Pan’s terms, and Pan stopped taking the realms sons, holding the children he’d currently taken as insurance of their compliance. For the next fifteen years Emma’s birthday wasn’t a celebration, it was another tick on the countdown clock to the end of her freedom. Not that she was ever free in the first place, but to save every male child in the United Realms including her younger brother, Leo… She understood that she had a job to do, and she would do her duty with her head held high. What she didn’t count on was the sparkling blue eyes of the man Pan sends to escort her to Neverland in time for her twenty-first birthday.

Notes: Thanks to the @neverlandnewyear​ mods for running this event again, thank you once again to @kmomof4​ for being the most incredible beta, and for reassuring me through how I'd written some of this, even if she does hate Pan with the fire of a thousand suns now. I'm not going to lie... things get pretty dire over the next couple of chapters, so please do be prepared for mind games and manipulation. Enjoy?! Link to AO3 is down there somewhere!

Tagging: @jrob64​ @xhookswenchx​ @kmomof4​ @wefoundloveunderthelight​ @superchocovian​ @lfh1226-linda​ @teamhook​ @jonesfandomfanatic​ @tiganasummertree​ @onceratheart18​ @snowbellewells​ @karlyfr13s​ @itsfabianadocarmo​ @ouatpost​ @ultraluckycatnd​ @winterbaby89​ @thepirateandhisson​ @xarandomdreamx​ @xsajx​ @captainswan21​ @spaceconveyor @pirateprincessofpizza​ @sparlecorn93​ @hollyethecurious​ @anmylica​

As always, let me know if you’d like me to add you to my taglist for future fics :)

Read on AO3: Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five | Chapter Six

- - - - -

The second ‘game’ of the day had been Sneak, in which groups of boys attempted to sneak up on Felix, Baelfire and several others of what seemed like Pan’s inner circle. If they succeeded, they were rewarded. If not, their cries rang out through the jungle as they were beaten for as long as the boy they’d failed to catch unawares could keep hold of them. Some boys seemed to be let go pretty quickly, while others… She’d had to force herself to clench her teeth, knowing there was nothing she could do to stop this when everyone seemed so keen to give it a go, but it was clear Felix and Baelfire had picked the game because they started at an advantage.

She could feel Pan’s gaze on her, taking in the subtle twists of her wrists that showed she was testing her bonds, itching to stop the brutality. He’d just smirked, and pointed out which kids were struggling to get away before they got clipped with a stick or a club, laughing and calling out encouragement when he felt like it. The lost boys laughed with him.

Now, Emma’s hands had been untied and a bowl of some kind of stew had been placed in them as they all sat around the fire to eat. All her muscles ached, her hands were scratched up, the blood on her cheek from where she’d caught her face on a vine had dried and was itching in the damp air. She was exhausted. She hadn’t slept well last night and then she’d spent a hell of a long time running for her life.

The lost boys may have started off throwing twigs on the way back but they’d quickly progressed to heavier items and she was bruised in places she hadn’t been before they started walking back. She’d had no way of defending herself, and every flinch had only made them laugh louder and throw more, but once they were back in the clearing that all stopped.

And now she was sitting on the damp ground, eating slop, and avoiding looking at any of them. She had to wonder how any of them could be enjoying this, could follow someone who would kidnap hundreds if not thousands of children and hold them for ransom. But then… some of them seemed as cruel and heartless as he was. Felix especially had relished in the second game of the day. He made her skin crawl.

Seated on a rock next to her, casually reclining as he surveyed his kingdom, Pan pulled out an instrument and started to play. Emma frowned as she watched the boys get up and start to dance around the bonfire in the middle of the camp. She watched them for a moment, listening hard to the silence before looking back at Pan.

He was watching the boys intently as his fingers moved over the pipe that was making no sound. She wondered why they could hear it and she couldn’t, was it because she was too old? Was it an age thing or something else? Because they’d been here so long? Because they’d given in to Pan’s whims and let themselves become what he turned them into?

In that moment she thought of Killian, and wondered if he would have heard the song if he was here. She wondered what he was doing, what he did when he wasn’t off acting like a pirate at Pan’s behest. She blinked and looked down at the bowl in front of her. She’d resigned herself to this, but her time on his ship had made her realise what she was leaving behind more than anything else had.

Now she knew about it, she missed it.

“Troubled, Princess?” Pan asked suddenly. He wasn’t playing his pipes any more but the boys around the fire were still dancing.

“What are they dancing to?” she asked, refusing to tell Pan what had really been on her mind at that moment.

“You don’t hear it?” he asked, his eyebrow rising in surprise.

“No,” she replied with a shake of her head. Had he been expecting her to? If so, why even was that?

“Interesting,” he said, sitting up on his rock and looking down at her as he went back to playing his pipe.

Emma couldn’t help the incredulous look she gave him. Was he trying to make her hear it? “Still nothing,” she said, almost happy to have unwittingly defied him, even if she didn’t understand why or how.

“Nevermind. You will soon enough,” he muttered as he stopped playing again.

They sat there a long time, not doing anything but watching the boys dance. Some of them kept putting logs on the fire, keeping it bright and hot. Gradually, some of the boys started to drift into the trees, crawling into tents and climbing into hammocks and falling asleep.

“When are you going to let them go, the boys you stole?” she asked, looking across at Pan still lounging in his throne.

“All in good time, we have business to complete first,” he told her casually.

“I played your game, Pan, why are you stalling?” She was getting annoyed but she did her best to remain calm. He was infuriating, but she’d been trained in diplomacy, so diplomatic she would remain for as long as possible.

“Oh no, Princess. That wasn’t the thing I need you to do, we’ll get to that,” he replied, not looking at her.

“What?” she hissed.

She didn’t understand, if he needed her to do a specific thing, why wasn’t he getting her to do it?

“I need to make sure you’re in the right state of mind, properly understanding of the situation, as it were…”

“I’m here, just like you wanted. You got me, you won! So let them go!” she said loudly, standing up as she did so and turning to face him.

Pan merely raised an eyebrow at her and flicked his hand.

Out of nowhere hands grabbed her, the ropes that had been left on the floor beside her were being wrapped around her wrists and chest.

“Get off me!” she snarled as she twisted out of Felix’s grip, only to have Baelfire and another of their friends, Ace, grab her instead.

“I think it’s time to put the princess to bed, before she wakes up the children,” Pan said, not moving to help, simply watching as his minions held onto her.

“Stop stalling and just tell me…” but her words were cut off as a wedge of cloth was forced into her mouth and tied tightly at the back of her head. The ropes holding her wrists together were yanked on harshly and she stumbled forwards.

“Get her in the cage, and hang her up with the other one,” Pan told them with a growl.

Emma was dragged off by the boys as Pan followed them to supervise, through the jungle to a smaller clearing around which there were several bamboo cages strung up in the trees. Ace and Baelfire lowered one while Felix held her against his chest with the handle of his cudgel pressed against her throat. She didn’t bother to struggle, with her hands tied she was unlikely to get far and she had a feeling that Pan wouldn’t insist that she be caught humanely this time. That and she was finding it difficult to breathe as it was, struggling would only make that harder.

Ace gestured into the cage with a bow as he held the door open.

Shrugging Felix off as he released her throat, Emma climbed in, and sat in the middle of it with her legs crossed.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Pan said, holding out his hand palm up. Upon it appeared a small cake, with a single candle burning in the creamy looking icing on the top of it. “Happy Birthday. Shame your loved ones can’t celebrate it with you any more,” he added with a smirk.

Emma didn’t move, so Pan set the cupcake down in front of her and ducked out of the cage.

The flame guttered as they hoisted the cage into the air, but it didn’t go out. Once they were all gone, Emma reached over her head and pulled at the material until it loosened enough for her to pull it off. Leaning forward, Emma blew out the single candle. Alone, just like her. She couldn’t see much from here, nor could she even pick up the cupcake with her hands tied palm up, but if she didn’t eat it she would no doubt anger Pan, and then she’d never get anywhere with what he wanted from her. The only way she was going to get to eat it was if she undid these knots. She got to work on the ropes holding her wrists together.

- - - - -

Read the rest on AO3

[zaharadessert]

The Heart of the Saviour (4/12)

Rating: Mature to start with, some later chapters will probably end up being explicit.

Warnings: Abduction, Ransom, Mortal Peril.

Summary: One night, in every corner of every magical realm, every boy aged nine to seventeen disappeared. Not one remained. That was when Pan made himself known to the realms, and from that night the eve of every boy’s ninth birthday meant their disappearance, until finally the realms demanded to know what he wanted to return their children to them. Pan told them he wanted the saviour, and while most realms were confused Snow and David knew what he meant and confessed the role their daughter was supposed to have played in breaking the curse. The realms voted and agreed to Pan’s terms, and Pan stopped taking the realms sons, holding the children he’d currently taken as insurance of their compliance. For the next fifteen years Emma’s birthday wasn’t a celebration, it was another tick on the countdown clock to the end of her freedom. Not that she was ever free in the first place, but to save every male child in the United Realms including her younger brother, Leo… She understood that she had a job to do, and she would do her duty with her head held high. What she didn’t count on was the sparkling blue eyes of the man Pan sends to escort her to Neverland in time for her twenty-first birthday.

Notes: Thanks to the @neverlandnewyear​ mods for running this event again, and to @kmomof4​ for the amazing work you have done bringing this fic up to scratch. I’m not sorry for last weeks cliffhanger at all, but I’d love to hear what you this about this weeks chapter! Link to AO3 is down there somewhere!

Tagging: @jrob64​ @xhookswenchx​ @kmomof4​ @wefoundloveunderthelight​ @superchocovian​ @lfh1226-linda​ @teamhook​ @jonesfandomfanatic​ @tiganasummertree​ @onceratheart18​ @snowbellewells​ @karlyfr13s​ @itsfabianadocarmo​ @ouatpost​ @ultraluckycatnd​ @winterbaby89​ @thepirateandhisson​ @xarandomdreamx​ @xsajx​ @captainswan21​ @pirateprincessofpizza​ @sparlecorn93​ @hollyethecurious​ @anmylica​

As always, let me know if you’d like me to add you to my taglist for future fics :)

Read on AO3: Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four

- - - - -

It was late, and the cabin was dark.

The door crept slowly open with barely a squeak of its well oiled hinges.

The footsteps on the wooden floorboards were barely audible over the swell of the sea around the hull.

The figure navigated around the sloppily discarded clothing and towards the bed where the blankets lay over a sleeping body.

Slowly, quietly, the figure drew a knife from the inside of its cloak, and surveyed the sleeping captain with curiosity.

He leaned over and brought the knife up under the captain’s chin, pointing the dutifully cared for blade at the pirate’s throat.

He would end this insanity once and for all, and he would do it now, while everyone else was asleep. And before anyone realised what had happened, it would all be over.

Blue eyes flicked open at the same time as the sleeping figure moved, his hand closing around the other man’s wrist as he brought his hook up between them with a snarl. His face perfectly illuminated by a sliver of moonlight as his expression darkened, taking in who was hanging over him, about to kill him in his sleep.

“One wrong move and it will be your last, Whelp,” he growled as he dug his thumb into his hand.

The figure hissed in pain and the grip on his knife loosened enough that Killian knocked it out of his hand and it skittered away across the floor, coming to rest under the chair. Killian tugged the man’s hood down, revealing the person he’d suspected it would be, part of the reason he hadn’t slept well the entire time they’d been at sea.

“What exactly are you trying to achieve by sneaking into my cabin in the middle of the night, Roland?”

The young man’s eyes were full of fury as he looked down at the pirate captain, his plan thwarted and being held at the point of his hook.

“Saving her from you, dirty pirate,” he replied with a curl of his lip.

“Do you really think she’ll thank you for condemning her brother to whatever Pan has in store if she doesn’t go through with this?” Killian asked him incredulously, his voice still a low growl.

Roland didn’t reply, and Killian knew he’d hit the jackpot with his chosen comeback.

Killian pushed him roughly, sending him sprawling to the cabin floor as he sat up. The blankets fell from his bare chest as he pushed himself to his feet and grabbed the boy by his hair, pulling him off the floor and tucking the point of his hook back under his chin.

“You make a sound, and not only will she know you’ve betrayed her, but I’ll gut you in front of her and let her watch as you bleed out on the floor of her cabin,” he spat in Roland’s ear, his voice low and full of the kind of darkness he sometimes longed to unleash.

“You bastard.”

Killian laughed darkly. He would, of course, do no such thing. Pan might have. Pan might have made him do it and enjoyed watching as the princess watched her best friend die for trying to mess up the demon’s plans. What Killian was about to do would protect everyone. Swan wouldn’t know Roland had betrayed her by trying to stop her fulfilling what she thought was her destiny. She couldn’t tell Pan something she didn’t know, and Pan would never accuse her of trying to double cross him. Roland would be hidden from Pan, and therefore Pan would never know what he’d tried to do or punish him for it. His crew would be none the wiser. If it came down to it, Killian was the only one who would be at risk.

So the whelp could call him a bastard all he wanted, but Killian knew that in the end he was doing what he had to, and his threat was just a way to make sure he upheld his reputation.

“Aye, lad, and don’t you forget it,” he snarled in his ear and pushed him forwards towards the still open door.

Starkey was half out of his cabin when Killian got there.

“Captain?” he managed, clearly still half asleep having been woken by the sound of Roland hitting the floor.

“I found our stowaway,” Killian informed him, pushing Roland at Starkey. “Put him in the brig, and see he stays there without anyone else finding out who he is.”

“Aye, Captain,” Starkey replied as he twisted Roland’s arm behind his back.

Roland hissed in pain, but kept his mouth shut, now glaring openly at the pirate captain, but apparently his threat had done the trick. Killian watched as Starkey bundled him off towards the front of the ship. Once they were out of sight his shoulders sagged with fatigue and he leaned against the nearest wall with a sigh.

He ran his hand through his hair and shook his head.

At least now this wasn’t hanging over his head, and the moment Pan let him leave again he’d drop the boy off at the nearest port with some gold so he could start making his way home again.

Fucking royals and their fucking cronies were far more trouble than they were worth.

- - - - -

Read the rest on AO3