Title: Unwilling Bride (Finale!!!)
Summary: Will Peter win his last game with (Y/N)?
Pairing: Peter Pan x Reader
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29 Part 30 Part 31 Part 32 Part 33
Felix was always a very simple guy to understand, he had simple morals and simple needs; in conclusion to being simply understood he was also very intense.
Intense in all his actions and beliefs.
That was why he was Pan’s right hand man, he believed in Pan as if he were a God made of flesh. Pan had gotten Rufio, his very first and very best friend killed, but even if Felix never forgave Pan for not avenging his friend he would always be loyal. Because Pan had saved him, saved him from starving and rotting in the streets of Oz.
So even now, as the Lost Boys were beginning to complain of hunger pains just like the boys in the orphanage, Felix would follow Pan’s orders.
One last game.
Felix didn’t like the phrase his leader had used when he first began to lay out his plan, or at least the part of the plan he wanted to share. Pan almost never fully divulged his plans to anyone other than his own speechless shadow.
He had been given very specific directions to the cottage that (Y/N) called home and as he trudged his way through the forest his heart was heavy.
(Y/N) had been his friend, she had been Rufio’s love and now he was on a mission that made him work against his own personal wishes.
Just as Pan promised the cottage was there in a clearing and (Y/N) was right there in front of it, she had a bow and arrow and appeared to be training her aim by trying to hit leaves as they fell from dying trees.
‘Getting a bit slow there Mother.’ he said as he entered the clearing, being sure to keep his hands up and his palms exposed as he approached.
As expected she turned with frightening speed and aimed her arrow directly at him and her eyes were hard.
‘Felix, been a while.’ she said.
‘Ten or eleven years, not too long I think.’ he said casually, still keeping his hands up.
‘Why are you here, Felix? I know you didn’t find this place alone, what instructions did Pan give you?’ she said quickly, keeping her weapon raised.
‘No instruction, I’m not here to fight you, I just have a message. What you do with that message is up to you entirely.’
She looked untrusting but her curiosity had clearly been peaked by the prospects of a message from the one person on her hit list.
‘What message?’
‘He wants to see you, face to face on Skull Rock. I don’t know his plan past getting you there. I swear that to you.’
‘I believe you Felix, Pan doesn’t tell anyone anything.’ she sighed as she lowered the bow.
‘He does miss you though, he doesn’t need to tell anyone that. It shows in his every move, we all miss you at camp.’
‘Does he miss Rufio? Does he even speak about him?’ (Y/N) asked sharply.
Felix looked down and was surprised by the speed in which (Y/N) had reached his side.
‘I’m sorry, I was taking out my anger for Pan on you and it was wrong. I know you lost a friend in Rufio’s murder the same as I lost a love.’
‘I did, and we have lost so much since.’
At his words he saw her eyebrows come together in worry and confusion.
‘Come inside, we will talk more there. You can tell me how my boys are.’ she said as she led him towards her home.
‘I can tell you that now, they are all hungry and miserable.’ Felix said as he followed.
(Y/N) opened her door and let in her first ever guest.
Felix glanced around with at least mild interest in the modern setting he found himself in, but he was clearly searching for something.
‘Where is the kitchen? Is there food?’ Felix asked.
(Y/N) pointed to the kitchen door and followed behind Felix.
‘I’ll start you off with a sandwich but I’ll make a full dinner for you too, enough for you to take back to camp.’
‘A sign of good faith?’ he asked as he sat at the table and watched you move around the kitchen.
‘Concerned friend, I told you I had no grudges with you all; I would never make any of you choose between me and Pan. I will help you all whenever you need me, but I will have nothing to do with him. I will not see him on peaceful terms, the second he is in my sight I’m going to kill him.’
‘Then don’t look at him, but he needs to speak with you. I will not return to camp until you agree. I complete my task every time without fail.’ Felix said seriously as he dug into the sandwich that was placed in front of him.
‘I know your commitment to following Pan’s orders but this time he gave you an impossible task, I will not meet him for any reason in this world or the next. If he has information that he thinks is vital to me then he can send you with that message, other than that I will have no communication with him.’ (Y/N) said firmly as she went about cooking a large pot of beef stew.
Felix watched her move her hands elegantly around as she summoned ingredients from thin air.
It had been so long since Peter had performed any magic for the camp that Felix almost looked amazed.
“Keep your mask up Felix, she must not see through you.” Pan’s voice rang in his mind and he kept his face indifferent.
She began to chop the vegetables and a mild uncomfortable silence settled in on the pair of reunited friends.
‘What has been happening at camp?’ (Y/N) asked, breaking the silence.
‘There are no animals for us to hunt, and we certainly aren’t getting our pirate supply anymore. The island is living on borrowed time, I’d say we have less than a year before it’s inhabitable.’
He watched tensely as she stilled her movements and processed the bad news he had delivered, it was obvious that things were going just as Pan was hoping.
She would battle her hate for him with her love for the Lost Boys and because she was good the love would win.
With a large and visibly fuming sigh she threw up her hands in defeat.
‘When?’
‘As soon as you can get there, he’s there now waiting for you. I urged him to bring provisions but he refused, he can go longer than most without food but not forever (Y/N).’
She scoffed and went back to her cooking and conjuring and began to gripe the same way she always had in Felix’s company.
‘If he thinks threatening to starve himself will push me to hurry then that’s his mistake. He can rot for all I care.’ she hissed as her movements became less graceful and more aggressive.
‘I will get there at my own pace.’ she said firmly.
And not surprising, to Felix at least, she stuck to her words and cooked for nearly four more hours. While she waited on the food to get ready she made more and more sandwiches.
Felix did his best to keep their conversations as pleasant as they always had been back when the boys spoke of the infamous “Happily Ever After” finally making its way to Neverland.
He gave her all the gossip that he’d thought she’d have found entertaining and she told him how she stayed sane all by herself out here.
It was only after she had been reduced to showing him her crafting projects that she gave in to the fact that she had no other reason to procrastinate her meeting with Pan.
‘Take the whole pot I enchanted it to stay full no matter how much you take out. It should last a few days. Tell the boys not to fight over it.’ she directed.
Felix took the pot and held it with both hands.
‘Thank you; I don’t know what Pan is planning and I don’t have the mind to guess what the outcome could be, but thank you. You were more than a mother to me, you were a friend…the only one I have left now.’ Felix said before his common sense could shut his mouth.
‘You were my best friend too Felix.’ (Y/N) said back, but her face was already beginning to show suspicion.
Soon (Y/F/C) smoke engulfed his body, when it cleared he was back at the camp and just that fast the boys were swarming the pot he was holding.
Back at your little cottage you stared at the spot where Felix had been mere seconds ago, distrust still written all over your face.
Felix was your best friend, and he knew more than he claimed he did; and whatever he knew he didn’t like it.
Sure he kept his mask on the whole visit and that was how you knew something was up, because when he actually relaxes Felix is an open book.
Pan was planning something, but it didn’t matter; you promised to kill him and you meant to keep that promise.
Deciding it was better to get this done quickly, you quickly transported yourself to the cave on Skull Rock.
It had been decades…maybe even centuries, but it was just as it had been the first and only other time you’d ever seen it. The same skull shaped stones and the same giant hourglass.
The hourglass was the only thing that showed any sign of time passing at all here, it had been about half full when she first saw it but now it was getting very close to empty.
Almost entranced by it you stepped closer to it, looking at your reflection in the curved glass, you took in the details of the hourglass. Its golden carvings and the unnatural light it gave off in the complete darkness of the cave.
This hourglass ruined your life.
This stupid fucking hourglass that was the hellish timer of Peter Pan’s life, the fucking hourglass he used your love to refill.
‘Of course it all ends up here.’ you scoffed to herself.
It all started here didn’t it? Pan wanted to live forever and to do that he needed strong undying magic, and love is the strongest magic in all the classic fairy tales. He snatched you, an unloved military brat with no friends and no real social skills away from your home to use your feelings.
Feelings he always knew would arise in you, no matter how you looked at it you had been used and manipulated by Peter since the very moment you had met him. It was Stockholm syndrome outright.
He’d kidnapped you and made you love him.
Movement in the reflection of the glass made you snap out of your own head long enough to see that Peter was on the other side of the hourglass, watching you through the glass.
‘I’m glad you came.’ he greeted.
‘I came to kill you.’ you said coldly as you conjured a sleek and sharp dagger into your hand.
‘I know, but you said you’d kill me if you saw me again. All I see is glass.’
‘The glass is see-through.’ you said as you began to walk around the hourglass.
‘And once I walk around I’m going to see you directly.’ you continued.
‘I was hoping we could have this chat without the old trying to kill me game.’ Peter said as he began walking as well, keeping a pace that kept him out of your direct view while keeping eye contact through the glass.
‘I thought Peter Pan loved games.’ you snarled.
‘He does…but I am not Peter Pan.’
At that you finally stopped circling the hourglass.
‘What?’
‘This is the last game I want to play with you. This last real game I can truly control, win or lose. It’s going to be a game where you make a decision after I tell you something.’
‘What will you tell me?’
‘Everything, and after if you don’t want to stay by my side I will grant you safe passage off the island…before it is too late.’
For a long moment it was quiet as you thought over what Pan had offered.
An explanation, and a choice. Two things that could do nothing to change or justify what had happened but you had craved those things so long you couldn’t imagine turning either of them down.
‘Who are you if you’re not Peter Pan?’ you finally asked.
You watch the boy on the other side of the glass visibly sigh in relief.
‘My name was Malcolm, when I was a boy I would dream of flying in Neverland. This island was the most beautiful and perfect place to be. I would cry all day in anger at being away from it, but I got older and suddenly I couldn’t come back.’ He started, his eyes leaving yours for the first time as he looked at the opening of the cave dreamily at the grim island.
‘If you had seen it then, when the pixies still tended the tree and everyone could fly for as long as they wanted…to lose it overnight. I couldn’t stay a boy forever and the island isn’t too fond of grown ups. I was miserable in adulthood.’
Adulthood?
‘I drank, I stole, I gambled…I had a child.’ he continued.
‘You have a kid?!’ you gasped out right, unable to mask your surprise.
Peter, or should you call him Malcolm, nodded in shame.
‘A son, a little runt that always needed something that I had to do heinous things to provide. Following after me whenever I went to do anything for myself…like a vulture coming to feast on the corpse of my life.’ he snarled.
This time you flinched at the amount of hate and revulsion that came out in the way Peter said those words. It wasn’t him being dramatic or overly emotional, he genuinely had hate for his son.
‘But my son did do one good thing for me in the end…not by choice of course. He was my ticket back to this place.’ he said as his reflection blurred through the glass.
You watched in near horror as Peter aged before your very eyes. He was no longer the blonde boy you were once so attracted to or even the demon boy who had watched Rufio’s killer walk free.
You couldn’t stand it, you needed to see it clearly. Before you could stop yourself you were running around the hourglass to finally see him head on, but the second you met his eyes your feet were nailed to the cave floor.
He was a man now, a middle aged man with a hairline that was beginning to recede and a beard that was graying.
His clothes seemed to have aged as well, they were suddenly ragged and the color faded in random places as if they had been worn long past their best days.
‘This is the man who chose to trade his son for eternal life and youth, the man…’ the man stopped as if he was fighting against the words trying to come out of his mouth.
‘The man who is terrified of growing old and dying, above all else I don’t want to die (Y/N).’ the old man said, looking pleadingly into your eyes.
It was in that instant you saw him in those eyes, Peter’s eyes.
How many times had you gotten lost in those eyes while the two of you practiced your magic, or while you laid next to each other in bed.
‘I know that you hate me…I know I deserve your hate, but please understand that I never wanted any harm or hardship to come to you. You were everything to me from the second I met you, hell even before that.’
‘Why? Why me? Why was I the one you chose to love?’
The old man reached into his raggedy pants pocket and pulled out an ancient looking folded parchment and handed it to you.
‘I drew this when I was sixteen, truly just a sixteen year old boy in the Enchanted Forest, I used to draw in the daytime when I had no chores. No one modeled for me and I had no inspirational muse in my mind, but I drew this.’
You looked at him as you took the parchment, studying him now that he was this close; it felt so…wrong. This was wrong, this old man couldn’t possibly be Peter Pan, Peter couldn’t be this man. This man was old and heavyset, he even smelled older.
You turned from him, choosing to inspect the drawing he’d handed you instead, unfolding it carefully as to not rip the fragile old thing. Once it was fully spread out you found yourself looking down at your own face sketched almost perfectly in thick charcoal lines.
‘What the hell?’ you gasped.
‘Being a gambler, and a pretty bad one at that, I couldn’t hold on to many personal belongings. For some unknown reason I could never part from that drawing, I traveled with it, I kept it in my hidden pockets when I slept. Even when I jumped into the portal that brought me back to this island with my son this drawing was in my boot.’ Malcolm started to explain.
‘Imagine my surprise when I went to the shadow and asked if there was a way to keep the hourglass forever full, only for it to tell me that it had answered that question a long time ago.’ he finished.
‘You’re talking destiny and- and written in stars type of nonsense.’ you said in disbelief.
‘How did you find me? If all you had was this drawing, how did you find my house in Texas?’ you questioned.
The old man let out a breath of unamused laughter.
‘I wondered how I would find you too for a long while, but thankfully you made it easier.’
‘How?’
‘You felt unloved. That’s the easiest thing for the shadow to find, it had a large area to search; a lot of realms, but it found you. When I first saw you on the beach it felt surreal, like meeting an imaginary friend in the flesh. Of course the girl you turned out to be was not the meek little thing I had imagined, you were far better than I could have dreamed and I loved you more than I knew how to.’ He answered.
Your head was spinning, all of it was too much for you to process. The most inconvenient thing you’d had to deal with for the last few years was unsuccessful art projects, now you were looking at past memories and wondering how much of it was prophesied.
‘I need you, (Y/N). Beyond that I love you, and if you will have me then everything will be as it was. You and me, the camp, the Lost Boys, the mag-’
‘Rufio? Will he be as he was?’ you interrupted, your head suddenly clearing.
‘I could have forgiven the divorce, I could have forgiven a broken heart and tear soaked pillows; but I will never forgive that. I won’t forgive you letting them go, no matter who you are. Peter, Pan or Malcolm, Rufio put his life on the line for you and he lost it.’ you said looking up at him through watery eyes.
‘I couldn’t avenge him, and I regret that but I need Wendy alive, we could live without the extra food, but without her the plan would have fallen apart. I have to keep this island alive (Y/N), I have to. I can’t do that without either your love or the heart of the Truest Believer; I want to do it with you and with love. I don’t want to do it by ripping out my great grandson’s heart.’ Malcolm tried desperately to explain.
‘Your great grandson? He is the Truest Believer?’ you gasped in astonishment.
Peter had never told you the full details of his back up plan to keep the glass full after he’d ended things, and in all honesty you hadn’t wanted to know. You never imagined he had to spill blood; you never dreamed it would be his own blood he would have to spill.
Then again you never thought he had any blood to spill to begin.
You had met him as a teenage boy on a make believe island where time stood still. Why would you think he had a child? That the child had a grandchild he has been willing to kill this whole time?
‘Yes, he is the product of light and dark magic and he believes twice as hard as anyone else because of it. He is the back up plan; with his heart in my chest the glass will never empty, the magic will be strong again.’
‘And your great grandson would be what exactly? Roaming around the island with no heart in his chest!’ you yelled in sudden frustration.
‘My God! Even now! Here and now, as you are pleading with me to come back you are willing to kill another innocent boy! I don’t want to be near you Peter or Malcolm or anyone who is willing to watch others die for their own gain!’
‘I never claimed to be a saint.’ Malcolm replied.
‘You claimed to be the leader of the Lost Boys!’ you screamed in a rage as literal decades of frustration boiled over.
‘A leader they followed and respected! They followed you into battle without hesitation because they were thankful for the home you provided! They followed you, Rufio followed you! You put your stupid plan before the lives of every boy at camp! A plan you never would have needed if you had just had the sense to speak openly with me!’ you shouted as hot tears streamed your cheeks and a lump formed in your throat.
‘If you had just been-I never would have loved him! I wouldn’t see him bloody and broken in my dreams every night.’ you said around sobs as you tried uselessly to wipe away your tears.
‘(Y/N).’
It was Peter’s voice.
You looked back up at him and took in his face, the same boy you met on that beach.
He reached out to touch you, but you backed away, remembering the old man he really was.
‘Don’t.’ you said firmly.
‘I loved you Peter, the hourglass was full, the magic was strong; you ruined it. You dragged me here like a mythical monster, made me fall in love with a lie and broke my heart. Now you are considering killing your own family to do what I had already done for you, what good man does that?’
‘I am not a man (Y/N), I was never meant to be. I am Peter Pan the boy who can never grow up, that is who I am. Malcolm, that disgusting old man was just what time wants to turn me into and I hate him. I hate him and his life and responsibilities, all I care for is-’
‘You. All you care about is you Peter Pan…and I didn’t know that until right now.’ you interrupted.
‘Please, all I care for is the home I have created with you at my side. Just allow me the opportunity to regain your trust and love.’
‘No; you lose this game Peter.’ you declared.
A look of stunned horror crossed Peter’s eyes as the words hit his ears.
‘I was unloved at home, I can admit that; but I know what love is and what it isn’t. It’s not lying, it’s talking to each other about the future, it’s trusting someone with all your secrets and dreams. You didn’t trust me then, and I don’t trust you now.’ you continued.
‘You promised safe passage off the island if I didn’t come back to you. I want to go home.’
In the magical light of the hourglass you saw a lone tear slide down Peter’s face, but then the watery eyes hardened.
‘You would leave?’
‘Even if your horrific plan plays out the way you want, why should I stay? I’m not coming back to camp and I’m not coming back to you. I had the best times here once, and with time standing still I thought the best times would never end, but they did. They ended when you ended us, new good times came with Rufio…and that time has ended too.’ you replied with finality.
‘There can be better times!’ Peter shouted, seeming to finally lose his composure.
‘You would leave this paradise?! Leave the magic you’ve mastered, the Lost Boys?! Me!?’ he raged.
‘Yes, and you shouldn’t have offered me a way out if you weren’t ready for me to take it. You’ve made a promise and I expect you to keep it…unless your word is meaningless.’
‘Don’t test me! I’ve broken promises a plenty (Y/N).’
‘If you don’t keep this one, I will make good on my promise to you.’ you said, holding up your dagger and pointing at him.
Peter took a deep breath and let out a sigh that sounded so tired only an old man could have let it out.
‘Fine.’ he said angrily as he reached into his pocket.
He pulled out something small and glowing green.
‘A magic bean, rare in every other realm; but I had sent my shadow to retrieve one as soon as I mastered my magic. He found one and I planted it; these beans are how I physically travel from realm to realm at ease.’
‘Magic beans? Like Jack and the Beanstalk?’ you asked with mild doubt.
‘Take it, think about where you want to be and how it makes you feel. Once you have it, throw it on the floor and jump in before the portal closes.’ Peter instructed, his tone rough and impersonal as he offered the bean to you.
With caution you took the bean and examined it, it was certainly not an edible bean. It felt like a smooth crystal between your fingers and appeared to be completely clear aside from the swirling green smoke that was inside of it.
‘Just think happy thoughts.’ you said under your breath, remembering the old Disney movie.
‘Were you truly so unhappy? Even if you don’t come back to me or camp. Why not stay in that cottage, why do you have to leave? I can still fix this.’ Peter tried again, this time the desperation poured out of his voice.
‘How can you fix it? By fixing the island, by killing your family? The fact that that is even an option to you is why I have to leave. I can’t stay here if I know an innocent boy had to be butchered for it.’
‘Then come back, don’t make me kill him.’ Peter begged, taking hold of your face as tears again filled his eyes.
‘God, do you hear yourself? If you really don’t want to then don’t, but don’t pin that decision on me. It's your beloved island, it’s your family and your choice to make. As much as I’d wish you’d make the right one, I know that you won’t; but I’ve already made mine.’ you said as you stepped away from him.
‘(Y/N) please… I love you. You felt it in every kiss we shared. I don’t want you to leave the island, if you do I may never be able to find you again.’
‘Could you come with me then? If it is really my love that is important to you, and not just the hourglass.’ you offered bitterly.
You knew the answer, but when Peter couldn’t even meet your eyes you scoffed in disappointment and disgust.
You put a good amount of distance between yourself and Peter and looked him in the eyes as you threw down the bean.
As soon as you heard the soft thud of the bean hitting the stone floor a glowing green soft ball size hole appeared. It seemed to suck the very air into itself because suddenly it felt as though you were being pulled into a black hole.
As the wind seemed to grow stronger the hole was widening.
‘(Y/N)!’ Peter yelled over the rushing winds and the crackling noise of strong magic.
‘It doesn’t have to be this way!’
‘It didn’t!’ you agreed, speaking to him for the last time.
With your breath held and your eyes closed you bent your knees and jumped into the glowing green portal.
It felt like jumping into a freezing cold pool but you were sure there was no water, you looked up at the opening of the portal and saw Peter.
He stood there at the edge, looking at you disappear; even now he still chose his island and power over you.
Soon the opening began to shrink, and before you knew it Peter was gone.
The horrible cold went on for a few more seconds before she was suddenly slammed onto something soft, but the landing was so hard it left you winded.
You gasped and coughed as you tried to catch your breath.
As your breathing steadied you began taking in your surroundings.
You were in bed, in your old room back in Texas. Everything was just as it always was. Posters of your favorite musicians on the walls, laundry hamper in the corner by the computer desk. Military school paraphernalia decorating the bookshelf.
‘I’m really home.’ you gasped as you sat up.
‘(Y/N)!’
You hadn’t heard the voice in what must have been a century at least, but you recognized it even before the door was nearly ripped off the hinges.
‘Sargent!’ you said, instinctively standing and saluting.
But to your absolute surprise he did not reply, at least not verbally.
For what felt like the first time your father wrapped his arms around you in an honest to God hug. Not just a hand on your shoulder or a pat on the back while delivering an award, a real bone crushing hug of a worried father.
‘We were so worried. It’s been months, we’ve been looking for you.’
‘I’m sorry…Dad I didn’t think you would worry.’ you apologized as you returned the hug.
‘Your mother is still putting out your missing flyers, dammit girl where have you been?’ your dad asked as he looked you over for injuries.
That was when it all sank in, you were home, your parents had cared; if they loved you here, Pan would never be able to find you again.
No more Neverland, no more magic, no campfire dancing; the realization of it making her cry that much harder. It was all over.
‘I was in the wrong place…I was with the wrong person.’
