𝖤𝖵𝖤𝖱𝖬𝖮𝖱𝖤 | 𝖮𝗇𝖼𝖾 �...

. . . . . ╰──╮✰ ✰ ✰ ╭──╯ . . . . .

‎‧₊˚✧ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ✧˚₊‧

‎‧₊˚✧Qᴜɪᴛᴇ ᴀ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴏɴ ꜰᴀɪʀʏ✧˚₊‧

______

"Sometimes It Takes Only

One Act Of Kindness

And Caring To Change

A Person's Life."

______

At first, Angie felt nothing. Just a pure amount of darkness seeping into her body. Then, a light broke through the darkness, making everything glow.

Angie blinked as sunlight tore through her vision of blackness. She could tell with her nullified senses that she was lying on some kind of fabric with a blanket over her body. Angie tried to sit up, but a hand caught her arm, stopping her. "Easy there, Angel," Hook's voice soothed. "You've got a nasty concussion."

The second after Hook told her that she had a concussion, Angie felt a searing pain on the left side of her head, causing her to lay back down with a sigh. It was a few more minutes before Angie's vision finally cleared, allowing her to see Hook sitting beside her, using a twig to turn one of the logs in the fire. No one else was around. Angie took a deep breath before speaking. "What happened?" she questioned. "Where is everyone?" Angie winced. She sounded like a dying frog.

Hook put the twig down and retrieved his rum flask from next to him. He held it out to Angie, ignoring her questions for the time being. "You need to drink something."

Angie tried to raise an eyebrow, but doing so hurt, so she was forced to stop. "Is rum your solution to everything?"

Hook shrugged. "It certainly doesn't hurt."

Angie took the flask from his outstretched hand and began to drink. Or, more accurately, chug. Hook instantly grabbed Angie's hand that was holding the rum and titled it back, stopping her from downing the whole flask. "Small sips," he ordered. "Regina said that once your body gets some sustenance, your magic will heal the rest of that wound up. That doesn't mean you can drink all of my alcohol. No getting drunk on my watch, Angel. Your brother would kill me."

Angie chuckled as she let go of the flask, allowing Hook to take it away from her. "You're no fun."

"I'm glad you think that getting clobbered in the head was much more amusing than my nursing duties," Hook remarked, giving her a look.

It seemed that Regina had been right. Once the rum was in Angie's body, she could feel the head pain dulling. She waited a few seconds before attempting to sit up again. This time, she got a little light-headed, but it passed quickly. Then, she turned to Hook. "You didn't answer my questions."

"Sorry, love. I was a little more concerned with making sure you didn't die."

Angie adjusted her position, putting her hands in her lap. She felt a small smirk creeping up her lips. "I didn't know you cared."

"What made you think I didn't?" Hook questioned, a sentimental look on his face that Angie had never seen on him before. Then, he blinked and it was gone. He scratched his neck and started to explain. "We were in the middle of the battle with the Lost Boys. I called out to warn you all about the dreamshade on their arrows. It was about five minutes later when you had fought your way to Pan. Before you could do anything, the lead Lost Boy, Felix, chucked a rock at you. All of us except Emma, who was distracted, called out to warn you, but you fell unconscious before you could heed our warning. David was the closest, so he carried you all the way back."

"What about Pan?"

"Got away. The boy wasn't there. He must have been moved before we arrived."

Angie sighed with annoyance. "Continue."

Hook took a swig of rum before continuing. "Emma finally got the map to work. It will lead us to Henry, as Pan promised. The others left to go find the camp a few hours ago. Someone needed to stay behind with you, so I volunteered. We took a majority vote and I was allowed to stay."

Angie chuckled as she felt the wound on the side of her head. It didn't seem terribly deep. She could feel her magic doing its best to heal it up. Her head was almost completely clear, which was good. She suspected that she'd be up and moving soon. "David agreed to that?"

"I said it was a majority vote. But once I reminded him that I knew the dangers of this island better than anyone else, he relented."

Angie gave him a small smile. "Thank you."

Hook smiled in return. Before he could respond, the group emerged from the bushes. Angie barely had time to process their return as David sprinted towards her, pulling her body into his arms. Angie giggled and patted her brother's back. "Davie, I'm okay."

David released his death grip a little bit. "I know....you just scared me."

"I formally apologize for a Lost Boy hitting me in the head with a rock. I promise that next time, I'll try to make a funny face when I fall to the ground."

David slapped her on the arm, causing Angie to crack up. Mary Margaret, Emma, and Regina emerged from the woods behind David. Angie scanned their faces, which all looked sad. "What happened? Did you find Pan?"

"If we had found Pan, Henry would be with us right now," Regina scoffed. "No. The bastard moved camp the second we got close." Angie winced as Regina turned to her companions. "I told you walking was idiotic. If I can just use some magic, we can materialize in the camp and grab Henry."

"Which is where?" Angie questioned. "Do you even know where the camp is? And even if you do find it, Pan likely has magic of his own if he can pack up camp that fast. What makes you think you can take him?"

Regina crossed her arms. "I think I can take a teenager with green tights and a kidnapping problem."

Hook finally spoke up from his spot next to Angie. "Pan will have shields against magic, I fear. Such an attempt would end in your death and, more importantly, mine, which is why we agreed to walk in the first place."

Regina rolled her eyes. "Well then, what's your idea? How are we going to find it?"

"By using someone he trusts."

"Who?" David asked as he wrapped an arm around Angie, allowing her to lean against him. "Because I guess he certainly doesn't trust you."

"A fairy who lived here when I was about," Hook explained. "She might still be on the island. She'd be an inside source, knows all about the camp, can get us in. She might even have some pixie dust left. Perhaps we could fly in."

"You mean fairy dust," Emma stated.

"No, pixie dust," Angie corrected. "It's stronger. Like if fairy dust drank ten Red Bulls and ate a whole box of Lucky Charms." Suddenly she paused, making a connection between some of Hook's words. "Wait...don't tell me you mean...Tinker Bell?"

Hook raised an eyebrow. "Do you know her?"

Angie could hear Regina suck in a breath behind her as Emma looked stupefied. "Every kid in the world knows her," Emma admitted.

Regina shook her head instantly. "That's a bad idea. Mark my words. This Tinker Bell is not going to save us."

"We don't have another option," Mary Margaret told her. "If Tinker Bell can get us into the camp, I say we find her."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Regina scoffed, but relented. Angie suspected that, like with most people, Regina had history with Tinker Bell.

Angie threw the blanket off and began to stand. This was met with immediate protest from everyone. "Oh, shut up," Angie complained. "I'm not a piece of ceramic. I'm pretty much healed. Just let me help."

Regina, Mary Margaret, and Emma shared a look, as if silently agreeing that there was no point in arguing. David opened his mouth to say something, but Hook cut in. "Let the lass help. No use in babysitting her if she doesn't want us to."

"Thank you," Angie stated, holding her hand out to point at Hook. David still looked skeptical, so Angie decided to solve it. "Let's take a vote," she suggested. "All those in favor of letting me come?"

Everyone except David called out one word. "Aye."

"That decides it," Angie stated. "I'm coming whether you like it or not."

David groaned and retrieved his sword. "Majority votes are a load of schist."

–

David and Angelica walked through the woods together in silence. Angelica didn't know what to say to him. They had just met and he had offered her a place to live, even though she had tried to rob him mere minutes before. Angelica was forever in his debt. Yet, they continued on in silence. They only stopped walking when Angelica noticed the sun lowering in the sky. Angelica gripped David's arm, pulling him to a stop. "We make camp for the night."

David furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Why? My place is only an hour away from here. There's no need to stop."

"You don't know the woods like I do," Angelica argued. "Ogres...they roam these woods at night. Trust me, you don't want to meet one."

"Ogres...like the ones that live in the sky...and grow magic corn and stuff?"

Angelica chuckled. "Those are giants. And giants grow beans, not corn. Make yourself useful and get some firewood."

David nodded and turned to leave. Then, he paused and spoke. "Won't a fire lead the ogres right to us?"

"Ogres are blind," Angelica reminded him. "As long as we stay out of the open, we should be okay."

David still seemed a little bit skeptical, but began to head out to look for some wood. Angelica gathered a few ovular stones and arranged them in a circle. Then, she placed her cloak on the ground and removed her vest. She balled the brown vest up and placed it inside the hood of the cloak. She had successfully made a makeshift bed. It was no four poster, but it was good enough for now.

Then, she began to walk towards the edge of the clearing, where a few blueberry bushes were growing. She avoided the green and purple ones, plucking the plumpest ones that were painted a midnight blue color. She hadn't seen any deer roaming around that night, and it was getting too dark for hunting to be possible. They'd have to make do with what they had.

She was picking some of the short stems off the blueberries when David let out a scream from somewhere in the forest. At least, she thought it was David. The scream was very high pitched. The scream was followed by a very angry roar. David, the pea brain, had somehow managed to wake up an ogre.

–

Hook led the group through the jungle. David, Mary Margaret, and Angie traveled in the middle as Emma and Regina brought up the rear. Angie's wound had almost completely healed. Unfortunately, it seemed as if it would leave a scar. Angie didn't mind too much. It would make her look like a badass.

Angie felt a tap on her shoulder as Hook began to slow down. She turned to see Emma behind her. Angie's eyes traveled back, where Regina should have been, but the woman was gone. "Where-"

"Stayed behind," Emma responded. "She thought it was better that Tinker Bell didn't know that she was a part of our rescue group."

"Are you sure it's wise to leave her alone?"

"Regina can take care of herself," Emma insisted. She looked like she wanted to say something else when Hook called over.

"We're here."

Angie looked up to see a large treehouse above them. It was quite impressive, Angie had to admit, settled on different branches and covered with delicate fairy lights. Hook headed towards the ladder and began to climb up. Everyone waited patiently for the all clear, which came after a few minutes. "No one's home. Come on up."

David climbed up first with Angie a little behind him. Angie had noticed that David seemed a little more worried recently. Her suspicions were confirmed when she caught the last thing Hook said to David before she poked her head up. "It's not here, I promise. I'm sorry."

David looked very dejected as Angie began to pull herself up. Hook held his hand out to help her, which she took. Angie took a quick look around the treehouse. However, there wasn't much of anything inside. A few pieces of furniture, a hammock, and some other random objects scattered on the floor. "It's...smaller on the inside."

Emma and Mary Margaret began to climb up next. Emma took a quick survey of the house. "It's pretty bare. Reminds me of someplace."

Mary Margaret furrowed a brow. "I thought a tree house would be more cheerful."

"Where I used to live," Emma remarked as Angie started to go through Tinker Bell's things. "That's it."

"Because it's just a place to sleep," Mary Margaret and Angie stated in unison.

Emma looked confused. "What would you two know about that?"

"I didn't always have a canopy bed in a palace," Mary Margaret explained to her daughter. "I had a place like this, too. Once. A tree stump. When I was running from the Queen. Believe it or not, I understand this Tinker Bell. The true question is: Why does she have a ladder? Fairies have wings."

"I don't know," Angie murmured. "Maybe...she gets tired?"

"Wouldn't climbing be more tiresome, love?" Hook questioned.

Angie mentally face planted. "Yeah...probably. Give me a break, my head's still spinning. Maybe it would be better if you had let me drink more of that rum."

"I don't have to apologize for keeping you sober."

Angie chuckled as she began to look through some of the drawers. "To answer your question, Emma, I was on the run for a very long time. I had places like this in several different locations..." she trailed off as she felt a piece of fabric underneath her fingers. "Guys, I found something." She held up the piece of fabric that she had found. "It's a handkerchief."

Mary Margaret gasped. "That's Regina's. How did it get here?"

"She's been tracking us," Angie realized. "Watching Regina."

"But, if she's been watching her-"

Hook groaned. "We're in the wrong place."

–

Angelica dashed into the woods, following the footprints that David had left behind him on his trek. Luckily, he hadn't gotten far. She ran smack into him after she had traveled maybe 100 feet. Angelica noticed splinters in his palms before the nearby ogre roared a second time. "I left you alone for two minutes," Angelica complained.

"Sorry!" David called back. "I was trying to get wood, like you wanted, and then this guy showed up and started chasing me!"

"He showed up or you woke him up?"

"....both."

Angelica rolled her eyes as David began to run back towards the camp. She immediately ran forward to stop him, gripping his arm. "David, you nincompoop! You're going to lead the ogre right to the camp!" She pulled him in a slightly different direction. "C'mon. There's a river this way. We should be safe there."

"What's so special about a river?"

"Ogres can't see...and therefore can't swim. All we have to do is lead him to the river and pray to the Potamoi that he drowns."

Angelica could see the ogre approaching from the corner of her eye as she brought David in a loop around the woods. David was starting to lag behind. Angelica could tell that he was a bit out of shape. Finally, they reached the nearby river, where the rapids crashed frequently across the banks. They had to figure out a way to get across the river before the ogre arrived, and it had to be clever enough that he couldn't follow.

"Here!" David called, pointing out a long vine draped around a tree branch towards the top of the sky. "We can swing across the river."

"Smart," Angelica admitted. However, it would have been easier if the branch was closer to the ground. Neither of them were tall enough to reach the vine in order to unravel it from the branch. Angelica scoffed in annoyance.

"What's the problem?" David questioned.

"We're too short to reach the vine."

David was silent for a moment. "Should I start praying to the hippopotamus now?"

If the situation wasn't so dire, Angelica would have burst out laughing. "Potamoi, not hippopotamus. River gods." She took a deep breath in before speaking again. "Yeah, start praying. If I don't think of a solution soon, we're screwed."

David nodded and started to mutter to himself as Angelica began to think of a solution. If only she still had her magic. Then, maybe she'd be able to reach the vine. Angelica paused her train of thought. The terms of her banishment were simple: her immortality was stripped, her demon magic removed...but that didn't remove all of her powers. Those terms did not include normal magic. It was a crazy hunch, and if Angelica was wrong, she and David would both die. But it was the only shot they had.

Angelica closed her eyes and began to focus. She tried to focus on her emotions, honing in on one. Anger. Some of the strongest magic came from anger. It was the second strongest emotion, besides love. Angelica was all out of love. So she replayed the moment she was ripped from her home and thrown to Earth in her head over and over again until all of the pent up anger she had kept exploded. A strong wind whipped through the forest, knocking the vine down so it dangled right in front of Angelica's face.

David looked over in shock. "How did you-"

"It wasn't me," Angelica stated, perhaps too quickly. "I think we just got extremely lucky."

Angelica pulled the rope tight and prepared to swing across the river. Before she could, the ogre emerged from the woods. It was ugly and green, carrying a large wooden club. David was standing directly in its way. It roared with anguish as David attempted to run awaw. Angelica reached out and grabbed David's hand, pulling him close to her as they swung across the river. Angelica grabbed her crystal blade and slashed the vine, sending the duo tumbling onto the opposite bank, Angelica landing on top of David.

The duo breathed heavily as the ogre began to wander towards the river. Suddenly, a large wave appeared out of seemingly nowhere, pulling the ogre underwater. Angelica watched with wide eyes as bubbles erupted underneath the water until they finally stopped, the current dragging the ogre's body downstream.

There was silence for a minute. Then, David called out in glee. "Thank you hippopotami!"

Angelica laughed. "Still not what they're called."

David had a strange look on his face as he looked up at Angie. "You saved me."

"Yeah," Angie said with a nod. "I did. That surprises you?"

"A little," David admitted. "I just...I didn't think you cared."

"What made you think I didn't?"

David was silent for a moment as he crawled out from underneath Angie. He never gave her an answer, simply holding out a hand for her to take. "C'mon. Let's go back to the camp.

–

Angie led the pack as they climbed down from the treehouse and ran to find Regina. Emma couldn't remember exactly where she had left Regina, so they had to resort to heading in the general direction. Unfortunately, heading in the general direction caused them to get into a sticky situation.

Angie wasn't entirely looking where she was going and ended up walking into a section of sand. Angie attempted to move out of the section, but instead felt her feet sinking down into oblivion. She opened her mouth to stop the others, but they ran straight into the sand, getting stuck as well.

"What is this?" David questioned, attempting to move his legs around.

Angie sighed with annoyance. "Quicksand."

"Quicksand!" Emma exclaimed, looking over at Hook. "You didn't say there was quicksand in Neverland!'

"I never encountered any!" Hook argued.

"Quicksand can develop anywhere," Angie told Emma. "It's quite common."

"I don't care how common it is! I want to get out!"

Everyone except Angie seemed to agree and tried to rip their legs from the quicksand, screaming out in frustration when they began to sink faster. Angie groaned, a headache starting to surface. She raised her right hand in the shape of a finger gun and mimed firing a bullet into the air. A loud noise shut everyone up as a light blast of pink magic erupted from her fingertips.

"Finally," Angie remarked, feeling extremely annoyed. "I did not get hit with a rock and survive just to die from stupidity at the hands of you people! I know how to get out of here and right now, I'm quite inclined to leave you all! If you want to live, I suggest you shut your holes and listen to me for once!"

Everyone looked down shamefully. Angie took a deep breath. "Everybody take a deep breath and stop fighting it. You'll just sink faster." After saying this, Angie began to lower her body into a horizontal position. This was met with a lot of protest. "Relax!" Angie called out. "You need to evenly distribute your body weight. Start moving your feet in little patterns. Once they're free, backstroke out and help the others."

Angie began to slowly pull herself out of the quicksand, collapsing on the side. She breathed heavily as the others attempted to follow her instructions. Hook freed himself first, successfully backstroking towards Angie, who gripped his hand and helped him the rest of the way out. Mary Margaret made it out next, followed by David and then Emma. Everyone laid across the grass and began to calm themselves down.

"How'd you know that would work?" Emma questioned.

"I didn't," Angie admitted. "I saw it in a movie once."

Everyone started laughing. Hook hesitated for a second before joining in, clearly not understanding what a movie was. Angie stood and attempted to brush all of the dirt off her body. For a second, everyone forgot why they had been in a rush in the first place. But as they stood up, a woman that Angie didn't recognize emerged from a cave nearby holding a few objects. The entire group drew weapons and pointed them at the woman.

She had long blonde hair tied up in a knot at the top of her head and bright green eyes. She was wearing a long green and brown cloak. The woman carried herself in a very confident way. But she still looked surprised as she put the objects down.

"Where's Regina?" Emma questioned.

"Who the hell are you?" the woman wondered in return.

"A pissed off mother. Where is she?"

Regina suddenly emerged from the cave, holding her hands up for the others to stop. "I'm fine."

The woman leaned a little farther away from the weapons pointed at her. "Do you mind removing those? You might stick me. But I'll take you down."

"It's okay," Regina assured everyone, causing their weapons to lower slightly. "She's not gonna hurt us. Just stand down."

"Is she going to help us?" Hook questioned, causing the woman to give him a surprised and cheerful smirk.

"Well, look who the queen dragged along," the woman remarked. "Hello Hook."

Hook nodded, slightly lowering his weapon. "Lady Bell."

Angie raised her eyebrows. So, this was the fabled Tinker Bell. She barely had time to process that revelation as Regina let another escape. "She's not gonna help us."

"Why not?" Angie questioned.

"Tink, after all we've been through together," Hook stated with a little shrug. "A little assistance." That remark caused Angie to give him a strange look. What kind of things had they been through together?

"She doesn't have any magic," Regina informed them. "Not even her wings."

The mood of the group soured almost instantly. Emma looked the most dejected out of all of them. "How?"

Tinker Bell shrugged. "I guess people just stopped believing in me. And even if I wanted to help you, he's too powerful."

"But you know where Pan is?" Mary Margaret questioned.

"Sure," Tinker Bell said with a small nod. "But it won't do you a bit of good."

"Let us be the judge of that. Can you get us inside his compound?"

Tinker Bell hesitated before she answered. "Maybe. Why should I help you?"

Mary Margaret thought carefully about her answer before she gave it. "Because I believe in you."

Mary Margaret's words stopped Tinker Bell in her tracks. "All you need to do is get us inside," Angie told her, flicking her wrist so her weapon returned to her bangle. "We'll take it from there."

Tinker Bell looked like she was considering the offer, but was still quite skeptical. "And what's in it for me, other than a death sentence from Pan when you're gone with your boy?"

"You can come with us," Angie told her, surprising everyone. "To Storybrooke."

Mary Margaret was the first to recover from her stupor, nodding along with Angie. "That's right. A home. That is what you want, isn't it?"

Tinker Bell thought about it for another minute before she finally relented. "Okay. Listen closely. Pan trusts me. He'll let me in. And maybe, just maybe, I'll leave a way open for you. But you've only got one shot, so you better have a good plan."

Emma gave her a small smile. "Thank you. We will."

"Come with us to our camp," Angie offered. "We'll figure it out."

Tinker Bell agreed, so everyone began to gather their things to bring her back to the camp. Angie adjusted her braid, which had gotten messed up in the whole quicksand incident. As she re-tied the end with a piece of vine, she could feel a pair of eyes watching her. She looked up to see Hook watching her with a smile on his face. He glanced away the second he was caught, almost looking sheepish. Angie felt heat creeping up her cheeks as she set off towards camp. She didn't know what Hook's intention with his stare was. But no one had ever given her that look before except Luc. He almost looked...proud.