Chapter 14: The Hunt
Peter Pan couldn't help but grin as he spotted his prey with his mother.
Harry French.
He had been tracking the boy for days now, and had finally spotted his prey going into Harrods of all places.
Which appeared to be some sort of department store of some kind, a fancy department store like the one that bastard son of his like to shop at. At the thought of Rumpelstiltskin, Pan grimaced. He hated the fact that his son was out there to show that he had at one point in time been so old. He didn't want to be thought of as old.
And he didn't need to worry about it. Not for a while.
His hand touched his new heart.
The heart of the truest believer. It had made him stronger, more alive.
Cora had done a fine job, and he almost—almost—was going to keep his end of the bargain. But he wasn't going to kill the boy like he originally promised. No, he needed more recruits. Neverland had gotten just so boring with that pretty boy Hook leaving—seriously, even though the play fighting with that pirate got extremely dull, it was something to lighten up his day. Now it was just…well, for so long he had been looking for this heart and now he didn't know what he wanted to do.
He needed a new game to play, and the boy seemed like the perfect person to play it with. Of course, he'd have to make sure that no obstacles got in the way.
Mainly his son.
He frowned as he thought of Rumple. He was ridiculously protective of a boy who wasn't his blood. Then again, he had seen how his son had treated his own blood. He was probably still nursing a guilty conscience.
He smiled as he thought about Baelfire. What a waste of space. He had though, been something of use at the end
So, he couldn't exactly hate him.
But he would never acknowledge him as his grandson, much like he'd never acknowledged Rumple as his son after that day.
Especially since now he looked was a grown up and wore suits all the time. Only boring people wore suits. Boring old grown ups. And some of his henchmen.
He needed to act soon, that was all he knew the more time he spent here the more likely Rumple would catch on that he was being watched. And even though Pan had a new heart, well, he still wasn't up to full strength.
Trying to figure out a way to nab the boy had been difficult. Studying him had been a trick in itself. He really hadn't learned a lot about Harry French since he was pretty much barricaded in that London hotel his son had checked his little makeshift family into.
He had to get Michael to flirt with the receptionist to know when the little family was going to leave.
And they hadn't.
Not until today when they went on a little impromptu shopping trip. He and his cronies had followed them throughout each spot, trying to find anything that he could to possibly lure the boy into joining him without making a scene.
It was too bad piping had gone out of style.
It had lured Rumple's biological son away.
Almost.
Until Rumple had intervened acting like the true useless asshole he truly was.
He couldn't let that happen again. There was something about that boy. Something he couldn't quite pinpoint, but something that told him having Harry French on his island would be very, very, interesting and not boring.
Pan hated boring.
And that's what the land had turned into. He didn't notice it when he was dying—because he had the goal of getting a heart for so long, it just sort of consumed him. With a new ticker, well, he was quickly finding that all the fun there was lost. Especially since the pirate had managed to escape.
He suppose he could have the Lost Boys go all Lord of the Flies on one of the weaker members, but that could get just messy. It was better to bring in new blood, to kill.
He remembered the last hunt they had. A hunt that consisted of trying to kill his own grandson. In the end, he couldn't do it. Not because he didn't want to, it was just because other avenues appeared that seemed more fit to dispose of the boy.
He wished he could've rubbed it into that ungrateful abomination of a son of his. Then again, he tried to act like Rumple didn't exist most of the time. And he assumed, that Rumple acted much the same.
A mutual hatred. It was the only thing they shared in common.
And it kept them from trying to act like the other existed—good.
He hoped he could keep up the pretenses after he took the boy. Which he was trying to make this as covert as possible. He had even gotten out of his tights, and resulted to wearing jeans.
Which his henchman assured him were the height of modern teenage fashion. To be honest though, he didn't know how much he should trust John and Michael. They were only working for him because he had their sister after all.
Wendy Bird.
Such a silly, stupid, little thing. He hadn't originally kept her as leverage from those two. No—he found her then crush on him cute. It was entertaining. Of course, that was before…
Maybe if the boy turned out useful he'd kill her, but then his henchmen in this world would be useless.
Decisions…
He waited till the mother and son had parted a bit. Belle actually wasn't that far away. Just looking at the dresses. The toy section was right by the gowns; Pan noted that the boy didn't seem that interested in the toys for the most part. It was almost as if he was browsing through them just to please his mother.
"Not finding anything of interest?"
The boy turned to look at him. It was the first time Pan came face to face with him. Other than the dark hair, he really did not resemble his mother. Yet, there was something oddly familiar about him so maybe he just wasn't quite placing it. "I'm just browsing." He finally said.
Though, he was pleasant enough. Pan noted an edge to it.
Peter kept up his pleasant demeanor. "Browsing. You make it seem that shopping for toys is like doing chores."
"No…I…I just not that much of a toy fan."
Pan shook his head. "Now, there's just something wrong with that."
"Right." The boy responded, "I got to go now."
"Wait," Pan said not expecting to be cut off. "If you come with me we can play."
He was surprised at the boy's reaction. The way he rolled his eyes. It reminded him of his son. This point of realization was exasperated as Harry said, "Um, no. Sorry. Got to go. I need to catch up with someone anyway…"
"Harry?"
Damn it, why did she have to show up. Pan looked at his son's paramour. Very pretty. There had not been any lies about her beauty, but even though it was a nice view, he didn't want to deal with her.
For multiple reasons.
Least of all for his son's involvement, he wanted to make this grab quick and simple.
"I didn't find anything," The boy said ignoring Pan. "Did you find that dress you were looking for?"
The woman shook her head. "No I…who's your friend?"
"He's not my friend." Harry said.
Pan glared at him. Little turd. "My name's Peter, ma'am."
"Well, then…" Belle said. "It's nice to meet you. I'm sure your mother is looking for you. Are you ready, Harry?"
He nodded.
"Wait?" Peter said.
Belle turned around to look at him. Harry rolled his eyes—again. Really, he was going to make it a sport to have one of his Lost Boys gouge them out once he got him to Neverland.
"Yes?" Belle asked.
"I was wondering if Harry could come over to play."
"No." Harry said before Belle could say anything.
"Um, we're in town for only a few days." Belle said, "It was nice meeting you, Peter."
He frowned as he watched them walk away.
It wasn't supposed to be this difficult. He was suppose to be charming little boy, who could lure anyone away. He was feeling just as much of a failure as he had before he became the boy who never grew up.
Never mind that, he'd still be able to get his hands on the boy, he'd make sure of it.
If the hunt was already this difficult…then maybe it would be more exciting than he originally anticipated.
He smiled as he took out his mobile and made a few calls.
A couple hours later, he was in a small café. Expensive place that was. He wasn't even aloud in it because he was in jeans, so much for being the height of fashion. Not that it mattered. He had his contact inside, fit to do what was needed.
Imagine to his shock in horror, when the mother and son pair came out walking less than five minutes of being in the restaurant.
No.
No.
No.
This would not do at all. It was suppose to be easy. They were to order their food, pass out from the sleeping potion the boys placed in it, and he would collect Harry and take him to Neverland, but that wasn't what happening.
Instead, he saw a frantic looking Belle almost running away from the restaurant.
Had they been warned?
Pan didn't know. Only that his second plan had failed.
Now he was getting just downright aggravated, and he had a hunch that he had been compromised. This would not do at all.
He was not going to lose his prey. He had to get that boy.
Which left him no options, but to deal with this problem directly.
It would get his hands dirty.
Quite dirty.
But better to accomplish his tasks dirty than not accomplish them all.
He text his contacts on his mobile and followed his prey. He thought he was being ridiculously sneaky. When he saw Harry, turn and point at something to his mother.
Damn it.
Damn it.
Damn it.
His mood didn't get any better when Belle turned to look at him and asked, "What do you want?"
"What?" He said trying to sound confused.
"You've been following us." She snapped. "Harry saw you."
"I haven't…I've…I'm lost."
The woman looked at him for a moment, like she was trying to gauge whether or not to believe him. She crossed her arms like he was a disobedient child. "Really?"
He glared at her. What did she think he was, a petulant child? He'd make sure he'd teach that lass a lesson. His son needed to control his woman better.
"I just want to play." He said, "What's so wrong with that?"
Harry laughed. "See, Belle, I told you he was a creeper."
"I'm seeing that." She said as she shook her head at Pan. "You need to go."
"I'm not going," He said. "Not till I get what I want…"
It was at that moment, his backup arrived. He couldn't help but smile as Belle gasped as one of his goons pressed a needle into her arm. However, his glee was short lived. Since the boy surprisingly had somehow managed to out maneuver the second goon (aka John).
He told him using an umbrella, as a weapon was a ridiculous idea.
Still, Pan didn't see how the boy he escaped. Even with the umbrella, John could over power him. Maybe he had one of those Taser thingamabobs. John was complaining about being shocked.
Pan just shook his head at him. "You are an incompetent toad, John. You better hope for your sister's sake that I haven't lost the boy."
"Boss I…"
Pan shook his head as he turned to Michael. "Keep the girl. I have a feeling we'll need her to clean up this mess. And if you screw up again, your sister is going to die"