The past can come to back to haunt you in interesting ways to say the least but in Killian’s case, a rather unpleasant and painful way.
contains: they/them pronouns, father-child relationship type beat, being referred to as a Lost Boy (I wrote it in a gender neutral sense but feel free to switch to any term you feel comfortable with), death mention, possible derealization warning (1,052 words)
“Careful,” Hook said as he put an arm out to prevent Emma from walking forward. “He may look like a boy, but he’s a bloody demon.”
The captain was right to be wary considering he was standing on Neverland soil. And while it is wise to avoid Pan if you weren’t going to join him, it would also be smart to avoid having a history with any of the people who follow him.
“I think you’ve got the wrong boy captain.” A voice said as they emerged from the bushes.
Placing his hand on the handle of his sword, Killian's gaze hardened as the Lost Boy approached them with an almost taunting smile. "What? Wasn't expecting to see me captain?"
"No this- you can't be alive." He replied as his grip loosened on his sword. A feeling of guilt filled his chest as he took a few steps backwards.
"And why is that?" They replied, their smile growing wider as they started walking towards him. "Why would I not be alive captain? Is it because you shoved a sword through my heart?"
Killian had now fallen to the ground, eyes never leaving theirs as they looked down on him. The Lost Boy scoffed at the sight of the pirate cowering before crouching down to be at eye level with him. "I just wanted to protect my home and family but you wouldn't let that happen!" Their voice started to shake as they spoke, each word becoming louder until the point where it sounded like they were screaming. "I just wanted to be happy but you had to ruin it! First with Ruffio, than Theo, than Mason and then me."
Tears fell down their cheeks and Killian didn't even notice they had grabbed onto the collar of his shirt until they tugged at it, harshly. "Why couldn't you just leave us? We were finally happy but you had to separate us from the only family we had!"
Killian was already accepting whatever fate the Lost Boy had in store for him when their screaming had been suddenly cut short. Opening one eye to see exactly what had happened, Hook was met with the shocked expression of Emma Swan with a sword in hand aimed at the Lost Boy who turned into a shadow. It was a trick.
He watched in mixed horror and relief as (E/C) eyes glowed to become white and all colour drained to a black abyss. All before staring at him one more time as they flew up to the sky and out of sight, leaving Killian and Emma breathing heavy.
"What the hell was that?" Emma was the first to break the silence between them and despite him wanting to forget what had just happened, he knew there was no use in hiding.
"Pan's Shadow, likes to play tricks and mess with people." He answered knowing it didn't answer her question.
"Okay maybe I was too vague, who was that the Shadow was pretending to be? What'd you do?"
Hook sighed, fixing his shirt and hair before dropping his gaze to his feet. "That was (Y/N) the Shadow was acting like. I took them in a long time ago. Parents had kicked them out, or abandoned them rather, and I decided to take them in."
The ghost of a smile graced his lips as he seemed to reminisce on those memories but it quickly faded as he continued the rest of his story. "I saw them as my own kid, treated them like my own too. One day we got into a fight and I told them they can either shut it or leave. Stubborn kid took the emergency boat and left.
I didn't know where they ended up for months. I changed courses to find them, spent weeks in the middle of nowhere in hopes of finding them, or even a sign but there was none. Eventually, time came where I had to give up and get back on course and I soon had other things to worry about. Fast forward a couple more months, little Baelfire, or Neal, landed on my ship and it was great.``
He paused. A single tear slid down his face as he took a deep breath.
"Until I lost him too. Lost Boys came onto the ship, grabbed the boy and left. Pan had been terrorizing me and my crew for weeks before but even after I gave him Bae he never stopped. I decided to stop it once and for all, come onto the island and find a way to their little camp but just as the fight broke out, I saw them."
"Neal?" Emma asked.
Hook shook his head. "(Y/N). They had ended up on Neverland somehow, and I was already too deep to leave and..."
"You killed them." Emma finished his sentence, waiting for him to deny or accept the answer before dropping her sword and walking away as he nodded his head.
The silence that filled the air around him afterwards was deafening, leaving him alone with his thoughts and doubts.
"Funny isn't it?" A new voice, this one belonging to a bloody demon as he previously mentioned. And this time, Killian knew it wasn't a trick, because the Shadow wouldn't need to pretend to be it's owner. Especially when they found great pleasure in taunting the pirate by themselves.
"What do you want, Pan?"
"Isn't it funny how despite the years we spend telling ourselves we're over it, that a single encounter can bring back a million doubts? Even if it was all a trick." Pan said, ignoring Hook's question to continue his taunting. "Crazy how guilt rushes back to us once-"
"I would choose your next words wisely boy."
A smirk grew on Pan's lips as he paused. "Or else what? A pirate who's still grieving after a hundred years is going to do something about?"
Killian found himself unable to speak. He tried, desperately, to get the boy's taunting to end, but nothing came out. The demon seemed to enjoy his struggling and even mockingly encouraged him until the pirate finally got a word.
Laughter cut off his sentence, maniacal laughter, as the pirate looked up to see what he thought was the boy faded to the similar silhouette of the Shadow.
