A Dream Within a Dream

Chapter 2 - Reason versus Stupidity

Rose stood a few feet away from the overly handsome looking guy, fighting a smile. He looked so much like the one in the television show. He was the guy from the show. And as impossible as it sounded, she found the whole situation awesome.

Weird, sure, but plain awesome.

She was certain that once it - for the lack of a better word - would end, she was probably going to be diagnosed with some unpronounceable mental illness no one ever heard about, but Rose didn't care about those 'secondary effects' yet. Why would she, anyway?

It was impossible. The whole appearing-in-the-bloody-jungle-of-freaking-Neverland thing wasn't exactly something she'd qualify as legit. She even considered the good and bad sides of her 'holiday', and to be frank, there was no bad side.

No school, which meant no math class or ugly old math teacher and which also meant no bloody homework. But that wasn't all; there were no parents. No one to tell her what to do, or what not to do. No rules except her own.

Her reckless self was her own boss.

She heard someone snicker, which instantly made her snap back to the paradise-like reality. Once sure he gained Rose's attention, Pan rose an interested eyebrow.

"And who might you be?" He asked, cocking his head to the side slightly.

His flirtatious tone made her frown, which was kind of 'out of character' for her. Rose Hallowell wasn't one to worry about insignificant things. She liked to call herself spontaneous. She always acted on impulse. She liked to listen to her gut, not her brain - or her heart. There was no point in denying what she wanted, anyway.

The seventeen-year-old wanted to have fun.

Girls just want to have fun, right?

Blame it on the song, not her.

His annoyed sigh made her focus on him, once more. She held back a gasp when their eyes met; when dark, murky green met light, sea-green eyes. Different shade, but same objective.

Win the stare-down contest.

Rose wasn't one to back down from fights, so a little face to face with Peter Pan didn't faze her. Even if he was the mysterious and somehow obnoxious one. She raised her head a little, showing him how scared she was: Not at all.

Pan's upper lip curled up a little, clearly indicating how much he liked her attitude: Not at all.

Without taking his eyes from hers, he started walking very slowly to the left, letting her adjust to his move. If he'd moved too fast, he would have lost eye contact and therefor their little game. Peter Pan wasn't one to lose games - especially against reckless little girls.

Rose turned, concentrated on his eyes, slowly understanding the purpose of his motions. He wanted to make her feel like a harmless prey. He wanted her to feel impressed by his imposing figure which, by the way, she kind of was.

He might not have been the most imposing person on the island when it came to the body, but no one could out-smart Peter Pan. No one could beat him at anything, and the Lost Boys knew that. Every single living thing knew that.

Hell, even Neverland knew that.

The boy settled in front of her, his face cold and expressionless.

"I asked you a question." He stated, not-so-subtly ordering her to answer.

Well, it seemed that Rose didn't know that. As a matter-of-fact, she was fully aware of it, after all she saw on television, but as you might have guessed, she was doing what her gut was telling her to do, not what her brain was desperately trying to tell her.

It must've sounded close to something like: "Bloody hell, girl, the boy is going to tear your heart out - literally - and his going to crush it right in front of your then lifeless eyes if you don't act smart! Swallow your bloody pride and act nice."

In the meantime, her gut was ordering her to do otherwise. "Don't back down, girl. Don't listen to reason. Make the handsome snap, you'll see, it'll be way more fun."

"And I didn't answer." Rose replied, putting her hands on her hips.

He didn't have the reaction she had waited for, but she wasn't sure if it was a very good thing, or a extremely bad thing. The boy chuckled darkly, making her shiver ever so slightly. He raised an amused eyebrow, obviously enjoying the look of confusing that washed over her face. "You got attitude, I see." He said, suddenly raising his hand into the air.

She lifted her head, her eyes closely following his movement. She didn't immediately realized that he had tricked her. She only got it when her eyes dropped back down onto him. They widened, taking in the moment. "Crap!" She exclaimed, rolling her eyes at her own personal stupidity.

Peter chuckled once more, a little too amused of her reaction for her liking. Rose shot him a deadly glare. "You cheated." She hissed, pointing an accusing finger at the boy in front of her. He just smirked, infuriating her even more. "Cheated?" He echoed, faking an overly thoughtful expression. "Don't think so."

She opened her mouth to argue, but he was faster. Way faster.

He raised his left hand again, high up above his head, and shouted in a loud and clear voice. "Boys!"

Rose almost smiled at her impression of a déjà-vu. Of course, she had seen something pretty similar to this situation right there, in the first episode of the third season of 'Once Upon a Time'. She bit her lip in anticipation. She felt a little stupid for it, but she simply couldn't help it. She felt excited to see the Lost Boys.

You didn't see wild boys appear out of bushes everyday, now, did you?

Just like she had predicted, a dozen of armed teenage guys came out of the jungle, all dressed in the same way. Green or brown clothes, what seemed like leather boots and waist long capes with hoods. She practically recognized no one from the show, except Devin - or the boy who was going to get his heart ripped out of his chest - and Felix. His height made it nearly impossible to not recognize him. But something set her off. He had no scar on his face.

They all circled her, weapons drawn - probably to scare her. She turned her attention back to the leader of the whole gang. She rolled her eyes when she noticed his smug look. He had no idea they would all betray him, aside from Felix, when the occasion would present itself to them.

"So," He started, taking a step towards the girl, "Wanna tell me your name, girl?"

Rose considered her options then, painfully aware that there was only one smart one. She could always act all mighty, but the way all the weapons were aimed at her made her choose the safest option. She might have been reckless, but that didn't mean she was suicidal.

She wanted the dream to last, at least for a little while.

"My name is Rose." She said, smiling a fake toothy smile at Pan. He understood that, the threats all removed, she would have argued all night long if she could. He smirked, again. "Well then, Rose, as interesting as you seem to be," He explained, earning a confused and somewhat annoyed look from her, "girls are not allowed here."

Before Rose could even think about protesting, Pan ordered his second in command to take her to camp. Felix shot him a confused look, but didn't go any further. It wasn't his place to contradict the leader. He froze when his little brother did it in his place. "But you said that girls weren't allowed on Neverland, Pan." Asked a curious Ruffio.

Peter smiled at the sixteen-year-old, putting his hand on his shoulder. "Can't have her run all over the place, now, can I?" He stated, surprisingly patient with the boy. "She could get to the pirates."

Ruffio nodded understandably, stepping back a little, ignoring the glares his older brother was sending his way. Felix pushed her forward with his club, making her stumble a little. She would have glared bloody daggers at him, but she was too busy processing the information.

Ruffio was alive. But in the show, he was dead. He had been killed by Hook, she was sure. So, if he was alive and well, if Felix had no scar, where in time was she?

At what point in the story had she arrived?

Author's Note: Hello there, dear readers!

Thank you so much for the reviews, the follows and the faves! I'm glad you like my little story here. How do you find this?

I'm trying to do some new things here, but I haven't had the chance to read all the Panfictions out there, so I'm truly sorry if this is very similar to another Panfiction.

Anyway, I've a question to ask.

What do you think about Rose, here? I personally love writing about her, but I'm trying to get her to act as someone like us (Die-hard-Peter-Pan-Fans) would react. Of course, she's a pretty reckless girl, but hey, aren't we all a little rebel inside? I act like a motherfreaking baddass in my dreams, so...

Thanks for reading, Pancakes!