Metanoia sat with Charlie on her left, and Elijah on her right, the three of them having breakfast quietly with Idris, Liam and Finn sat opposite them. It was an odd morning compared to the previous few days. A gentle buzz of conversation was humming around them among the Lost Boys, yet they all were too mindful not to raise their voices to show any form of excitement - all in consideration of Jacob's and Metanoia's feelings. They all lost Jeremy, but Metanoia was taking the loss a lot harder than everyone else, and Jacob was practically Jeremy's soul-twin. Jeremy being ripped away from him so brutally like so was not something Jacob felt he could ever come to terms with.

Peter had resumed everyone's duties and training once again, so although everyone felt some form of relief for busying themselves once again to distract themselves from the emotional torment they endured, they also felt as though they were betraying Jeremy by going back to their lives like he'd never existed in the first place.

Theodore and Nate were lingering in one corner, both of whom were carrying shovels and contorting their faces in disgust as they shovelled manure into large sacks for fertiliser. Nate gagged, which in turn, caused Theodore to gag too. Pan passed by them both and rolled his eyes aggressively, before snapping, "Next time, don't get your arses drunk at a time as dangerous as this."

Metanoia discreetly glanced at him as he walked out of camp, and she found herself itching to get up and go with him, wherever that may be. In fact, Metanoia felt herself quickly getting attached to the Demon King, whether she wanted to be or not. It wasn't appropriate, especially when she's well aware of the heinous crimes he'd committed, the unspeakable sins he'd done, and the fact that he was the embodiment of everything horrifying.

Oh, but he certainly didn't look the part, and it always left Metanoia aching to be near him, yearning for his unholy hands to hold her in ways she desperately craved, and for his attention to be solely focused on her. She couldn't comprehend when she'd particularly started to feel this way about him, but Metanoia saw no point in hiding this truth from herself any longer.

Peter Pan was positively alluring - he was everything she thought she stood against, but maybe that was no longer the case. She was now realising that there is a darkness inside her, slowly growing and urging to take control of her and consume her. And Pan coaxes this darkness out of her; he sees her for who she is, and it makes her feel understood. The way his blazing eyes course through her own was something so unbearably intoxicating to her, that him shifting his gaze elsewhere makes her experience withdrawal symptoms. Feeling his lips on hers ignites her skin on fire, and when he pulls away, she's plunged into the centre of an unforgiving blizzard.

"What do you reckon Pan has in store for us in training later?" Charlie wondered aloud, his eyes trailing over to Nate and Theodore bickering over who has the worst shovel.

Finn huffed and dropped his bacon onto his plate. "He'll probably terrorise us with a combat duel with no weapons. I for one, am certain that that stupid oaf right there can't wait to throw a punch at anything that moves."

He was nodding his head towards Denzel, who was sat a couple feet away with James and David. Metanoia made eye contact with David in that moment, who shot her a playful wink with a knowing smirk, and her cheeks involuntarily blushed.

Elijah nudged her side, and when she looked up at him, she immediately wished she hadn't. "What was that, hmm?" He asked cheekily as he laughed softly.

"Nothing!" She exclaimed defensively.

"What's nothing?" Sam asked nosily, before throwing himself down next to Liam on the ground and bumping his shoulder.

Liam didn't seem to mind the close proximity, and carried on eating in silence, and unbothered by the dull ache his shoulder got from the harsh bump Sam inflicted. Idris however, rolled his eyes at the frail boy, and asked drily, "Do you ever know how to keep to yourself? You really don't need to know everything."

Sam stuck his tongue out at Idris, before he gazed back at Metanoia again. "How's your affair with Pan going?"

"My what?" She spluttered in bewilderment, and David sat up straighter, his ears straining to hear their conversation.

Sam smirked at her. "Oh, don't bother trying to cover it up from us, babe. We see the two of you sneaking off a lot lately together."

Metanoia shifted uncomfortably in her seat, mumbling, "It's not what you think, guys."

"Aw, we're making her blush." Charlie cooed, and Liam shot him a stern look to quit teasing the girl.

"It really isn't!" Metanoia helplessly attempted to defend herself, but she couldn't when the truth about her meetings with Pan were meant to be kept secret for now.

Elijah lifted his head and gazed over at Theodore pitifully, before stating, "I just hope our lad Theo takes it well."

At this, Metanoia rolled her eyes in irritation. "Not everything I do should concern him, you know."

It seemed that her tone was a lot harsher than she intended for it to be, because the boys around her shot her incredulous looks. Metanoia cleared her throat awkwardly.

"I just ... I don't like feeling as though I owe anyone anything depending on what I choose to do with my life and the actions I take, and how I feel." She clarified slowly, eyeing the boys listening to her warily.

When no one seemed willing to respond to that, Metanoia sighed, before lifting herself off the log she was perched on between Charlie and Elijah.

"Right, I need to get ready for training."

Charlie opened his mouth to speak, but Liam shook his head at him to let her go, so the boy clamped his mouth shut once again. After she left, Sam whistled lowly.

"What's gotten into her?" He wondered.

"She's been spending a lot of time with Pan, that's what. He's clearly rubbing off on her." Idris countered, but Liam shook his head.

"I don't think that's it." Liam disagreed.

"Don't you?" Elijah raised his eyebrows curiously.

"I don't." Liam replied astutely. "I think you lot put the poor girl up on a pedestal constantly, and its wearing her out. You're expecting too much from her and the pressure of all of you expecting her to end up with Theo again is getting to her head."

"Spoken like a wise lad." Charlie grinned, but Liam kicked his shin in response.

"Ow, what the hell, mate?" Charlie whined.

"Don't 'what the hell, mate' me, Charlie." Liam scolded him. "You need to quit teasing Metanoia like this. She's been through enough lately, and she doesn't need your pointless taunts."

"I wasn't even taunting her!" Charlie cried defensively, soothing his shin with his palm. "I was trying to lighten the mood."

"You sure dampened it." Elijah muttered with a smile, and Charlie punched his arm.

"Watch it." Elijah hissed playfully.

"It wasn't even me who started it, anyway." Charlie rolled his eyes. "Sam made the first jab, but none of you are crucifying him for it, are you?"

Sam smirked smugly. "It's because I'm in stealth mode."

"The fuck does that even mean?"

~•~

Before Peter Pan commenced the training session, he'd taken Theodore, Nate, Elijah and Denzel to the side and spoke to them in hushed whispers. Metanoia couldn't help the raging curiosity within her, practically dying to figure out what it was that he was speaking to them about, and she grew even more ridiculously curious when the four Lost Boys left the training clearing after Pan was done speaking to them, rather than joining the others for training.

"I'll be assigning you to your opponents. Today we'll focus on combat training, no weapons allowed." Pan stated authoritatively, and Finn huffed discreetly beside Metanoia.

"What'd I tell you?" He murmured in her ear, and Metanoia smiled.

"Good luck." She whispered to him.

In the end, Pan had assigned Metanoia to James, which she didn't mind as much. James was always shooting her suggestive winks and smirks, but the girl has grown to realise that they were utterly harmless. It was clear he was attracted to her, but for some unknown reason to her, the boy never made a move on her. Of course, she wasn't aware that David had claimed her as his own in front of James, and that was the main reason why James never acted upon his attraction towards her. But even David seemed to take things quite slow with his tactics of trying to win her over, and it was mostly due to his evident fear of Pan finding out. The Lost Boy wasn't quite certain what was going on between his leader and the Lost Girl, so as a precaution, he never made his moves blatant.

Metanoia and James fought brilliantly against each other, the two being flexible and quickly reactive to the other's move. As their duel went on, it was clear to them that neither opponent would win; they were far too in sync to be able to one-up the other, and every move was far too predictable.

"Not bad, Noia." James grinned toothily at her when Pan whistled for everyone to stop, and Metanoia smiled at him in response.

"Not so bad yourself, James." She replied honestly, dusting herself off. "You glad it wasn't Denzel in my place?"

James laughed, shaking his head. "Denzel's a tough opponent, but he gets so into his head quite often, and then it's easy to knock him down."

Metanoia nodded subconsciously to his words.

"You, on the other hand," James carried on. "are the opposite of Denzel."

Metanoia glanced at him briefly as she turned back to make her way over to camp to meet Jacob for their daily task. "How so?"

"You're completely out of your own head." James responded thoughtfully as he walked beside her. "It's like you're spectating the battle than being a part of it, and because of that, your reflexes are impeccable."

Metanoia shot him a modest look, before mumbling, "So are yours, though."

James nodded absentmindedly, enjoying the compliment. "I suppose so."

They'd then reached camp, and Metanoia was surprised to see that Nate, Theodore, Denzel and Elijah were still not back. David sauntered over to James where he stood next to the girl, and stated, "You ready?"

James nodded to him in confirmation to get on with their daily tasks, and Metanoia blinked at David, before her hand went flying to his upper arm and she gently gripped it. David was a bit taken aback by her touch, and startlingly gazed at her.

"Do you know where Denzel and the others set off to?" She asked him determinedly, but David simply shrugged.

"No idea. Pan called them over and then they were gone." He replied, and Metanoia chewed on her lip anxiously.

"And you didn't hear what Pan told them?" She pressed.

"Not a word." David replied sorrowfully, before he placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. "Sorry."

Behind them, Jacob cleared his throat, and Metanoia turned to face him. Looking at her while gripping a bucket and two fishing rods, he asked her quietly, "You ready?"

Metanoia nodded at him morbidly, not looking forward to conducting a task for the first time without Jeremy's company.

~•~

It was agonisingly awkward yet heartbreaking at the same time. Metanoia and Jacob sat in utter silence the whole time as they fished on their small rowing boat, each battling their own pain. They pretended to be focused on the task, but fishing was perfect for conversations; Jeremy was talkative on every fishing task they had. Metanoia fought the urge to burst into tears several times, and she wasn't brave enough to sneak glances at Jacob to see how he was doing. In fact, they both sat so their backs were facing each other the entire time. As they entered camp with a bucket full of fish, Metanoia sighed in relief - knowing the deafening silence would finally be ruptured. First, however, she was in desperate need of a shower. As Metanoia was starting to make her way towards her treehouse, her eyes landed on Pan, and she quickly made a detour and trekked towards him instead, leaving the fish bucket with Jacob to deal with.

"Pan." She called out, and Pan diverted his attention from the wobbly tree he was inspecting, towards her instead.

"I'm busy." He stated flatly.

"What? Busy groping a tree?" Metanoia raised an eyebrow at him, and he shot her an exasperated look.

"You think you're funny, Metanoia, but your sense of humour is as dry as Micah's chicken."

Micah heard him a few feet away, and looked up from the fire he was starting to get cooking, and he looked offended. Metanoia shot him an apologetic look, before looking back at Pan.

"You hurt his feelings." She hissed.

Pan's face was absolutely emotionless. "Good, maybe then he can improve his dreadful cooking skills."

"Just don't eat it then, you ungrateful arse."

"Okay, go make out with his chicken and leave me alone." Pan shot back, before turning his back to her and gently shaking the tree.

Metanoia blinked at his comeback, fighting the urge to laugh, before she stated, "Are you jealous?"

Pan instantly scoffed, and replied swiftly without sparing her a glance. "Don't flatter yourself."

"What are you even doing to the tree?" She asked curiously.

Pan tapped the bark, before stating, "I'm searching for dreamshade mould, dreamshade's poison can sometimes infect weak trees, and its difficult to pinpoint a sick tree with dreamshade, and if touched by mortals - well ..."

He glanced at her knowingly, referring to Jeremy, and Metanoia's face fell altogether.

"Oh." She stated quietly.

Pan gazed at her quietly for a few seconds, before asking, "Did you want something, or ..."

Metanoia cleared her throat. "Yes, actually - I was going to ask what you were talking to -"

Metanoia trailed off when she saw the four missing Lost Boys enter camp, looking distraught and a little shaken. Metanoia's face paled; they all seemed serious, bearing the looks of daunting doom as they approached Pan.

"Is it done?" Pan asked Theodore directly, and the second in command nodded.

"He's in the cages." Theodore confirmed.

Metanoia's eyes widened as she looked back and forth between them. "Who's in the cages?"

"Good work." He praised them, before grabbing Metanoia's forearm and dragging her along with him into the forest.

"Pan!" Metanoia snapped as she attempted to pry her arm from his grip, but she was unsuccessful. "Who the hell have you sent them to take hostage?"

She wasn't an idiot. Metanoia could understand from the brief exchange Pan had with Theodore that they'd undergone a kidnapping mission. However, Pan ignored her questions, and before she knew it, Metanoia was hauled forward by Pan, her gaze landing on dozens of bamboo cages hung up on sturdy tree branches. She frowned deeply, recalling the time she'd snuck off to find Tiger Lily when Pan had her captive a long time ago.

"Who's in the cage, Pan?" She asked nervously, eyeing the only occupied cage at the moment and unable to tell who was stashed in it.

Pan smirked sadistically, before he lowered the rope carrying the cage and it landed aggressively to the floor, causing Metanoia to flinch at the loud impact and a cry of pain emanating from the inside. She shot Pan a look of distress, but he simply clicked his tongue.

"Don't give me that look, love. As soon as you see who I have in there, you'll no longer see me as a merciless monster." He vowed, and his fingers worked on the lock adorning the cage.

Metanoia huffed and crossed her arms over her chest in displeasure. "So you're doing this to impress me?"

Peter rolled his eyes, before muttering, "And they say my ego is the size of the sun."

Metanoia heard every word, and scowled viciously at the back of his head. He turned to look at her, a serious look flashing over his facial features as he stated, "After the stunt Tiger Lily pulled, and after we've given her our wrath, I knew she wouldn't simply accept defeat and rule over the small number of people left to be ruled in her tribe."

Metanoia frowned, watching Pan anxiously as he ripped the top of the cage open.

"No," he chuckled darkly. "Tiger Lily is far too stubborn to surrender in a war. So I, took matters into my own hands, and decided to figure out what new scheme she's plotting, so we'd never be taken by surprise again. My goal is to get the answers we need, wipe his memory clean of being kidnapped, and return him to his tribe before anyone gets suspicious of his absence."

Metanoia gazed at the cage unsurely, still not able to see who was inside it, probably sedated by The Lost Boys, for that now the cage was open, the person inside it would have at least attempted to escape by now.

"Right." She responded unsurely. "And you kidnapped one of her people to prod them for answers?"

Pan smirked. "Now you're beginning to understand. Come closer, darling - I won't let him harm you."

Metanoia felt breathless in that very moment. She couldn't comprehend the way Peter's eyes danced with malice, or how his entire face was brightening at the thought of kidnapping someone, but most of all, the way he spoke to her was doing something to her sanity. He called her such sweet names, that she'd subconsciously find herself submitting to him, despite her knowing better. There was no way Pan could actually mean to be sweet; this was taunting. She knew it, and he knew it.

So why did she feel as though these words meant something? He trusted her enough to let her know of his plans to get answers. Wasn't this something worth noting? Didn't this prove that Pan was approving of her? But why did Metanoia feel so desperate for his approval? Why was she so captivated by him and his entire existence, that him calling her his darling was enough to have her do as he pleases? At this point, Metanoia cursed herself for falling for his words when she was well aware that they most likely meant nothing to him.

But it didn't feel that way. It didn't feel like nothing to him. Even Pan couldn't deny the growing feelings brewing between them, but he wasn't sure if it was anything pure. He met her on common grounds of vengeance, and in no way was that pure. He watched her take slow and hesitant steps towards him, and he silently praised her. He watched her face fall into shock, her breath hitching in her throat, and her body going rigid the moment her eyes fell on the captured Indian.

"Metanoia," Pan stated airily. "You remember the guard who forced you to your knees as he allowed Tiger Lily to torture you?"

Metanoia's hands trembled beside her, and so she clenched them into tight fists.

"I do." She whispered, her face as pale as a ghost's.

"I must say," Pan drawled, eyeing her carefully. "I was going to have my fun in forcing the answers I need out of him. But then I thought I'd be too cruel to deny you the sweet pleasure of revenge."

Metanoia's head snapped up to face Pan, realising at this moment that they were standing far too close to one another again. His hand instinctively went for her waist, caressing her skin.

"You stink, by the way." He murmured, and Metanoia's face contorted in aggravation.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" She snapped, yanking his hand off her waist and taking a step back.

Pan rolled his eyes. "I didn't lie - you reek of fish."

"I'm not talking about that!" Metanoia cried. "You bring me here asking me to torture