Hi there.
Word of warning: when I wrote this (for NaNo) I had seen everything up to 3x04 (I guess? It was Nasty Habits), so it goes AU after that and pretty much stays there.
This is only the prologue and the first real, long chapter will be up tomorrow.

I apologize for any linguistic mistakes, seen as I'm not a native English speaker. Please bear with me :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon A Time, any of the characters, places or storylines that you recognize.

PROLOGUE

"Gold? Is that you?"

He stepped into the clearing, still a little shaken by the freezing spell he had been forced to endure earlier. Then again, that spell most certainly was not what troubled him most. His son's lack of faith in him had put them in an even weaker position; Henry was in Pan's hands again.

He looked up to find that the group had gathered around him and they were all still alive and well. For the most part, that was almost relieving; he could, of course, have gone without Hook.

"Yes, it is me."

Emma looked him up and down in a hurry. "Are you all right? Did you get to Henry?"

"Do I look like I did?"

"Well, no," she admitted. "Where were you all this time, we would have needed you-"

"I'm inclined to believe that, dearie, but I came, after all, very close to succeeding."

"So, what? You know where he is?"

He sighed and set down on a stump, attempting to grant his bad leg some rest. "I've seen him. And Bae-"

"Neal is here?" Emma exclaimed.

"He fell through the portal," Regina said calmly. "He died."

"No, no, he is very much alive. I'm afraid I lost him, though."

"You found your son that you believed to be dead – and then you lost him," Regina sneered. "Why, aren't you our saviour?"

He glared at her, yet she seemed unfazed. Emma sighed heavily and sank onto a rather large stone.

"What are we gonna do now? If even you can't stop Pan-"

"There might be someone," he said slowly. He was not sure how to go about this – he was not at all certain of the success of such a plan. On his way here, he had given it a great deal of thought and still, the plan relied too much on uncertainties.

"You want to bring someone else into this?"

He desperately wanted to ignore the pirate, but he did raise a significant question. "Yes. See, the problem is that Pan controls Neverland's magic – it's why, even if we do get Henry – which is more or less impossible – we don't get to flee."

He did notice the awfully suspicious glance shared between the pirate and the prince and he briefly wondered what they were up to before turning his attention to the more urgent matters at hand.

"Who could possibly do something about it?" Regina asked, stepping closer again. "If even you can't-"

"It's why I used the word 'might'. Even though I'm certain that someone could, I'm not sure if that someone will."

"Who?" It was Snow White who had finally stepped forward. "Who do you want to bring?"

"Are you sure this will work?" Emma asked sceptically as she brought another arm full of firewood.

"Not at all," he answered. "But I think I might just be able to reach out to her. Magic lands don't lie that far apart."

"This is madness," Regina said decidedly, she, too, bringing some wood. "If it was so easy-"

"Yes, yes, yes. I'm aware of possible limitations."

"If Pan controls the magic here," the prince asked. "How does yours even work?"

"Magic is a rather strange thing," he informed shortly. "One can't even begin to understand it." Yes, he thought. That was definitely true.

"Well then," Regina said, lighting the fire with a swift motion of her hand. "Do it, Gold."