The lost children (finished editing)

"chapter 17; Busted"

Trigger warnings: Blame placing, fear of adults, parental fear, manhandling children, losing one's temper, non-verbal remorse, etc.

Let me know if I should add to the list.

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"Uh oh" Evie uttered quietly as she backed into the two people they had just been spying on—one of which grabbed her. Even then, she didn't take her eyes off of the infamous Captain Hook—recognizing that doing so would probably be a very bad idea.

That reasoning quickly went right out the window when her nephew suddenly spoke up "This is all YOUR FAULT , E!"

Her head snapped toward the blonde instantly. Face twisting into a scowl and eyes narrowing in a glare as she did so. " MY FAULT? Excuse me?! How can this possibly be MY FAULT?"

Chad didn't even flinch at her raised voice. Which was impressive considering that all of the present adults did in fact flinch at it.

He just stared at her—clearly wracking his small brain for an answer. She could tell almost the exact movement he found one because a small, wary smile appeared on his face before he even tried to speak.

"Because you're the one who was being loud!"

Evie felt her blood boil at the comment.

She was the one being loud?!

Her fury must have shown on her face because Hook cleared his throat yet again. He looked torn between annoyed, amused, and exasperated "I said, and just who might you two be?"

He might sound intimidating to some but Evie wasn't one of them. Not when she had seen just how intimidating Harriet could be.

Evie shot him a glare before turning back to Chad. "I knew you were stupid but I didn't know that you were oblivious as well, short stack!"

The blonde reared back, nearly bumping into the other blonde (a woman) who kept a tight grip on him. "What's that supposed to mean, Evilette?"

The older girl narrowed her eyes at him, grinding her teeth. Angry that not only had he insulted her but that he had tried to blame all of this on her! When he was the ONE to blame!

"It means that you were the one being loud, not ME!" She tried to wiggle out of the brunette man's hold but failed. So she just settled for glaring at her nephew before adding "and just for the record . If I wasn't restrained right now, I'd put mud in your hair!"

She smirked at him when he gasped in outrage.

"You wouldn't!"

"Oh I would!"

"You're a monster! I'm telling Harriet!"

It was Evie's turn to gasp.

She heard a sharp intake of breath come from Hook's direction and two more from behind them but ignored it. Giving Chad a desperate, panicked, slightly scathing look "you wouldn't!"

"Oh I would—"

Hook's voice boomed through the air, cutting their argument short with an " ENOUGH!"

Both of them fell silent immediately, instinctively backing up. Neither of them wanted to be particularly close to the angry pirate captain at that moment. They'd rather be close to his two companions than him at the moment.

"How do you two know my daughter? What did you do to her ?!"

Evie felt the man behind her tighten his grip on her shoulders and maybe wondered if backing up into him was a mistake.

"Hook, calm down—" the blonde behind Chad started.

"No, Swan! I will not calm down! They know my daughter's name! They know my daughter . I want answers!" The ravenette snapped harshly, glaring at them.

"We don't know that it's your daughter. It could just be another kid with the same name."

The man behind her loosened his grip on her slightly, taking a deep breath."She's right, Killian. We don't know for sure—"

Before anyone could react, a man with a sword and a woman with short hair and bow ran through a dense area of trees. Looking confused, concerned, and ready for a fight

"What's with all the yelling—" the man started, looking around, only to get cut off by his (wife? friend?) companion.

"is everyone alright—"

Chad broke free from the blonde woman's hold immediately and ran towards them before Evie or the adults could stop him. Literally throwing himself at their legs, clinging to them—much to everyone's confusion.

"MOMMY! DADDY! YOU'RE HERE LIKE HENRY SAID YOU WOULD BE!"

Oooooh. Well that answered the question of what the hell Chad was thinking and doing. And on what his parents (her step sister and brother-in-law) looked like.

Evie took a risk and glanced at Hook, who was grimacing—no doubt realizing that he and his companions hadn't been manhandling a couple of Pan's followers. And then glanced behind her at his companions.

The brunette let her go, looking dumbstruck and pale while the blonde stared intensely at her nephew. Looking regretful and... almost jealous?

Just what was going on here?