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INDIANA JONES
xvii. CHEW TOY

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PRESENT
STORYBROOKE

SOMETHING ABOUT THE LIBRARY continuously caused Anna James to feel this weird, bittersweet sensation. She always visited when she desired alone time to work on something for school, usually spending hours at a time there. Therefore, it should've made the brunette loathe the library with every ounce of her being. After all, who enjoyed doing schoolwork for so many hours a day? Surely, there was someone who did, but that person wasn't Anna James.

While some days the brunette loathed traveling to "the land of knowledge", she also was rather fond of it. The library had grown to become her home away from home away from home. From the smell of paper that came from within new novels to dusting off the ancient computers and using her library card more than she used a credit card. These were many things that made Anna like the library.

However, for the first time, she was visiting for fun. This was something Anna had never done in her 16 years of existence. Though she wouldn't admit it, Anna was visiting the library for the fourth time that week because of one thing: a boy.

Having a crush on someone of the male species was a whole new experience for Anna. It was like doing a trust fall without even knowing if someone was behind you. It was like getting on your first ever rollercoaster and being forced to sit front and center. It was like dipping French Fries in your milkshake for the first time.

It all started, well, four trips ago. As usual, Anna was traveling to the library to work on an essay that was worth 50% of her overall grade. She was typically one for being stressed out to the max when she was given important assignments like these. In the midst of all of her worrying, a boy had walked over to her and simply asked if she was okay. though it was common courtesy to ask when it was obvious she wasn't, Anna couldn't help but fall head over heels quickly. She couldn't help but feel extremely giddy and nervous as soon as he spoke to her. Call her a hopeless romantic, but she felt as though it was a "first sight" kind of situation. Maybe not love, but it was definitely the start of a crush.

Every trip after that, Anna had gone to the library to work on the essay. She was blessed to have an assignment that was due 2 weeks after the given date. The boy worked at the library as of recently, so he was always there. They almost immediately made a connection.

"This is it. I'm going to get a terrible grade on this essay, drop out of college, and be the girl who peaked at 16," Anna declared with a worried look on her face. She ran a hand through her medium-length, brown hair while staring at the bright computer screen.

She felt a hand place itself on her shoulder. Anna glanced over to see the boy of her dreams: Frankie. He stared at her with his heterochromatic eyes: one being dark brown and the other being electric blue. His gaze alone made her whole body want to melt like butter.

"Stop it," Frankie demanded with a sympathetic smile on his face. "I've watched you work on this for days. It's just one grade. How bad could it be?"

Frankie was 15, going on 16-years-old. Though he was young, it seemed that puberty had already hit him with a truck. He was absolutely adorable. He was laid back and kind, not to mention that he actually enjoyed hanging out with the awkward and dorky, child genius that was Anna James.

Together, they sat in front of the computer. Today was the day her teacher would finally put in the grade for the essay she'd been working on for so long. Frankie had been urging her to log in to the grade book to see what she received on it, but Anna refused, due to the fact that she was so nervous.

Anna stared at him with an arched eyebrow. "Um, really bad," she answered. "This grade could potentially ruin the rest of my career. Not only could it ruin my career, but it could ruin the rest of my life, Frankie! What if it was the worst essay she'd ever read?"

"You're being ridiculous. Anna, you're one of the smartest people I've ever met," Frankie began. "Not to mention the cutest. You've worked too hard for this. If it's a bad grade, I'll go and talk to yourself teacher myself."

The girl smiled at him. Though his words were simple-minded, Anna's hear skipped a beat. Before she could do anything, her phone began to ring loudly. She apologized and pulled it out of her bag. Her eyes skimmed the Caller I.D before tapping the green answer button.

"Hey, Regina. What can I do for you?" she asked, somewhat annoyed. She made a face at Frankie as she greeted her boss before it suddenly paled at what Regina told her. "Henry did what?"

➖➖➖

PAST
UNKNOWN

The only thing Indiana Jones realized during her short time of being in this strange realm was that she hated cages. She thought they were inhumane, sadistic, and completely unnecessary, especially when they were being used to keep her captive. Indiana had never actually been inside a cage before until then, but she despised every single minute of it.

After the boys and their leader had dropped her off, they all left to do something that Indiana genuinely was not interested in. All she cared about was figuring how to get the hell out of there and getting on with her mission. For all Indiana knew, these boys would probably scalp her by morning. For some strange reason, she had an irrational fear that this would happen to her. She saw it happen once and it wasn't pretty.

"Yes!" Indiana whispered enthusiastically as she managed to pick the lock with a thin strand of bamboo that was broken off from the cage, considering it was composed of bamboo. Indiana wasn't even sure where the bamboo had come from, but she didn't necessarily care enough to stay back and ask.

The girl pushed open the door to the makeshift cage, looking down at the drop below her. Surely, she'd make it out of there with a few scratches and maybe a bruise. How bad could it be? All Indiana cared about was getting out of there. If this was how she had to do it, then so be it. Indiana closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. Then, she pushed herself out of the cage and jumped down.

Indiana snorted. 'Boys are so stupid,' she thought to herself upon realizing that her weapons strangely hadn't been taken away from her. At least she would be able to protect herself if it came down to it. Indiana really didn't want to get in any fights, but she wasn't going to just stand back if she was being attacked. That wasn't what Cora had taught her all those years ago.

From there, Indiana quickly inspected herself before getting up and breaking out into a run. She wasn't sure exactly where she was going, but she knew that she had to get as far away from that place as possible. Indiana swore under her breath, realizing that she could have used the height from the cage to her advantage to scope out the area. Then again, that would have been hard considering it was still nighttime.

After a few minutes of running, Indiana found herself sprinting straight into what looked like some kind of campsite. She glanced around. That was when she realized she was standing in the campsite of the boys that held her prisoner in the first place. The boy who appeared to be the leader of them all applauded as he walked out.

"Took you long enough," Peter Pan stated while greeting her. "I'm shocked, quite frankly. No one's been able to break out of those cages until you came along, but that's no big deal for bandit Indiana Jones."

Now that she was in the campsite and there was a large fire, Indiana was able to really observe his facial features. He was pale, much like a ghost. His skin reminded her of the moon's pale light. His hair was a messy, brown mop that sat on the top of his head nicely, almost like it was meant to be anything but neat. He wore green and brown attire that was also dirty, along with leather bracelets on his wrists. Just like all those years ago, Peter Pan had bright green eyes that symbolized life and light, but held nothing but death and darkness in them.

"I... what...?" Indiana stammered in confusion once his words processed in her head. Several of his little minions gathered around, making a circle like before. " You... What? Were you.. waiting for me?"

"Precisely, dear. It took you 7 minutes and 43 seconds just to break off that piece of bamboo and approximately 9 minutes and 12 seconds to make your escape," Peter informed her, making her eyes nearly pop out of her head. "Overall leading up to a grand total of 16 minutes and 55 seconds, not including the time it took you to process my initial statement. If we were including that—"

"Alright, we get it. You're good at counting," Indiana snapped in bitter annoyance. "You're... You're a psychopath!"

Peter Pan flashed a smirk at her. "Only for you, dear."

Ignoring what he said, Indiana responded with, "Just what kind of operation are you running here? I don't... I don't understand. I need answers and I need them now."

"You know, I don't think you're in the position to be making demands, considering all of my Lost Boys could scalp you before you could even say, Oops," he told her.

"Is that a threat?" Indiana queried, raising an eyebrow. She felt a sudden burst of confidence as she continued to speak. "Fine. Just try to touch me. You'll regret it."

"And how do you plan on fighting back when you're weapon-less?" Peter wondered, holding up his hands. In one was her whip and in the other was the dagger Indiana kept hidden in her boot. Indiana's eyes widened as she felt for her whip, knowing that it was right in front of her. "Alright, Indiana, how about we play a game?"

The girl snorted. "A game?" she repeated in disbelief. "Just how old are you, Peter Pan?"

Much like how she did to him, he ignored what she said. "You want answers? I'd be happy to give them to you," Peter continued, "under one condition."

"I'm getting a strange sense of Déjà vu right now," Indiana muttered, thinking about her conversation with Rumplestiltskin. Come to think about it, Rumplestiltskin and Peter Pan were a lot more similar than Indiana realized.

Peter Pan turned and pointed at a boy. "Frankie, come on down," Peter demanded. Indiana immediately recognized him. He was the boy with blue and brown eyes. He was also the boy that caught Indiana lurking around in the forest. Indiana immediately scowled at the 15-year-old boy. "Now, Indiana, you want answers? All you have to do is kill our beloved little Frankie here."

The scowl on her face immediately fell. "Huh? Say what, now?" Indiana asked with shock clearly written on her face. "You want me to kill him? W-Why?"

"I've heard a lot of things about the ruthless Indiana Jones, including the fact that she's killed over 100 people in the timespan of a month," Peter began. "If you're who you say you are, then kill him. I'll tell you whatever you want."

"I'm not making any deals with you, Peter, and I'm not gambling a little boy's life," Indiana hissed. "Besides, I don't kill without reason. Getting answers isn't a good enough reason to take someone's life. All the people I've killed were out to get me."

"The clock is ticking, Indiana. So what will it be?"

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PRESENT
STORYBROOKE

"I'm sorry, Madame Mayor, Miss James, but Henry was shoplifting," the man working at a small convenience store informatively told the two women.

Regina looked down at her son. "Were you?" she questioned. Henry, who was holding onto Anna's hand, shook his head. The man simply told them to look for themselves. Regina walked over to the countertop to observe the items that were found in Henry's bag. Anna looked over her shoulder.

"Henry doesn't eat candy," Anna told them, "and he knows better than to steal, right Henry?" The 10-year-old boy nodded his head quickly.

Regina picked up her son's bag. "That's right," she agreed. She turned to face the two children that were caught with Henry. "It was obviously those two. We're going."

Anna opened her mouth to oppose, believing in the greater good. Emma suddenly rushed in. "Henry, what happened?" the new Sheriff questioned. The trio turned around to face her.

"Ms. Swan, must I remind you that genetics mean nothing?" Regina queried in response. "You're not his mother, and it's all taken care of. Anna, take Henry and run along."

With that being said, Anna made a motioning gesture to Henry and they walked out together. She looked down at him as they walked together. "So let me guess, you think they're...?" Anna trailed off.

"Hansel and Gretel," Henry filled in with a smile on his face. Anna shook her head and smiled at him.

"And do you know what I am?" Anna asked again. Henry opened his mouth to tell her the same as before, but she stopped him. "Starving. Let's get some grub. I don't know about you, but I've got the greatest craving for Granny's."

Henry grinned at the teenager before they walked together, hand-in-hand.

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PAST
UNKNOWN

"Tick tock, Indiana. We don't have all day," Peter told her as she anxiously thought to herself, trying to think of a way she could get out of this without someone dying. Though Indiana was a thief and murderer, she didn't kill without a good reason. She could figure out what she wanted to know easily. This didn't require someone dying. So why was Peter Pan making this so hard on her?

Indiana stared back and forth between Peter and the boy she now knew was called Frankie. Surely, Indiana was bitter because Frankie was the one her caught her, but he was only doing what he knew best... right? Then again, she didn't know these people. For all Indiana knew, he could be the reason she'd die in the future if she didn't kill him now. Nonetheless, Indiana still didn't want to kill him.

Peter Pan casually walked forward to where Frankie stood, which was just a few feet away from the girl. He placed a hand on Frankie's shoulder. 'Maybe he'll let Frankie go?' Indiana thought hopefully.

Oh, how wrong she was.

Instead of what Indiana had hoped for, Peter Pan sunk his hand into the 15-year-old's chest and ripped his heart out. He crushed it within seconds, causing Frankie's now dead body to fall to the ground and causing Indiana to gasp. "Wha--!? What'd you do that for?" she exclaimed in question. "He-He didn't do anything wrong! Why would you just...? What the heck is your problem?"

Peter shrugged. "He's been lagging behind lately," was all he said. "And you were taking too long."

"He's... dead and it's all my fault," Indiana realized with wide eyes.

He nodded. "That sounds about right," he said, making a clapping sound with his hands as he dusted off the remnants of the heart dust. "I don't like when people don't play my games, Indiana. I'm sure you'll be a great toy for my Lost Boys."

"Toy?" Indiana repeated. "Last I checked, those boys aren't dogs and I'm not something they can chew on."

Peter merely smirked at her. "They may not be dogs, but they're definitely animals." Then, he turned to face the boys all around them. "Boys, let's play!"