Three Years Ago...

The sea lapped at the side of the boat, the sun beating down on them relentlessly, the only moment of relief they got being the occasional cool breeze that blew on through. It caused her blonde curls to dance lightly around her face, tickling her fair skin. The boat dipped to the side causing her attention to turn to the wheel, only to see Harry manning it himself. She smiled as she strolled up to him.

His eyes darted up at the light footsteps, even though he already knew who it was. It wasn't hard for him to tell the difference between Artemis and the rest of the Jack's just by her light footsteps. He couldn't stop the small grin that pulled at his lips when he saw her smiling at him. "You've got quite the sea legs, love."

She hummed, her dark eyes taking in the miles of ocean that stretched around her. They'd been taking the Wonder out more often ever since she first showed it to him, and she loved it. It brought out a side of him she loved to see. "My Mom and I used to take this ship out almost every night when I was younger."

He nodded, watching the smile grace her features as she breathed in the sea air, deeply. "Do ya want to try a hand at the helm?"

Her eyes snapped back up to him, the dark iris' wide with shock. He simply smirked at her astonishment, nodding for her to come closer. She hesitated, "I've never actually sailed before, my Mom always did that part."

"Once you get yer bearings, it's easy," he grabbed her arm and pulled her in front of him at the wheel, placing her hands in the right spots. She smiled up at him nervously to which he returned before leaning over her shoulder to carve something into the wood in front of them. A little compass with a P to the left and an S to the right, "Left is called port and right is called starboard," he explained as she took in the carving, nodding slowly.

"Now," He was behind her again, his eyes squinted as he took in the open ocean in front of them. "Go three notches, starboard."

She licked her lips hesitantly, turning the wheel slowly to the right. He chuckled, looking down at her and she cocked her head to the side to look up at the boy just behind her, "well done, love." She beamed at him, feeling proud simply because he said she did so well. "You were born with the sea in yer blood."

Her smile faltered, only slightly, he didn't even notice it as she stared out at the rocky waves. He cleared his throat, "can I tell ya a secret, Artemis?" The use of her full name caught her attention, he rarely used it. Silently she nodded, intent brown eyes watching his profile. "When I was younger, my father boarded a ship with my sisters and I with plans to travel to Neverland. One morning, I awoke, and they were gone." He felt Artemis's wide eyes burning a hole in him, it made him shift uncomfortably, like her big eyes could see right down to his soul. He cleared his throat, "they went without me."

"They abandoned you." She stated more than asked, her voice low and sad.

His bright eyes slowly turned down to the shorter blonde, seeing the true sadness in her eyes. Like she could actually feel his pain. "They did."

"I'm sorry," she took his hand in hers and managed a small smile for him. "If it's any consolation, I'll never abandon you."

He didn't say anything, just gave her a small smirk, pulling her in front of him again to let her steer the ship once more, it brought a smile to her lips and he planned to keep that smile there as long as he could.

Artemis sighed, playing with the loose thread on the end of her dress, her head leaning against the bamboo cage she was stuck in. She didn't even know what happened - one moment she was running away from the boys and then everything was dark. Next thing she knew she was in a cage, suspended up in a tree.

She rolled her head along the bars to see the young boy who was tasked with guarding her. He was sitting on the little platform just across from her, twirling a coin between his knuckles and making it 'disappear' every so often.

"You're pretty good at that," Artemis let out an airy chuckle, and the young boys eyes met hers. He couldn't have been any older than 13 and he looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place it.

He shrugged, "just a slight of hand," he did it again - squeezing his fist around the coin and waving his other hand over it, then he flashed both his empty hands at her. She watched him reach up into the air and with a flick of the wrist he had the coin between his thumb and finger once more.

She smiled slightly, "what's your name."

He looked over his shoulder like he was making sure no one was coming up behind him, "Jaamil. Son of Jafar."

Artemis' eyebrows shot up, "Jafar?" She pushed off the bars, crawling up to the bamboo that faced the young boy. "You're Jay's little brother?" That's where she recognized him from - he looked just like his brother.

"You know my brother?" Jaamil looked shocked and Artemis nodded.

"He's a good friend of mine," she admitted, shifting onto her butt and wrapping a hand around the stick. "Him, Carlos, Evie, and Mal all are... did you ever hang out with them."

"Not often," he admitted, but she noticed the small smile on his lips. "I was always the little brother - but, sometimes when our Dad got into a really bad mood Jay would let me tag along with whatever they were doing. I don't think Mal liked me very much, but Carlos and Evie were really nice... much nicer than Silas..." he muttered the last part but Artemis heard it.

"Yeah, Silas is kind of mean, isn't he?" She prompted and Jaamil looked up at her with wide eyes, not expecting her to have heard that. But, he slowly caved and gave a small nod. "You wanna know what I think?"

"What?" His eyebrows furrowed.

Artemis smirked, "I think that Silas is so used to getting picked on by Sherri that he needs some sort of  outlet. And you're young - the new kid, trust me, it'll pass."

"You think so?"

"Oh, yeah," she nodded, watching the slight smile pull at his lips. "I mean, look at your brother. He could kick the crap out of Silas," she told him and he laughed at that, bringing a smile to her own lips. "Eventually, you'll get bigger and he won't be able to walk all over you anymore."

His laugh settled down to a content smile, "thanks. You're not as bad as Sherri says you are."

"You'll find I'm full of surprises."

"I'm sure you are," a voice broke in and Artemis watched Jaamil jump to his feet, his eyes wide as Silas pushed the vines aside and brushed passed him and right up to her cage. "But, you know who else is full of surprises?" He prompted and she frowned at him.

Instead of answering, he snapped his fingers and Artemis' attention was drawn to the commotion just out of her eye sight. Coming around the corner were two men, dragging a very familiar face with them.

Artemis' eyes widened and she shot up to her feet, "Harry?"

Harry's eyes darted up to hers and his struggled faltered, a wry smile on his lips, "how ya holding up, love."

She shook her head, "what did you do?" Harry only looked away from her.

Silas stepped up to the cage and easily undid the lock to swing the door open. Artemis went to go run to him, but Silas simply caught her arm and held her back, as the two men holding Harry yanked him back. "Let me go," Artemis tried to tug from his grasp but it was no use.

"Arty, look at me," Harry called her attention and she looked over at him, her face softening as she gave up in her struggle. "Get Uma." She could only nod before Silas was leading her away and Harry was being shoved into the cage she was once being held in.

Silas led her down to the ground and let her go with a slight shove, crossing his arms. "It doesn't matter who you tell or where you go - you won't win."

Artemis shook her head, "I guess we'll just see about that, won't we?" Silas only smirked a dark smirk before ducking back behind the vines.

***

"Alright, Princess, I'm about this close to kicking you to the curb - watch yourself." Uma was saying her and Mal in a stand off - they'd been arguing for what felt like forever to the others. None of them could even remember what started it at this point.

"Can you even reach to kick me out, Shrimpy?" Mal teased and Uma jerked forward but before she could say or do anything else, a voice broke in - stopping her in her tracks.

"Uma," the sea witch whirled to see Artemis come busting into her chip shop. Everyone lit up at the sight of her, except Uma - her eyes darted passed the blonde and Artemis knew who she was looking for. She ignored everyone trying to talk to her - asking her if she was okay and what happened and went straight to Uma. "She took him."  She whispered.

Uma shook her head, her jaw setting, "that hag, I'm done with her and her monkey lackies."

"Sherri took Harry?" Gil asked, his eyes big and Artemis nodded.

"Yes, but we're going to get him back," she announced, looking around at the eight bodies surrounding her. She turned to Evie first, "Evie, I need you, Carlos, and Gil to go to Wonderland and talk to Cheney for me..."

Evies eyes widened, "what?"

"Look, Sherri does this thing with her eyes... kind of like Cheney and I need you to figure out a way around it - he's the only one who can help. Make sure you take Abby with you - her magic is what's keeping him detained, she'll keep you safe."

"Okay," Evie nodded, letting out a slow breath. She hadn't seen Cheney in over a year and the thought was a little unsettling.

Once they agreed she turned to the rest, "the rest of us need to come up with a plan."

"What does Sherri even want?" Mal asked, throwing her arms out to the side in exasperation.

"Harry," Uma admitted, shaking her head. She tried to tell him she was a crazy bitch, but he was too messed up to listen - he was so upset about Artemis taking the throne and tossing him aside that he threw any caution or care to the wind.

"Whatever, Sherri's nothing without Silas and Jaamil," Georgina broke in, a hand on her hip. "We get them to turn against her and she nothing more than a crazy bitch."

"I can talk to Jaamil," Jay spoke up, his arms crossed and Artemis' eyes snapped to him. She had almost forgotten they were brothers. "But, Silas is a different story - he's been glued to Sherri's hip for over five years now. He'd never turn against her."

"Trust me, I can handle Silas," Uma spoke up with an eye roll.

"Okay, so Jay, Uma, and I will go back to the jungle," Artemis nodded, looking determinedly between the others. "In the mean time, the rest of you find something we can use against Sherri and we'll all meet up back at the Jungle by no later than dawn. And guys," she made eye contact with each one of them in turn to express how serious this was. "Losing? Not an option."