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In the swirl of passion	By : Lywhn Category: M through R > Peter Pan > Het Views: 35043 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Peter Pan, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 25
- 26
- 27
Chapter 26 – A Necessary Talk

The night wind was cool, murmuring through the riggings, and it made Tinker Bell hug her knees up into her tiny body while she sat on one of the yardarms. Still sniffling, she looked over toward the dark shadow that was Neverland. Her companion, seated beside her, gripped her hand and said softly in their language: “Don’t judge the mortal girl too harshly. Even we fairies can’t change what we feel – even if it is only one emotion at a time that can fill our hearts.”
Tink looked up to her queen and smiled. “I don’t judge Wendy. Peter may see her as a little girl, but I’m not blind. I recognized the awakening woman in her the moment we flew through her window this last time back in London.” She sighed. “I knew that no good would come from her return to Neverland.”
“Why? Because she has blossomed into a woman here?”
Peter’s magical companion shook her head. “No. She already was a young woman, even without Hook’s … interference.”
The fairy-queen’s laugh sounded like spring water tumbling over clear rocks. “Yes. His ‘interference’ is truly permanent.”
Tink smiled knowingly, then turned serious again. “I’m thinking of Peter. He won’t understand. He trusts Wendy completely and now, she chooses Hook. Oh yes, we know she would never do anything that would put him in danger, but still she chose his worst enemy. He will be hurt, outraged.”
Her queen gazed straight into her eyes. “He will need you. You are female. You can tell him why his friend has made this choice.”
Tink snorted. “As if he would listen to me. That boy is stubborn as a mule. I love him well, as you know, but sometimes he really puts my wings in a knot.” She made a face. “Why did she choose Hook? Any other but him, perhaps Peter wouldn’t be so grieved, but that pirate…” she finished with a shake of her messy golden top, releasing a shower of shimmering dust.
The fairy in white gave her an encouraging smile. “Tell him that a woman can be as much a victim of her feelings as a boy. Even you and I have once fallen for a man.”
Tink took a deep breath. Yes, she had once loved a fey, and had enjoyed being with him very much, until he had fallen prey to a troll. After that, she met Peter in Kensington Gardens, barely more than a baby. The rest was history. “But Peter doesn’t understand feelings. He denies them – except the one time Wendy gave him her ‘thimble’. And she promised him that it would ever be his. And now she has given Hook far more than a ‘thimble’.”
The fairy-queen smiled again. “Yes, it seems the two cannot keep their hands off each other. Have you seen the blood on his chest and shoulder? I told him to be careful and ordered ‘no wild games’. I’m sure they’ve used the bed again for more than resting.”
Tinker Bell grinned. Of course she knew about what could happen between a man and a woman, and to see them sitting nude together was more than enough proof that little Wendy had learned about these things as well. And even if Tink knew Hook only as an enemy, the fairy had to admit that the pirate-captain really was handsome. It wasn’t a so surprising that the girl had fallen for him. Then Tink remembered what she had heard and what had touched her little heart. “Did you know his history?”
The other nodded slowly. “The general muddle his life has been was generally known to me, just not all the details. But when I saw him thrashing about in his nightmares, I knew that his memories were returning, so I sent for you. You need to understand his story to help Peter overcome the shock this news will be for him.”
Tink nodded and stood up. “I’ll do my best, Majesty. May I ask another question?” The fairy-queen made a gesture for her to continue. “Why do YOU help them? We don’t usually interfere with mortal fates. Why do you do it in this case?”
Her queen remained silent for a long moment, carefully selecting her powerful words. “Neverland changed the moment Wendy was carried over the threshold from childhood to adulthood by Hook. This has been a land for children, and the love they know and express isn’t for this place. And – even more important – Hook has changed. He isn’t the villain anymore, because he is transformed by her love. The link between him and Neverland broke in the moment his feelings for Wendy grew beyond simple physical passion – and this happened very quickly, I dare say. His hostility had held him here, made him a prisoner. But now, finding love, his hate and obsession to kill the boy fades, and Neverland will set him free. He will leave as soon as he realizes this.
“But Peter Pan needs an opponent. This is how it works -- a hero needs an enemy in order to remain the hero. And the children of the world need a hero to look up to, who visits their dreams with messy wonderful adventures. So the sooner the lovebirds over there in the cabin leave and a new opponent arrives, the sooner Neverland can return to its own normal existence.” She sighed. “And, by the way, the lovers have touched something in me.” She tucked a strand of sweet silken hair behind her pointed ear. “I’ve never met someone who was so desperate for tenderness as he – the big bad villain, whose black heart only wore a black skin, suffering so long until it almost died and turned to stone. The girl came at the last possible moment.” She chuckled. “It is always good to watch love growing, but these two take the cake!”
Tink had listened very carefully and smiled as well. “I agree when I can see that even bloodletting doesn’t hinder them reaching for the stars.”
The fairy-queen nodded. “Either they make love as if there were no tomorrow, or they cling to each other like children to their teddy-bears.” She looked down to the quarter-deck and frowned. “And just now he forgets my order again!”
Tinker Bell cocked her head and her very fine ears picked up the noises – too low for human ears, but overheard by the fairies. Peter’s magical companion shook her head again. “You’re right. They can’t stay away from each other!” She cocked her head and remembered Wendy’s involuntary stay aboard the Jolly Roger four and half years ago. During that time, she had been in Hook’s cabin as well, and both mortals had affected each other even then. “They were always attracted to each other!” she remembered.
The fairy-queen stood, arms akimbo, and shook her head. “Mortals! I know that they haven’t as much time as we have, but they do overdo it!”
Tink nodded, smiling. “I understand. It IS an incredible experience, no matter how often you find it, and both are very passionate.”
A slanting glance hit her. “Yes, very passionate. And now I’ll have to figure out how to patch him up again!” She let her hands sink and sighed deeply. “Mortals!” she repeated.
This time Tink did laugh.

This morning the sun showed itself for the first time since Peter got injured. There were still clouds in the sky, and the mist still shrouded Neverland, but the warm rays of the sun warmed the air and lifted the mood of pirates and boys. Wendy awoke because of a ringing scolding directly above her face, and looked confusedly up at an irritated fairy-queen, who now soared over her and James and seemed genuinely annoyed. “Didn’t I tell you no wild games?” her voice said angrily in Wendy’s head, and the girl closed her eyes.
“It really wasn’t that wild.”
“Who is wild?” sounded the deep grumbling voice beside her.
“You two!” the fairy-queen groused and shook her head. “Stars and moonbeams, how am I to ‘repair’ this mess?” She pointed at Hook’s torso and the pirate-captain carefully lifted his head and glanced down at himself and the bedding.
Oh dear, this really didn’t look good. But nevertheless he smirked: “Elementary, my dear. I’ll wash it away and you blow some of your dust over it again.”
The fairy shook her diminutive finger at him. “And then you ruin my work by taking your girl on another wild ride!”
“No, not today,” Wendy groaned. “I don’t know if I can even sit, let alone stand or walk.”
At this, James chuckled while he lay back again and closed his eyes. The fairy-queen sighed. “Impossible!” She waved to the Spanish wall. “To the cleaning-table with you. I don’t have all day!”
Hook opened one eye and glared at her. “First, Your Majesty, these are MY quarters and MY ship, so don’t order me about here. Second: Have you ever heard of the little word ‘please’? It’s used between polite people. Third: it’s far too early to get up, and fourth, YOU, as a fairy, have all time in the world.” With this he snuggled closer to Wendy, took a deep breath and relaxed. But only for a second.
With an “Ouch!” he sat up and held his head, while the fairy released his curls which she had pulled with all her might. “Up, wash, return, lie down, remain still, then get bandaged when I finish! Do you hear me?” Her tiny face was red with anger.
Hook opened his mouth to protest, but Wendy’s small hand on his arm stopped him. “James? Please do as she says. Afterwards we can sleep again and--”
“—and continue smooching,” the fairy-queen cut in. “I know you both too well by now.”
Wendy grumbled something and turned on her stomach, embraced the pillow, buried her face in it and yawned. Grinning James looked down on her smooth back – he wanted to kiss it from top to bottom right now, and inspire a new memory, along with wriggling and moaning, within seconds – and sighed as an inpatient fairy flew in before his face and pointing firmly to the other side of his cabin. “All right, all right,” he growled and asked himself in the same moment why he – for God’s sake – even obeyed the tiny tyrant. “I’ll go!” Swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and grinning as he saw the strewn clothes, he stood up and made his way to the cleaning table. “Wendy? Give me a hand?”
“When I figure out how to stand up and to move under my own power, then I will assist you,” came the dry reply.
“I told you that I would get you for that little speech about ‘I only wanted to spare you a headache’.”
Wendy made a face without opening her eyes. “Yes, by making certain that I won’t be able to sit or walk for hours!” She looked up at the fairy who soared above her and glared with hidden amusement down on her. “I swear, one more time today, and he’ll put me into a wheelchair for the next two weeks!” His laugh sounded far too proud and arrogant, and the girl frowned. “Wait until I’m done with you, my dearest Captain! Then YOU will have a problem slipping into your breeches,” she murmured.
“That, sweet wildcat, is my problem every time I look at you.” Wendy lifted her head and blinked over to the shadow behind the Spanish wall. How had he been able to hear her? Then his words reached her mind and she sighed deeply, while she exchanged a glance with the fairy-queen. “This man certainly has staying power.”
“And don’t forget it!” his voice sounded blithely to her.
The girl shook her head, before she lay down again. “Pompous male!”

The boys had already eaten their breakfast as the door opened and a slender figure stepped in. Michael recognized her first and jumped from his chair. “Wendy!” Within seconds she was encircled by a dozen grinning boys who examined her with big eyes. “Where did you get the dress?” “You look like a lady!” “How did you manage to fix your hair by yourself?” “Is that silk you’re wearing?” “Aren’t these shoes uncomfortable?” “Where’ve you been? We missed you!” “What’s happened to Hook?” “Will he let us go?”
Wendy lifted her hands to stop the questions and smiled at the boys. She wore another dress from Blackbeard’s trunks, this time made of a pale yellow silk with a neckline that covered her shoulders. She had pinned up her hair and several soft curls framed her face and tickled her neck. John watched his sister attentively. She wasn’t so pale anymore, and her bruised cheek had almost healed. A healthy pink shimmered in her skin and her eyes were clear and shining. She looked happy and contended, but nervous as well, while she answered the questions of the other boys.
“I’m sorry I didn’t come yesterday as I promised Slightly, but I was soaked through the skin and Mr. Smee was so kind to heat me a bath. Afterwards I simply wanted to rest and… well… that was it.”
“You overslept!” one of the Twins grinned. “I know all about that.”
His brother giggled. “Yes, you have worn down mother’s nerves to the bone because of it.” Curly and Nibs exchanged a look and started to chuckle. Yes, as much Michael still hated to bathe, so the ‘younger’ of the Twins hated getting up in the morning.
Then Michael remembered what he had learned from John and Slightly the evening before, and pulled at Wendy’s sleeve. “Wendy? Is it true that you and Hook are a couple?”
Shocked, the girl looked at her youngest brother and then to Slightly and John. Her step-cousin nodded. “I thought it best to tell the boys the truth. They were worried about you being in the captain’s quarters, and about what would happen to us when he recovered. And, by the way, I thought I could help you by giving the news to them.”
Wendy swallowed and looked gratefully at Slightly. Then another thought hit her. “Does Peter know?”
Her brother and step-cousin shook their heads. “No. You wanted to tell it him yourself, and of course I respect this.”
Michael tugged her sleeve again. “So it is really true?”
Wendy took a deep breath, looked around her into the expectant faces and nodded finally. “Yes, it’s true. James and I are together.”
For a long moment there was only silence, then the boys bombarded her questions like: “Why?” “How did it happen?” “Isn’t he evil?” “Since when?” and “Do you love him?” First hesitating, then with more confidence, Wendy tried to answer their questions as honestly as possible, without the details unfit for the ears of the younger boys.
Suddenly John cut in. “Where is Hook?”
Wendy threw him a wary glare. “He’s inspecting the ship. For three days, he hasn’t been able to leave his cabin, so he’s resumed his duties. The crew needs to see that their captain is still strong, and the injured ones feel better after their commander has visited them. It simply shows that normal life has returned and gives the men security.”
John lifted a brow. “What’s about the captive? I heard that they’ve taken one enemy prisoner. What has your captain in mind for this man?” A calculating glance from his sister – such as he had never received before – saddened him. Perhaps the old boatswain and Slightly had been right and he had really overdone it.
“The laws of the pirates are clear in such cases,” Wendy said calmly. “If he killed any of the crew, or has been cowardly during the fight, then his life is forfeit. If he fought bravely and behaved honorably, he will get the offer to join the victorious crew or to face death.” She looked into the questioning and shocked faces. “Boys, if a hostile soldier falls into the hand of the enemy, then he will be held in prison or will be executed. There’s really not that much difference between our laws and those of the buccaneers.”
“And you can live with this?” John asked, prodding.
Wendy lifted a brow. “You have lived with the command of execution in England since your birth, ‘dear’ brother. Only because some communities live without the ‘protection’ of the Crown, but have similar laws, doesn’t mean that they are bad.”
“Is the captive an important man?” Runner wanted to know.
She gave a half-smile. “That depends on the point of view. It’s the same man who watched over James’ imprisonment down in the bilge – the same man Peter and I were able to trick with the sedative in the wine. Perhaps he was entrusted with this task because he had Blackbeard’s trust. Or perhaps he had forfeited his trust, so he had to wait below deck and watch over the captive while his comrades enjoyed the party. But I think his reaction to James’ question will show the truth.” There was a knock at the door and Wendy turned around. “Come in!”
Smee showed his white-bearded face through the frame and the door and smiled: “Miss Wendy? Peter’s up.”
The girl nodded kindly to the old man. “Thank you very much, Mr. Smee. I’m coming.” She met John’s gaze. “You should take the example of Michael and your other brothers – to say nothing of Slightly.” The eyes of her brother narrowed, but ignoring him, she bade farewell to her new friends and adopted brothers, gave a quick hug to Slightly and Michael, and followed Smee.

Peter stared up at the ceiling and counted the nails in it – as far as he could count, then he started anew. He had awoken only minutes ago, and had seen Smee sitting at his desk. He had asked the old man for a glass of water, and after drinking it in one great gulp, he had asked for Wendy. It really wasn’t like the girl to let him alone this long and – by the way – his worries grew as he thought about him being Hook’s hands again. Yes, he had saved the pirate’s life – more than once – but he knew about the deep, lasting hostility of the man, and he felt a chill running over his spine just imagining what Hook could do to him.
Smee left his cabin with the promise of getting Wendy, and Peter waited impatiently for her arrival, especially while Tink wasn’t there as well. Where was everyone? Here he lay, the leader of the Lost Boys, the Prince of Neverland, who had saved the life of his deadliest enemy, and now everyone left him alone! This wasn’t fair!
Suddenly the door opened and he saw the familiar and longed-for face of Wendy. Still weak, he tried to sit up, but sank back as the girl pushed him softly back into the pillows. “Lie down, Peter,” she said in the soft voice he liked so much. “You’re not well yet and have to stay in bed.”
Smiling he obeyed. “How are you?” he wanted to know.
“Better,” Wendy answered and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry that I haven’t been here when you woke, but … I was exhausted and … when I was here, you were asleep.”
Peter smirked – so similar to the one of his mortal enemy, but still so different because of his innocence and carelessness. Then his face went oddly serious and uncertain. “Where’s Hook?” he asked and only those creatures – mortal or magical, it didn’t matter – who knew him well could hear the quaver in his voice.
Wendy sat down beside him on the edge of the bed and gently stroked his cheek – something he had never allowed before, but now the gesture calmed him. “He’s looking after his men and the ship,” she told him. Her finger tousled his sweaty, sandy locks. “Don’t be afraid. He won’t harm you.”
The boy swallowed. “I’m not afraid,” he lied. “Hook promised me to make it quick and painless,” he murmured. “But I--”
“But you saved his life,” Wendy interrupted. “More than once. And believe me, James isn’t ungrateful. He--”
“James?” Peter asked and his eyes wide, unbelieving.
Wendy lowered her gaze and collected her strength. Of course she could have pretended that nothing had happened – or changed! – But she had left those stories behind her. She HAD to tell him the truth now – as gently and careful as possible. “I want to thank you, Peter, for saving his life. You risked your own to preserve his – and those of his men, too.”
“Neverland was in danger,” the eternal boy responded. “And I needed the pirates to keep it the way it was. So it was an easy decision to make. And-” he hesitated, then he murmured: “You were so worried about him and you cried and … I don’t know why you acted like that, but I had to help you.” He sighed and felt Wendy’s fingers under his chin. Looking up at her, he saw for the first time the clothes she wore and how she wore her hair. Still, he refused to believe what his eyes showed him and his mind started to realize. “What are you wearing?” he asked with a mixture of curiosity and alarm.
She looked at her clothes. “A dress.”
He frowned. “Where’s your nightgown?”
“It tore when I lost my balance during the ship’s tour several days ago, remember?”
The boy felt chills now, and pulled the blanked higher. “And your breeches? And the shirt?”
Wendy made a face. “They smelled of the bastard who held me as a pawn, and of sweat.” She rolled her eyes. “They smelled like a cup of old milk and rotten apples.”
Peter giggled, then his eyes found her hair again. “Why did you do that to your hair?”
Her hand flew up to her curled up hair and for a moment she bit her lips. “It’s more comfortable to wear it this way at sea, because of the wind. It doesn’t tickle you so much in the face.”
The eternal boy narrowed his eyes and watched his friend closer. For the first time he saw things he’d never noticed before: her face, still soft, but strangely expressive; the curves of her body, which weren’t those of a child anymore; her bearing – proud and confident – and the glow that seemed to envelop her whole being. It was this glow that no child ever had, and Peter felt icy fear rising – a fear that pierced colder than the threat of being in Hook’s power again. She almost looked like… “You look like a… a LADY!” he blurted out and paled even more.
A sad and compassionate look formed in her dove-blue eyes. “Peter, I AM a lady, a woman.”
He shook his head. “NO! You aren’t! You CAN’T be a lady,” he whispered hoarsely.
“I know it’s hard for you to understand, but--”
“You’re NOT a woman. You’re Wendy, you’re MY Wendy! You can’t be a … a woman. A GROWN-UP!”
Wendy saw the tears welling up in his crystal blue eyes, now looking at her head to toe – and the silent desperate begging in them. “Peter,” she whispered. “I can’t change it. I’m a woman now.” She saw him shaking his head, while the tears spilled over. “I was almost grown when you invited me back to Neverland. I knew that it would be my last visit here and…”
“You promised!” he blurted with a shaky voice. “You promised that--”
“—that she would never forget you,” a deep voice said from the doorway. Both, Wendy and Peter looked toward it, and the boy tensed to see the red and black clad figure with long black curls, holding a mighty hat with feathers in his left hand, while steel blue eyes bore into his.
Wendy smiled gently. “Peter and I are speaking of …”
“ … of what has happened, yes,” Hook finished for her again, and looked straight into the boy’s eyes, which started to flicker. He had seen this look one time before – after he had forced him down with his cutting words, badgering the boy about being left alone and losing Wendy’s affections. Closing the door behind him, he straightened his back and suddenly Wendy saw the pirate-captain returning into the man she knew so well by now. But his expression changed again as his eyes moved to hers.
This alarmed Peter more than a threat could have ever done. “Would you please leave us alone, my dear?” Hook asked. Before he was aware of it, Peter gripped the hand of his friend, silently pleading for help. He didn’t want to stay alone with Hook, not like this – he was still injured and bound to the bed, and the pirate was well and armed with his sword and deadly iron claw.
Wendy looked up at James and saw the hidden promise in the depths of his forget-me-not-blue eyes. With a tender smile she tried to disentangle her hand from the boy’s fingers, but he clung too tightly. Peter’s eyes never left his mortal enemy, who stood only feet away from him and clearly had the upper hand. Energy shot through his young body, and the long entrenched fear flew through him. Instinctively, his hand clung to Wendy – proof of his turmoil. Of course he knew that he was only a boy and Hook was a well-trained man. He looked up at Wendy -- she always had saved the day, and he jerked, as she stood up. Would she really leave him alone with his mortal enemy? – she, who once had saved him from that same man?
Wendy softly pressed his hand. “Don’t be afraid, Peter,” she murmured. “Everything will be alright!”
Alright? Alright?? Nothing would be alright as soon as she had disappeared from the room and left him alone, in the power of his deadliest adversary! Instinctively he strengthened his grip around her fingers, while his gaze moved between her and Hook forwards and back. He needed all his control not to beg Wendy to stay, and… he met her gaze and her calming smile, which alarmed him even more, because it looked so out of place to him.
“Peter, don’t be afraid. James won’t harm you.”
That did it. The long denied realization rushed over him and he gasped for air while he stared at Hook. “What did you do to her!? How did you bewitch her into obeying you and betraying me?”
“I don’t know, what you mean,” Hook replied coldly.
“She calls you by your FIRST NAME!” Peter snarled and felt his friend tugging on his hand.
“I won’t let you down, Peter!” Wendy said, shocked. “That I would never do.”
“Worse luck!” Hook grumbled and as the girl gave him a glare and shook her head, he rolled his eyes. “Please, let us talk together, just the two of us, kitten.”
If someone had slapped the boy, he wouldn’t have been more shocked than when he heard the sudden gentle tone Hook used with Wendy, and the pet-name. Wendy sighed and squeezed the small hand in hers one last time, before she gently freed herself from his grip. She looked into his troubled eyes, while he sat up. “No!” he whispered. “You can’t go now, Wendy. Don’t let me alone with--”
He stopped and bit his lip as he heard Hook sneering: “Afraid of me at last, Pan? This is a new twist!”
Peter fought hard to call on his confidence and a happy thought, and shot his enemy a dark look. “In your dreams, Hook!”
“Then I see no reason why Wendy should not allow us to talk alone.”
“Because you won’t talk, but try to kill me!” the boy shot back, searching himself for his ready courage, but finding only coldness. No! This wasn’t real. He was simply asleep and would wake any second.
“If that was my intention, you would be already dead!” Hook answered in a practical voice, and exchanged a look with Wendy.
She nodded and walked past the captain, touching his arm. “Please, be patient with him,” she asked. He only murmured something under his breath and flashed her a quick smile as he watched her leave the cabin, closing the door after a last glance at the pale boy, whose large eyes were dark with uncertainty, bewilderment and anxiety.
After Wendy left, silence fell for a long moment over the two enemies, then Hook stepped to Smee’s desk and laid his hat upon it. Peter watched him warily, his heart thumping hard against his ribcage. He simply couldn’t believe that his Wendy had gone and left him alone with the pirate-captain, who now seemed lost in thought; his left hand opening and closing, as if searching for something. This was the moment Peter had feared since he had awoken aboard the Jolly Roger – even if he had never dreamed in his worst nightmares that his Wendy would simply leave him alone. Swallowing the lump in his throat, the boy waited for Hook to begin. It wasn’t as if he would have any other choice.
Hook took a deep breath and looked over at Peter. “So, boy, we finally face each other again, and, I’d like to note, under very different circumstances than ever before.” He slowly paced around the bed with his gaze still fixed on Peter – the gesture as a predator who had his prey secure in his grasp. “You, injured, weak, helpless, and in my domain, and I, as good as healed, stronger than ever before, and completely in control.” He stopped near the bed, folded his arms in front of his chest and cocked his head. “I dare say that fortune has changed sides.”
Peter didn’t even realize that he’d clasped the blanket to his chest and moistened his lips. “I know exactly what our positions are,” Hook lifted one brow, but remained silent, as the boy continued, “but without my help you’d be dead now.”
The buccaneer nodded slowly. “Aye, that’s true.”
“And your men as well!”
“I can’t deny this, Pan. You didn’t lie to me when you told me about Blackbeard’s plot.”
Peter frowned. “I never lie! I told you that before!”
Again Hook made an affirmative gesture. “Exactly like me!” The boy snorted and lowered his gaze. “Which means that I always keep my promises,” Hook added firmly.
Peter’s head snapped up. “You will not harm me this time. Wendy said so!”
“Well, if our beauty said so, then it must be true.” The boy didn’t relax, because he saw the glistening, dark look of his enemy. “On the other hand, this could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to teach you a lesson.” Peter paled and straightened his back. He saw the flash of the silvery hook as the pirate lowered his arms and bent towards him. He looked around for a weapon – anything that could help him to hold the buccaneer at bay. “Don’t even think of flight or defense, boy,” Hook said quietly. “You wouldn’t get very far.”
Fear suddenly dispelling, Peter glared up at the large figure above him. “I saved you!” he said hoarsely. “I saved your sorry skin three times, you miserable codfish, and you want to--”
“Don’t insult me, Pan!” Hook snapped. “I am not a patient man, especially when it comes to you, and believe me, until three days ago, I wouldn’t have hesitated to slice you into fishbait!” He pushed his hook under the boy’s chin, and a memory came to Peter of a fight on Marooner’s Rock, with that same cold iron tearing his stomach. He remembered his brave words, “To die would be an awfully big adventure!” With a growl, he rolled away from Hook and tried to jump up, but instead a strong arm was wrapped firmly around him and hauled him backwards. He felt the metal of Hook’s weapon-sash, the metal buttons and the velvet of the overcoat at his bare back, and the room started to spin around him and pain thrummed in his head. James rolled his eyes. “Heavens, Pan! I don’t ever remember you being this skittish!” he mocked while he tried to force the boy back into the cushions before he did more damage to himself than to the captain.
“LET ME GO!” Peter shouted, wriggling in the iron grip.
“Calm down, boy!” Hook growled. “This one time I will spare you.” Peter seemed to have not heard him, because he still writhed like an eel and another growl escaped him. Hook knelt on one knee behind frantic child and wrapped his right arm around the small form, too; taking care that the dangerous metal claw pointed away from the boy. “Peter!” he called low and firmly. “Calm down! Wendy was right! I will not harm you. There is nothing you have to fear from me at the moment.” Finally, the reassurances penetrated Peter’s mind, still clouded from the fever and now his determination as well. He ceased his attempts to get free, but he was tense, breathing hard, his fingers clinging to the strong arms around him.
“If you intend to kill me, then do it now, but don’t play with me!”
“I thought you lived for games?!” Hook scoffed. Again the boy got ready to rear up and the buccaneer strengthened his grip. “Do you really think I would kill my own rescuer? That would be extremely bad form!” Peter felt Hook’s hot breath on his cheek and closed his eyes, too proud to let his adversary see how helpless he was. “Do I have your word that you will stop this futile struggling and lie down, like a good boy should when he’s sick?”
For long moment there was only Peter’s ragged breathing, then the boy nodded slowly, adding a “Yes, Sir.” Shaking his head at this unusual courtesy, James loosened his grip and pushed him down onto the bed, feeling satisfaction and an odd discomfort at the same time, as he recognized the challenging gaze of the boy. “Stay there, Pan. From what I’ve seen, you are still too weak to go leapfrogging.” With trembling fingers, Peter pulled the blanket up to his chin while his gaze never left Hook, who set down on the edge of the bed.
James sighed. Yes, he had wanted to keep the boy in suspense – the temptation had been too strong – but for a strange reason he didn’t like to see him that frightened, that desperate, what he could clearly see beneath the shown bravery. They had worked together in the most mortal danger three days ago, and had worked side by side at times without argument. He had seen the boy fighting for him, tricking a whole gang of pirates and their insane leader, and even had jumped after him into the sea to save him from certain death, nearly at the cost of his own. It wasn’t sufficient to dig out the deep rooted hate, but it decreased it to a different level, one where he felt the slightest bit of compassion for his adversary – an adversary who was nothing more than a small scared and hurt child at the moment. Taking a deep breath he asked: “Why?”
“’Why what?” Peter’s voice betrayed his agitation.
James made a face. “Don’t pretend to be complete fool, Pan! Why did you save me?”
The boy’s eyes narrowed, gauging the distance from Hook to the porthole behind him, then he shrugged. “Blackbeard was the greater danger to Neverland, so I decided to do as Wendy asked and--”
“That’s not what I asked!”
Peter bit his lips. “You mean during the fight? It… it was a reflex and--”
“A reflex?” Hook pressed. “Then I owe my life your reflexes?”
“I saw your back was turned, and the other pirate was about to stab you in the back. I threw my knife and that was it.”
“Yes, I understand. And the same reflex sent you down into the water to bring me back to the surface. And the same reflex made you swim to the Revenge after making plans to sabotage the sloop, which was also a reflex. And another reflex saved Mullins from being shot.” He made a face. “Really, Pan, you don’t make it easy for me!”
The boy felt himself relaxing bit by bit, as Hook simply sat beside him and made no threatening moves, but talked almost normally. “Why should I?” he murmured. “I don’t understand it myself.”
“So let’s figure it out together. I know you too well. It wasn’t only an adventure for you. You didn’t act on purely instinct, but on purpose.”
“Why do you have to know why? I saved you – end of story!” Peter’s voice grew impatient, but as he met Hook’s sharp gaze, he thought it wiser to shut up. After all, he was still in the buccaneer’s hands, and completely defenseless for the time being.
“I have my reasons, boy, and to put it another way: it all began with a story.” He took a deep breath and glanced for a moment to the floor. “Looking back now, the whole thing seems like a story.”
Peter dared to shift into a more comfortable position, and asked, “What story?”
“One of those stories about adventures, where good wins over evil and it all ends with a kiss,” James grumbled, having suddenly remembered Wendy’s voice from more than four years ago. He sighed again and his eyes found the wide ones of the boy. “Tell me, Peter, why did you risk so much to bring your sworn enemy to safety?”
Peter turned his gaze away to his toes under the blanket. He saw before him Wendy’s tear-stricken face, and heard her screams and pleas as the waves closed over Hook’s motionless body. “She… she cried so hard and was almost out of her mind,” he whispered. “I’ve never seen her so desperate. And … yes, you’re my enemy, but you fought for her and only because of such a foul trick of Blackbeard I couldn’t let you die and…” He paused again, looking back at the buccaneer, confirming the man’s expectations. “It was because of her. Wendy. She was so afraid for you and I couldn’t let her down.” Suddenly his eyes filled with tears while he looked away. “And after I helped by saving you, she turns her back on me now!” he said bitterly.
Another twinge of pity stirred in Hook’s breast. “She hasn’t turned her back on you, Peter,” he heard himself saying. “She simply became a woman, and with this came other feelings. But – of course – she is still loyal to you, and would never let you down. She has considered long and hard how to tell it you, and--”
Peter glanced back at him and the knowledge that had whispered in the back of his mind for days now finally hit him. “It’s your fault,” he whispered. “YOU changed her.”
“As much as any other grown man would have done,” James replied calmly.
“She loves you,” the boy said more to himself than to Hook, finally getting the last missing piece of the puzzle. “Her fears for you, her behavior as Blackbeard lashed you … she even attacked him to save you…” He looked up to the man who sat so close to him. “She was with you when I woke up yesterday and she warned you during our prank and—“ His breath was heavy. “She is your friend now! She lied to me and--”
“Wendy never lied to you. She didn’t know how to tell you the truth, because she cares for you – too much, for my taste, but still I can understand, from her point of view.”
Peter’s lips started to tremble, while he sat up and moved backwards to the bed’s head. “She… she is with you. You two are together. You’re a...”
“A couple?” Hook helped him to find the right word. “Yes.”
“But… you’re a man--”
“And she’s a woman,” James nodded.
“Not MY Wendy!”
“Your Wendy, dear boy, has moved on. She has grown and, might I add, become the most adorable and beautiful young lady I ever laid eyes on.” He saw Peter shaking his head with stubborn denial, and continued almost softly: “She was already a lady when you brought her back to Neverland. I realized it the first moment she stood before me. She wasn’t a child anymore, but not a woman either, but she secretly yearned for what comes after the ‘kiss’ in her wonderful stories. I felt this as I took her in my arms the first time.”
“You’re lying!” Peter whispered and wanted to clap his hands over his ears, but he couldn’t stop listening to the man, who was suddenly a very different kind of enemy than before.
“No, Peter. We’ve already established that none of us lies. She always thought that there was more than just the words ‘happily every after’.”
The boy closed his eyes. “What more is there?” he whispered. “I asked her that after our dance that time long ago--”
“And she didn’t know what it was, but she felt that this knowledge would come with growing up
Peter stared at him. “How--?”
“How do I know about your little talk? I was standing only a few yards away.” He saw the shock in the pale face in front of him and shifted a little bit. “And she was right. This knowledge is as old as the world, but it really only comes when you grow up. It makes all the difference between a child and an adult. It changes you forever: your mind, your point of view, your feelings--”
“And you’re a man of feeling!” the boy snapped with a shaky voice. He saw the look of curiosity and added. “She said so, after you kidnapped her during her first visit.”
James repressed a whistle. “She said that? Smart girl!”
Peter gave in to the trembling. “Why her?”
“You can’t choose whom you love. It simply happens.”
“ ’The window is shut. I afraid it is barricade. She can’t hear you, she can’t see you. She’s forgotten all about you’,” the boy repeated the harsh words of his enemy from that horrible wonderful evening four and half year ago. He felt an invisible hand squeezing his heart while he closed his eyes and the first tear ran down his cheek.
“This has – for a change – nothing to do with you, Peter,” Hook tried to interrupt the boy’s thoughts, but he didn’t reach the mind of the lad in the bed.
“’There’s another in your place. He is called ‘husband’.’” More vulnerable than ever before, he looked helplessly up to his adversary. “You won!” he breathed. “You took her from me.”
Somehow the sound in Peter’s voice and the look on his face gave James a thin pang deep inside. It wasn’t guilt, that would have gone too far, but it was the beginning of it. “As I tried to tell you a moment ago: It has nothing to do with you this time.”
The boy only stared at him. “Now you have your revenge!”
Hook shook slowly his head. “No. That was never my intention with her. Maybe, in the very beginning, but that changed forever the moment I … I was with her, as she passed from a girl into a woman. From that moment on, nothing else counted, only her.” Almost shocked, he looked at the tears streaming down the boy’s cheeks. “You lost her the moment you chose Neverland over her,” he said softly, remembering this pain very well now. “She couldn’t stay a child in London and--”
“You’ve taken her from me! You were right all the time!” Peter whispered hoarsely, and James heard the thunder from far away with growing concern, while the ship started to ride heavier on the rising waves.
No, please not again! “Peter, calm down!” This time it was an order, because he knew exactly what happened when the boy was really upset.
“I’ve lost her. She didn’t simply leave me, but she turned to YOU!” The boy now wept openly, and Hook felt himself growing uncertain at the expression of anguish, disappointment, betrayal and sorrow on Peter’s face. The small body was trembling now and he could almost see the fever rising again.
Peter stared at nothing. The realization of the loss of Wendy, and that she had turned towards another one – and HOOK of all men! – stole his breath and seemed to freeze something in him, while his heart seemed to slow in his hurting chest. It threatened to tear him apart, until he thought he couldn’t bear it any longer. For long moments he only sobbed harder, hoped that the pain would go away, but it only grew worse. At last something exploded in him, driving away all coherent thought, and suddenly the boy flung himself at Hook and hit him weakly with his fists. “Make it stop! Kill me! Now! End it!”
For a brief raging moment, Hook truly thought of finishing him off. He had often imagined the boy sobbing at his feet, begging him to kill him, but in this moment, it was wrong. He didn’t want Peter to break because he’d made a mistake and had underestimated the power of his own feelings. The boy had never learned to handle his emotions, but they had bloomed inside him when he met the girlchild Wendy, and now they were too strong to control. They made him more helpless than a physical injury ever could. And out of this, James suddenly felt a true pity awaken in him. He allowed the weak blows drumming on him for several seconds, and ignored the pain as the small fists met his healing chest. Finally he had enough, and wrapped his arms again around the fever-hot body, pressing the boy closer to him and trying to soothe him.
The thunder approached and he heard the storm rising in the riggings, while the ship’s movements grew heavier by the moment. “Peter! Calm down! It will change nothing, if you continue to--” He stopped, because it was obvious that the pleading boy didn’t hear him. Rolling his eyes he caught the young arms still hitting him, forced them around Peter’s back, holding them there with his right arm, and pulled him roughly into an embrace, trying to give him a bit of comfort at last. For several moments the boy continued to struggle and cried to make it stop, then he slacked against the broad chest and started to sob freely.
Grimacing, Hook relaxed his grip very carefully, and, as Peter didn’t begin to thrash again, he released the boy. Almost immediately, Peter’s arms slid around him, while the boy wept his heart out, not caring that he found this comfort from his deadliest enemy. Shocked, James looked down on the golden tuft at his chest, felt the tears wet his shirt and the golden arms clinging to him, while the small body shook in despair. He knew that it would be the best to let the boy cry until he had calmed down, but as he heard the first shouts above him on deck, he thought that Peter should get his emotions under control as soon as possible.
He heard an alarming pelting against the porthole and recognized that it was hail. Wonderful! Not that it hadn’t rained enough in the last couple of days, now winter would come as well. Once more he mentally cursed this magical land where the weather depended on a boy’s mood.
Suddenly the door was flung open, and irritated, James looked over his shoulder straight into several alarmed faces. Oh no! They must not see him like this – holding this little brat to comfort him. “Out with you!” he barked.
John made a step in his direction. “What have you done to him?” he asked angrily, but before Hook could reply, a slender figure in a yellow dress pushed through the boys, trying to chase them out of the room.
“Please, stay outside. Everything will going to be alright.” Then her gaze met James’ and with wide eyes, she saw that he held a sobbing Peter in his arms. At that moment, she knew that her friend had learned her secret.
“What’s going to be alright?” her brother demanded and pointed at his friend and leader. “Do you calling this alright? Or the weather?”
“Mr. Darling!” Hook’s voice was hard and demanded the boy’s attention. “Would you please be so kind to lead your friends back to the common room? Pan doesn’t need any more distress right now!”
“As if you care what he needs,” John retorted and felt himself turned around by his sister.
“John! You heard James. He’s the captain of this ship and you, as his guest, must obey. So, please, follow his orders!”
“But--”
“Cap’n!” Smee’s voice arrived ahead of him, and the old boatswain shoved himself through the boys, making room for himself with a: “May I, please?” Gently he pushed John out of his way, passed Wendy – and stood dead in his tracks when he saw a picture he never expected to see -- his commander sitting on Smee’s own bed, holding a weeping Peter Pan in an almost soothing embrace.
He pushed his spectacles up his nose and looked at them, but placed them hastily back, as Hook snapped: “What is it, Smee?”
“Sir, the storm has grown, and it starts to freeze. Should we go on alert?”
Hook made an irritated growl in the back of his throat and swore under his breath before he nodded. “Alert the whole crew. Secure the riggings and anchors. And Cookson should take care that his dishes don’t break.”
The Irishman sighed and turned to go, then hesitated a moment. “And you, Sir?”
Hook lifted one brow. “I’ll do my very best to avert the storm by soothing the little pest here!”
With a compassionate glance, which took in Peter as well as James, Smee shoved his way back through the children and waved them to follow him. Hesitating, the boys glared toward their leader – who still clung too Hook – then to Wendy and John – who pressed his lips together – and then to the boatswain.
“Please go to the common-room. You’re safer there,” Wendy told them. Finally giving in, the boys slowly retreated, trying to maintain their balance as she ship seemed rocked on the waves. Only John remained a moment longer, giving his sister an unyielding look, before he also returned to the common room.
Steadying herself at the wall and then at Smee’s desk, she finally reached the bed and sat down beside Peter. She had waited outside the door in the corridor and had heard Peter’s outburst. She had nearly reentered the room then, but James’ calm, dark voice had followed, and so she knew that everything was still alright. Then she’d felt the heaving movements of the ship and gone on deck to see what was happening. When she saw the dark clouds, heard the thunder and finally felt the falling temperature, she guessed that something was very wrong with Peter and returned, where she found the boys obstructing the door to Smee’s cabin.
She exchanged a look with James and lifted a brow. Her captain nodded slowly. “I thought it better to tell him the truth myself.” He didn’t have to say it, but Wendy knew that he had done this to spare her another argument. Giving him a grateful glance, she bent forward and laid her hand on Peter’s shaking shoulder.
The sight of the two enemies now in each other’s arms was strange and wonderful in one. The boy startled as he felt the familiar hand and heard the most soothing voice he’d ever known -- until several minutes ago. “Peter? Please look at me.”
“Go away!” he choked back after several attempts to say something understandable before he turned his face again into the soft silk and velvet. He felt mighty arms tightening around him and new tears spilled over, as the pain of her betrayal and her fancied rejection of him overpowered him again.
“Peter, please listen.”
James shook his head. “Let him be, kitten. He’ll have to let it out first, then perhaps you can talk some sense into his sparrow-sized brain.” He felt unconscionably awkward with the boy in his arms – like a nanny, or a father.
Wendy threw him a look. “Please!” she mouthed to him and Hook puckered his mouth, but remained silent now, while he looked again at the boy. He had never imagined himself in this unbelievable position -- holding Pan of all people in his arms, trying to console him and waiting for the boy to calm down. And – strangest of all – the absence of hate and a stirring of pity, of compassion. Perhaps the sight of the sobbing child had simply found another soft spot, one he didn’t want to consider
This lasted several minutes more, until the sobs turned into sniffles, and finally the boy quieted down enough to raise his head and to wipe his reddened eyes. At last he realized whom he clung to, and let go of Hook. He even didn’t dare to glance up to the pirate-captain, embarrassed and shocked. “Better now?” Hook asked, and earned a slow nod and a shy glance to his chest.
“You’re soaked,” Peter said quietly with a voice rough from weeping.
“Aye. I was hit by a waterfall!” James commented dryly, and lifted Peter’s head carefully with his hook. This time the boy didn’t jerk away. Hook observed him and took in the red nose, the swollen eyes, the pale face and the still trembling lips. The boy was shaken, no doubt about it. “Get a grip, Peter. I know it hurts, but you had your chance.” His voice sounded firm but gentle again. “Everyone makes terrible mistakes and realizes them too late.”
Peter bit his lips. “What do you know about this… this kind of …”
“This pain? Enough, boy, believe me.” As Peter sniffled again, Hook sighed, searched his pockets and finally gave him a handkerchief. “Here! I don’t like children very much, and sniffling children even less!” To his irritation, it didn’t sound as harsh as he wanted it to. Hesitating, Peter took the handkerchief and blew into it with all his might, before he stuffed it under his pillow, murmuring a thank-you. James groaned. And this with his fine linen accessory!
“Peter?” Wendy asked, still with him, while she touched his arm. “Please, look at me.”
He pulled his arm away. “Don’t touch me!”
“But--”
He turned toward her and even in the tear-wrought face, she could see his fury. “I don’t want to talk to you! And I don’t ever want to see you again! You’ve spoiled anything and have compared me to him, even calling me incomp—“
“Shut up, Pan!” James cut in. “I won’t allow you to insult her, not after all she did for you!” Peter looked back at the man, and wanted to say something more, but Hook continued. “Wendy never lied to you nor intended to hurt you. She was forced to move on by time, which is something that happens if you’re in London and not in Neverland. To put it plainly, you let her down by choosing this oversized playground over her. Now she is a woman and you are still a boy.” He let his gaze take in the wet face of the boy and his tone softened, knowing perfectly well that he had to tread gently, to be certain that the child stayed calm if didn’t want to risk another outburst from him AND the weather. “Even you cannot stop these changes, and you have no other choice than to face them. I won’t say it’s an easy thing to do. In fact, it is often the hardest. But I always thought you had courage enough to face whatever came. For this, I respected you, I must reluctantly admit. Don’t destroy it now. Don’t destroy yourself because something went a different way than you wanted.”
Peter looked with growing eyes at this man – a man, his worst enemy who had tried to kill him countless times, and who now spoke to him in a way no one had ever done before, like a mentor, like a father. Never had someone talked to him about things like this, and never before he had wanted to listen to someone like now; even if it was Hook. “But… it hurts,” he whispered and realized a moment later that he had shown weakness again in front of the pirate-captain.
Hook nodded slowly. “Yes, it hurts. Life isn’t all fun and games, victory and sunny days. You wouldn’t recognize their treasure if you had them forever. It’s the dark moments that teach us this. They show us our weakness and mistakes, but also they prevent us from making those mistakes over again, and give us the chance to think straight the next time.”
Peter took a deep breath. “But I never wanted--”
“—to be a man? To allow real life to catch up with you?” James interrupted him. “It has only grazed you, boy. Here, in your small world you call Neverland, you’re almost safe from it. Wendy, on the other hand, hasn’t that protection anymore. She stands now on her own two feet in the middle of life, ready to face whatever it brings, and you never have and never will. So don’t damn her because she has turned to someone who will stay at her side and face it with her. She has shown more bravery than you by taking this step. Maybe we’re all fools and you’re the only clever one. But, on the other hand, you’re missing things we have and will always have. Time will show who has made the better decision.”
Peter lowered his head. He didn’t want to listen to Hook any more, but found himself unable to turn away. He felt his stomach skipping and whispered: “I am going to be sick.”
The buccaneer snorted. “No wonder, the way this storm is rocking the ship, as well as you crying your eyes out.” He stood up and went to Smee’s desk, knowing exactly where his boatswain hid his rum. Pouring a small amount l in a glass, he returned to the bed.
“James! You can’t give Peter rum!”
The boy looked at her for the first time, then glanced away immediately. “And why not?” Hook smirked, offering Peter the glass.
“He’s a child!”
“Believe me, my dear, he’s seen more years than I.” Peter ended the discussion by taking the glass and – not even thinking of the attempted poisoning in the underground home – he tossed it back with one gulp, only grimacing a bit. It burned in his throat and stomach, but not uncomfortably. Hook grinned. In the state Pan was in, he would fall asleep from the alcohol in no time.
“Thanks,” the boy murmured again and cleared his throat.
“Peter,” Wendy tried again, but he shot her a heated gaze.
“Don’t, Wendy! I don’t want to talk to you right now! Just go away with your captain and be happy with him!” With that he lay down and pulled the blanket over his head, shutting them out.
Hurt, but knowing that this reaction was normal, she stood, steadied by Hook’s hand. “I never wanted to hurt you, Peter, and I don’t want to lose your friendship. Maybe you’ll think better of me tomorrow. Whenever you want to talk, then let me know. I will come.” There was no reply and sighing, Wendy gently squeezed James’ hand.
“Come,” he murmured, opening the door, and found himself face to face with a worried fairy. “Miss Bell,” he greeted politely, not too honestly.
“Tink,” Wendy began. “I…”
The fairy made an inpatient gesture and mouthed a “I already know!” Sighing, she looked at the mortals, then flew over their heads to the bundle under the covers, and waved Hook and Wendy away.
The girl understood what the fairy tried to tell her and dared a smile. “Thank you, Tink,” she whispered, and Peter’s magical companion made a face before she pointed at them and grinned, while she lifted an index finger. Wendy knew what Tinker Bell meant and laughed silently, taking the man’s arm. Pulling James with her, she left the cabin and together they went towards the deck.

TBC…
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In the swirl of passion