A/N: Set just after the 2004 Peter Pan movie with Jason Isaacs (swoon), this is a short little drabble about Hook's thoughts. One-shot for now, perhaps more later.

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He threw back another shot of whiskey, and growled past the burn in his throat as he rubbed absently at his old scar. He was tired, so tired, of chasing that boy. Truth be told, it was more of a routine than any strong desire to capture him, any longer. It was a study in human interest: curiosity had turned to dislike, which had quickly turned to hatred once the impudent boy had actually dismembered him. Soon, obsession had sprung from a thirst for retaliation for his hand, but lately, it seemed all for naught.

The words he'd conjured at a moment's fancy rang in his ear, "My new obsession is you." Scowling harder and pouring another shot, he shoved away any thoughts having to do with that… that child.

She was a child! He was not a pedophile, nor was he a fool. She had been coy, excited about a life of piracy, eager to please with her stories… but in the end, her voice had been the loudest, chanting out his doom.

Old. Alone. Done for.

He tossed back the searing drink, hoping to deaden the past and drown the thoughts. He was not a man given to self-pity, nor to wallowing. Of course, he also insisted that he had not been jealous of Peter, nor strangely possessive of Wendy. Not of the child that she was, of course, as his new mantra ran through his head—not a pedophile—but possessive of the woman she was to become, and he hated Peter for being blind to her future. The boy would not understand her need or desire to grow up, and he would be petty enough to resent her should she choose to leave him. But Hook could see as if it was carved in stone; he could see the beauty that Wendy was to become, the fierce intelligence and quick wit leading her into a future so bright that it nearly blinded him when he was weak enough to ponder such things. Her future was nothing like his; he could envision only darkness ahead for his own life.

Jerking himself forcibly out of that dead-end mental track, he stood and began pacing. Stop it, Hook, you are a pirate, of all things. Live up to your hard-earned reputation: blackguard, cruel, hard-hearted and merciless!Leave all thoughts of the girl, past and future, behind.

But alas, the fates were not so kind…