Disclaimer: Don't own Hook.  Shit.  And he's so yummy too…some people just have the worst luck.

Author's Notes: Funny.  You'd think I would have been satisfied with one Away From Prying Eyes prequel.  Well, I had this other idea, see…and, well, I need a peace offering for my good friend Joal and Captain Hotstuff Hook, who have been so patiently pushing me to finish the other prequel.  So…here…peace offering….right…::ahem:: Anyway, dedications.  Yup.  To my dear Jason's Angels, you know you guys are always first, especially you, Sarah!  Wuv ya!  To the Cheeselovers' Guild-yes, you girls with your minds eternally in the gutter, never to be pulled out of it!-thanks for adopting (read: CORRUPTING) me!  You guys are the wackiest!  To Jason…eeshck…why in the world do I bother?  Not like he really reads this, right?  His wife would never let him…ah, well…

Summary: ::AHEM, AHEM:: So…our intrepid little Captain-to-be Isis Black is as of the moment a pirate on a ship occupying the opposite side of Neverland.  She's heard of Hook's notoriously huge…treasure chest (minds out of the gutters, people! What were you thinking!? Gods…), and knows that the chest is filled.  So she climbs aboard one night to steal it.  Funny that she should end up getting more than what she bargained for.  Rated R for Really, really, really yummy Captain Hook right ahead! (Damn, that was CORNY!)

In The Still Of The Night

A Prequel To Away From Prying Eyes

A Hook fic

By Lady Tavington

Enjoy.

CHAPTER 1: STEALING ISN'T AS EASY AS IT LOOKS

Nights in Neverland when Pan was away were always dark and cold, the purplish-black sky above cloudy and starless.  Winter crept in when Pan was not around, totally encompassing everything in ice and snow.  Hardly any Neverbirds and Neverblooms sang, thus there were no fairy dances to light up the dark forest that the Lost Boys made their underground home in. 

It was on one such night that a figure was seen by one of the few stars that dared peep from behind their cloud shelters stealthily sliding and gliding on the icy surface of the Neversea towards a prominent and imposing pirate ship. 

The Jolly Roger.  She was perhaps the biggest ship ever built in Neverland.  She housed over 20 pirates, and of course, their notorious leader, Captain James Hook.  He was said to be the only man the Sea-Cook ever feared, and he had been the one to dispatch Barbeque.  He was quite infamous among the landfolk (the fairies, the Never-animals) because of his lack of respect for most of them.  The fairies were the consistent victims.  He was, however, most famous for the steel hook he had in place of his right hand, which the sprite Peter Pan had cut off and thrown to a crocodile which has followed him (Hook) ever since.  Still, he was feared by all in Neverland.


Well, all except two people, apparently.  Pan was the first.  The second was this figure we were talking about earlier, the one who was now quietly climbing up the ship's starboard side.  With closer inspection, we find that this was no ordinary pirate.  This was a woman.  A FEMALE pirate.  Not very common, but very useful, especially in raids and thefts.

A theft was exactly what this particular female was on the Jolly Roger for.  Hook had a penchant for treasure hunting, and when he and his brutes went out to do exactly that, they never came back empty handed.  Unfortunately, Machiavellian that Hook was, he took most of the treasure for himself.  Only a small percentage of the treasure ever went to his crew, but his crew daren't complain, for fear that they just might find his steel appendage plunged into their stomach faster than they could say "Shiver me timbers." 

It was the perfect night to pull the perfect stunt.  No one had ever dared to even try to steal Hook's treasure from right under his nose.  That was all about to change.

Isis Black was by the railing of the ship now, and all it took for her was one very graceful swing of her legs to get over and onboard.  Cutlass between her teeth, she looked around, cloaked by shadows, to check that the coast was clear.  There were a few of the crew on the deck, all asleep and snoring like crabs.  Isis couldn't help smiling to herself.  They had no idea how easily she could dispose of them without waking their captain up.  Then again, by the looks of them, Isis thought Hook might not care if she killed his entire crew off one by one.  They looked like the most pathetic pirates on the entire planet.

She found her way to the door of the captain's quarters.  It was easily spotted, for there was a plate on it that read "Captain Jas Hook" in big, bold, gold letters set against a black background.  She took a thin piece of steel wire, almost like a needle, and picked the lock on the door.  In seconds, the lock clicked, and she was in.  She stuffed her cutlass back in its holster on her waist.

The room was dark, dimly lit by the night sky outside through the windows.  Isis wasn't sure if Hook was asleep or not, because his bed was in the shadows.  But her mission was to take the treasure and get out without waking anyone.  That included Hook.  She took a deep breath and crept to the gleaming golden treasure chest at the far end of the cabin.

The wooden floorboards creaked under her foot, and for one very tense moment, she thought she heard a groan.  She froze for about a second or two, dying on the spot from untold fear.  She'd never felt tenser in her life.  Why, why, WHY did she have to be so bold as to volunteer for the mission?

When nothing else followed, she calmed down, and resumed her stalking of the treasure.  In what she felt was a whole eternity without breathing (she realized she had forgotten to breathe after that tiny scare), she reached the coveted chest.  She picked the lock as skillfully as she did the door.  She heard the faint click, and was suddenly more relieved than she'd ever been in her life. 

In less than a second, that feeling of relief turned to frustration, then anger, and then, for the second time in less than 3 minutes, fear.  The chest was absolutely empty.  There was nothing in it.  It had been cleaned out.  Her captain would have her head if she returned empty-handed.

"Looking for something, wench?" came a cold drawl from somewhere behind her.  She quickly got back up on her feet, whirling around, only to come face to hook with the dread Captain James Hook, shirtless and smiling rather smugly.

*~*~*

A/N:  I've had another bad bout of writer's block, and so to fix that, I've decided to make this into chapters!  Yay!  My first long, non-one shot fic in a long time!  Woohoo!  Hang around for the next one or two chapters!

March 24, 2004