He had caught her, but now Captain Hook had no idea what to do with her.

He studied he for moment. She was a head shorter than him, with ash blonde hair tucked away in a bun at the nape of her neck, although a few short stands had come loose from traipsing about the woods, framing her face prettily. She had a very young looking face; she could have been anywhere from 16 to 26. She was of slighter than average build though at that moment she seemed even more waif-ish as she was shaking in his arms, which was only to be expected as she had just been captured by Captain Jas. Hook. To her credit, she had not only managed to not faint, but she was still standing on her own power. Well, mostly; the angle at which he was holding her shoulders transferred some of her weight over to him, keeping her off-balance and incapable of running away. What's more, she was looking him in the eye without abject horror. She was definitely something different.

Unfortunately, Hook had a rather one track mind; for anything that was unexplainable or deviated from the norm he knew Peter Pan must be responsible. The poor man had been obsessed for so long that he couldn't reason any other way. So when he saw this young woman, he was sure she must somehow be linked to his archenemy. As soon as the notion began to settle in his mind the captain unconsciously began to clench his strong hands that were still holding Anne's shoulders, much to her discomfort. Well, at least the one hand did. His hook was digging into her left shoulder, drawing a thin line of blood making a tiny stain on the back of her top. He had apprehended a young woman who probably knew the location of Pan's hideout. The next logical step was to get her to talk. This could be difficult if she wasn't afraid of him, yet he prided himself on his good form, which almost definitely included a certain consideration for the fairer sex. Calculating that he terrify her later if she wouldn't talk, he decided on the more affable approach to gain her trust. As he didn't know who she was, it was just possible she didn't know who Captain Hook was or that he kept to his word only in the most abstract sense.

Anne struggled against the strong grip digging into her shoulders. "Let me go!" she demanded.

He had been clamping her shoulders so hard he was afraid he left bruises and winced when he felt his hook digging into her flesh, knowing from long experience it had pierced well into the skin. Hook intuitively knew this would not be the best beginning for their new kidnapper/host - captive/guest relationship. He immediately relaxed his grip, letting her go. Anne stumbled back a couple of steps, but never stopped looking him in the eyes. She moved her shoulders a bit to make sure there had been no long term damage. Sure enough, she could feel the blood trickling down past the middle of her back, but there was no worse damage. It hurt a little, but she refused to show weakness when she was encircled by the enemy. However, she had to make sure they wouldn't be manhandling her anymore; half the crew was already blatantly undressing her with their eyes, and several had reached out to 'steady' her when she had fallen back.

Anne put her hands on her hips and did her best to look insulted and unimpressed despite her intimidating position. She kept her gaze on the cadaverous man's face, aiming her next words at him.

"I would have thought the crew of Captain James Hook to have better manners." she blustered.

The men instantly shrank back two feet and refused to look at her, as if they had suddenly turned into a bunch of very tall 5 year olds being chastised by their mother. Their captain did not possess the sense of conscience so as to be guilt tripped by his own captive, but his immense ego had been taken down a notch at the reminder of what he had become. He was not proud of his men, although he had taken much pride in the efficiency with which he could bully them into towing the line. If his men had failed, it was his own fault for not commanding them well enough. Now it was Hook's turn to pretend. He loved this game. The best way to defend against an attack on his good form was with a show of even better form. He cocked his head and smiled graciously. He sure could put it on thick.

"And I would have thought that a woman lost and alone in the wandering woods would be more grateful for an escort back to the main path."

Anne gulped nervously. Not only were they going to kidnap her, but their leader was a seasoned manipulator. Still, she had managed to throw them off balance, and she took heart from the fact. She was no novice at manipulation herself.

"As it just so happens, I was having a lovely picnic before you and your men herded me into the trees and manhandled me. I think I'm infinitely better off with the company of the vegetation rather than the beasts, thank you very much." It was partly true. She had managed to score some early cherries from some low hanging branches and stored them in her skirt pocket for later. She never got the chance to eat them though, as she had been so rudely apprehended.

"Please allow me to apologize for our earlier behavior. We meant you no harm, Miss…?"

"Anne."

"Anne…?"

"Just Anne."

Hook quirked an eyebrow at her, but he let the lack of forthcomingness slide… for now; he could interrogate he all he wanted once she was on the ship. "Had we known of your presence we never would have intruded." Hook looked around for his men to nod and murmur their ascent.

'Yeah, sure you wouldn't have.' Anne thought.

"You must allow us make retribution. Come with us to the Jolly Roger; Smee is a master chef. I believe he left some clam chowder boiling on the ship for tonight's dinner. And of course he makes the best biscuits this side of the Spanish Main." Normally, the captain was very Spartan with his praise, denoting his satisfaction with the absence of punishment rather than gushing over them, especially in public. However, he needed to at least appear to give Anne a choice, and she'd be much more likely to come along willingly if he made the 'option' appealing enough.

"And of course a cozy hammock at the end of the day." Anne found herself slightly nodding in agreement to the offer. It was certainly better than being left cold, alone, and ignorant in the woods.

Hook also found that he liked the idea of having a woman on board.

"Although hammocks can be rather drafty. You might prefer a warm bed."

Until that last part Anne had been all but ready to ask to be kidnapped, but now she gave him a critical look, raising an eyebrow and looking as if she was trying not to laugh. She knew the kind of warm bed the tall and incredibly hot leader was talking about, she wasn't the type to jump into bed with someone willy nilly. It wasn't as if she found Hook unattractive, on the contrary, she had been staring at him, and not just because he was negotiating her kidnapping; he was literally the stuff of dreams. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she had been wondering how many women he must have had in his bed. But in her unusual circumstances, Anne thought the idea of her sleeping with anyone to be ridiculous.

Hook made a bid for nonchalance to remind everyone how tough he was. "Or a cold night in the brig; as you prefer." He had disliked the look on her face when he had so generously offered to share his bed. He had forgotten that women had a different perception of the world than men; he would have to be more careful if he was to gain her favor to find out where Peter Pan was hiding. To his confoundment, Anne smiled brightly, nodding her consent to the alteration of 'terms' and be taken back to the ship. He really hadn't expected the nice approach to work. These days it was only a mechanical prelude to torture in order to satisfy his good form. Maybe he had finally come across someone who would appreciate his gentlemanly behavior.

It wasn't as if they were just going to let her go if she had refused. So far death and torture had not been mentioned, and she (rightly) assumed she would be able to retain favorable treatment if she was compliant enough. As they began making the trip back to the Jolly Roger, Anne supposed that being captured by pirates was actually preferable to being stuck in the woods. She would be fed and given a (relatively) safe place to sleep that night, and there was an entire crew that had serious potential of being wrapped around her little finger.

'Yes, this is definitely better than being lost in the woods.' Anne mused as she followed the now slightly flustered captain. She knew he'd recover soon and find some way of changing the stakes in his favor, but until then she comforted herself with lascivious thoughts. It was a trick she'd picked up long ago; the best way to seem relaxed and in control is to think dirty. She still had a few cards left to play. For the duration of the walk back to the ship, Anne followed directly behind the captain and could just make out his rangy form underneath his oversized coat. 'Much better.'

Hook thought he had felt her eyes boring holes into his backside the whole walk to the long boats. Although he couldn't be entirely sure. It'd been so long since he'd been around a woman (as he was again so painfully reminded) that he didn't know if it wasn't just his own attraction making him wish it was the case. But his suspicions were bolstered when she kept tripping over the uneven parts of the forest floor. His sadistic side kicked in a little as he lead the group over the rougher terrain back to the ship, just to hear how often she would stumble. When he started to think this might not be good form he justified it as not being his fault for her to not watching where she was walking. The captain didn't have long to contemplate this new development for though it had only seemed a few moments, he suddenly realized that they were only a few minutes away from the longboats. Hook chastised himself for being so easily distracted from the task at hand. He needed her for information, not playing spin the grog bottle!

Of course Anne had been blatantly staring at the captain, but she thought she did a good job of not letting him catch on by making conversation with Bill Jukes, who had been personally assigned to keep an eye on her. Although he was completely covered head to foot in tattoos and intimidating to look at, she wondered if there might have been some other reason as to why he had been chosen out of the entire crew, so (without tearing her eyes off of Hook) she asked him.

"Because I can tolerate more than any man here."

"I-I'm sorry?"

He smiled at her. "If you were to try to run away, I'd have to hold onto you. No matter how much you might kick or struggle I wouldn't let you go. You could bite me, kick me, do anything really, and I still would not release you."

Anne stared dumbly at him before looking back at the tall captain.

Jukes continued "Long before I came here, when I was under a different captain, I…" he paused, looked at her, and thought for a moment. He didn't mind being a pirate, in fact, he enjoyed it immensely. But telling the pretty lady walking beside him that he was a thief made him (probably for the first time in his life) blush from shame, even though his occupation was already quite obvious to her. "I came into the possession of some loot we had recently pillaged from a nearby settlement. I was caught and ordered 12 lashes. But I refused to give up where I'd hidden the loot. They gave me another 12, and another, but I still held strong. As long as I didn't talk, I knew I'd somehow get out of there with the gold. But after 60 I started to break. Finally, I gave in at 72." he slowed his walk as he remembered the event "I was half-dead when they untied me."

Here, Anne forgot about Hook and gave him her full attention. "How did you survive?" Anne asked in wonder, her voice no more than a whisper.

Bill Jukes shrugged. "They threw me in the brig after, of course, and eventually my wounds mended." he coughed uncomfortably. "I still have the scars though. Wanna see them?" Although the memory was still painful to him, he was obviously very proud of his lingering souvenirs.

"Maybe tomorrow. Somehow I don't think the captain would like you taking your shirt of in front of me." Anne smiled to herself. Hook had propositioned her, and now given her his best guard. He was getting a little possessive and Anne couldn't afford to be blind to it. It was a good sign, at least as an indication for the way she would be treated; she could have been assigned to one of the crew members who seemed to enjoy torturing other people, like Cecco. She'd been watching him as well, although out of the corner of her eye. Every time a branch got in his way he'd give a savage growl and tear the limb apart. He seemed to enjoy the violence and had taken to wandering on the outskirts of the company, purposely taking the more overgrown patches. The only thing that kept Anne from every outburst was the double distraction of ogling Hook and carrying on a conversation with Jukes. Obviously, Hook wanted her intact and whole, at least for now, though for what purpose, she could only guess. She decided not worry, as there was a definite possibility that she might be completely unharmed by the end of the ordeal so long as she appeared to cooperate. On that light note, Anne put away any more scheming and uneasiness that hadn't been quelled by ogling the tall dark-haired man in front of her, and reflected that she genuinely liked Bill Jukes, and although neither of them knew it, they already had more in common than either would have thought. She asked him questions about piracy and life on a ship the rest of the trek.

Once they were in the longboats Anne quit asking questions to let the Bill and the others row. It was not a long ride and soon they were alongside the Jolly Roger and Anne had come to a sudden realization; to board the ship she would need to climb up the steps that had been built into the outer hull like a ladder. A trifle for the all-male crew, but when one was wearing a long skirt, especially in a breeze (the air had become much more open once the group had broken through the tree line and made their way down to the beach), one saw things a little bit differently. Naturally, none of the crew had realized this problem yet, and as the captain began to climb up the hull to board, he turned around and gallantly held out a hand to help her up.

Gallant… or shrewd; Hook was not letting her out of his immediate area for one second. As a safety precaution the Jolly Roger always anchored in waters too deep for sirens, sharks, or mermaids. However, this made the immediate waters perfectly safe for Anne to jump ship and swim away. He didn't trust her any further than he guessed she could spit, despite her seemingly willing acquiescence to stay on the ship.

Anne smiled nervously and shook her head. When the captain gave her a questioning look she pointedly gave a little tug on her attire and nodded meaningfully towards the rest of the crew to drop the hint. He smiled and nimbly climbed back into the longboat, giving orders for the rest of the crew to go on ahead. Anne silently cursed the wiley captain. As the crew passed by one by one, she felt her discomfort climb with them. She wasn't such a prude as to be worried by Hook looking up her skirt (she *was* wearing underclothes after all), she wasn't even sure he'd permit himself to look, but she disliked the perceived vulnerability and he was looking much to smug about it; at that point she'd prefer *anyone* to follow her other than him. She decided to play on his ego. Better to give him the wrong idea than let him later imply she was beholden in some way for him safeguarding her honor, or some such nonsense. Dealing with Captain Hook was like dealing with the mob; one had to make sure they didn't perceive themselves as rendering any favors or else one would fall into debt quicker than the snap of a crocodile's jaws.

She turned to him and batted her big hazel eyes coquettishly while threading an arm through the crook of his elbow. "Captain, would you mind going ahead of me, I'd much rather you went first so you could help me up with these big strong arms." Here she wrapped her free hand around his bicep and gave it a gentle squeeze. She could feel the muscle underneath the layers of fabric and found she didn't mind the ruse so much. It was a very awkward one and not in any way sophisticated, but Hook hadn't been seduced by a woman for so long, she could have given him that look and said anything that he would have completely fallen for the trap. Anne saw his eyes darken as he looked at her…The tension in the air was cut with the all the subtlety of a record being pulled off its track by Smee, who by this point was the only other remaining person in the longboat. "You go ahead captain, I'll watch over the little lady and help her up from down here."

'God bless Smee!' was all Anne could think of when Hook turned away to regard the bo'sun. She'd been trapped in his stare just as surely as if he'd pinned her up against the side of the ship; she'd have to be more careful when dealing with the captain. Also he'd saved her from thinking up a real reason for the captain to go up first. Hook couldn't find a good excuse to argue the point, so he obligingly climbed up the ship before her and offered her his 'strong arms' to help her down from the railing. He held on to her a bit longer than necessary, but was otherwise the perfect gentleman, though he still had that look in his eyes. She just hoped it'd simmer by the time dinner was over, otherwise she'd be in trouble with no Smee to interrupt.

The crew were given their orders and dismissed. Most were just given permission to laze about, as the day had been very productive and the captain would be busy working on getting information out of the new 'captive'. Smee went into the kitchen to make dinner while Hook steered Anne around the ship, giving her the grand tour and making a pointed stop at the brig, where Jack decided to introduce himself.

"Meow."

"You have a cat on board?" Anne asked. She had him pegged as more of a dog person, if he was the type that liked animals at all.

"Naturally; any ship worth its ballast has a resident a mouser. Jack earns his keep by keeping the rats and mice from eating our stores." Hook didn't bother to add how much of a holler Smee would have raised if Hook had thrown the feline overboard after he woke one morning to find his best coat covered in cat hair. Smee loved that cat.

"Jack, come here boy, come here!" Anne quietly coaxed. Finally a huge and very well fed tom came out from under the bench/bed hanging off the wall. Anne laughed.

"Calico Jack!" she looked at the captain as the joke sank in. "But I thought it wasn't possible for male cats to be calico?"

"According to Mendel, you would be right. As the calico trait is linked to the female sex allele, a cat cannot be calico unless it possess both X alleles, however, a calico can be male if it an additional Y allele." He paused when he noticed Anne had stopped petting the cat to gape at him. There was nobody on the ship who properly appreciated his encyclopedic knowledge of everything except youth. He wasn't sure if Anne was stupefied because of the jargon, or because she was amazed at the breadth of his intellect, so he continued on, hoping it was the latter. "Normally, an individual has only two sex genes, either XX or XY. To have three sex alleles, there is usually some rare form of genetic mutation, creating a series of anomalies within that individual. Therefore male calicos suffer from a variety of anomalies, making them very rare and also very sick…" his lecture died off when Anne's expression changed from delighted surprise to great concern.

"However, in Neverland anything is possible. Jack is calico, but he is also the picture of health." the captain reassured the worried girl.

Anne felt better knowing the cat was alright (in fact he was obviously much better than 'alright') and return to gaping openly at Hook, completely dumbfound. She wouldn't have figured a 17th century pirate would know so much about genetics and biology (*she* barely knew the basics), but then again, Hook was no ordinary pirate. She recovered herself by cooing over the fat tom that was now purring around her ankles. Apparently, the affection was mutual.

Hook noted the fact. "Perhaps we should call you Anne Bonny." he joked.

Anne laughed again. "I think that would be perfect!"

Hook tried to not let his immense frustration show when he realized that he'd just given her an out for ever having to properly identify herself, which she'd promptly seized. He was not one to idly lose the upper hand, but he'd just done so to this… girl. But was she really so young? He began to wonder. She certainly seemed to know far more about the world than one would think just looking at her. But then again, as Hook remembered more about women, ladies were masters of appearances and perception; Hook was going to have a difficult time getting any information out of her, and he just knew that Pan related information was going to be the most difficult to acquire. He decided then and there that if she was going to play hardball, he would not hesitate to do the same.

After the captain had managed to pry the cat away from Anne (which turned out to be much more difficult than either of them would have guessed), he showed her the crew's quarters and the galley before ending the tour in the captain's cabin, where Smee was just finishing laying out the table. For two.