Chapter 6

Peter struggled against the bonds that secured him to a chair. He was in Hook's cabin, a bad place to be. Try as he might, he could not get loose nor get his mouth close enough to chew through the rope that restrained him; but try he did.

After that man had fallen off the plank, his children had been carried away by a couple of burley seadogs. Peter wished he knew where to. He hated the thought of them tied up somewhere. At least Hook's cabin was clean... And it wasn't like Peter had never been held prisoner before. He was sure Jack and Maggie would be new to the unpleasant experience.

He had an almost all-consuming desire to rescue them. This was not entirely unusual; Peter enjoyed rescuing people... But this feeling was stronger than most, and was felt for children he had barely even met!

This was truly unsettling, especially considering Hook's ridiculous theory that those children were somehow his, the children of Peter Pan. He had argued against this idiotic idea ever since Hook proposed it. Peter's constant objections to the contrary left him with several large bruises, but even a beating could not silence his conviction.

Now he was alone; a predictable tactic of Captain Hook's, designed to create fear through anticipation. Despite his awareness of Hook's motives, Peter was ashamed to admit it was working - just the littlest bit.

Just then voices could be heard outside, and the door was opened. Peter was surprised at how short his bout of isolation had been. If anything it made him more weary.

Hook stormed into his cabin and beheld the boy tied to a chair. A longing to vent his anger and hurt the child filled him, forcing him to turn away.

"Get him out." Mr Smee just looked at the Captain, not sure if he had heard him right. Hook did not appreciate the delay. "Get him out!" Mullins and Scourie jumped at their Captain's sudden ferocity and rushed to where Pan sat. "Lock him in the brig. I don't want to look at him." The two crewmen quickly untied Peter (who had already geared himself up for another fight) and wrestled him from the room. Smee closed the cabin door behind them and turned back to his Captain.

"I should claw myself with my own hook, Smee. Not to kill Pan when I had the chance! What have I done, Smee?" Mr Smee merely continued to look at Hook, not sure if he was meant to answer or not. "...Agreed to a preposterous plan, an absurd war. Now I'm bound by my indefatigable good form to wait."

Hook slumped behind his desk, tired and bitter. "Wait for what? Whether it be three days or three decades, he'll always be a fat, old Pan. Oh, I hate being disappointed, Smee. And I hate living in this flawed body! And I hate living in Neverland! And I HATE Peter Pan!" Unable to control his frustration any longer, Hook plunged his namesake deep into the tabletop, ripping it out again almost instantly.

Smee jumped at the sudden and violent display, whimpering under his breath. He didn't know how to help or what to suggest... he just wanted the Captain to calm down before he turned on the crew or him!

Thankfully, in a heartbeat, Hook's rage seemed to subside only to be replaced with a melancholic self-pity. "My career is over. This was supposed to be the war to end all wars."

"And it will be, Captain."

"The ultimate war." Smee began fussing around the room, preferring to be a moving target rather than a sitting duck should Hook find his anger again.

"There must be a way to get at him, Smee... to get even with him... to get him where it really would hurt. There must be something I haven't thought of. Where is he vulnerable?" The bo'sun opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it just in time. Hook had a habit of thinking out loud when Smee was in the room, but he cared for the man's opinion very little.

Instead, Smee busied himself by fixing his Captain a drink. But as he lifted a decanter to a glass, the two met and struck a reverberating note that seemed to punctuate Smee's sudden and rare formation of an idea.

"I've just had an apostrophe."

Hook glanced up briefly before allowing his head to sink once more into his hands. Voice muffled by this position, he interjected "I think you mean an 'epiphany'."

"Lightning has just struck my brain."

"Well, that must hurt."

"Pan's kids..."

"What about them?" Hook was becoming increasingly annoyed by Smee's long pauses and idiotic hesitation.

"You could make them like you."

Hook smirked at the very idea. "So what?"

"We could make the little buggers love you!"

"No, Smee. No little children love me."

"Captain, that is the point." Smee's voice was beginning to fill with excitement.

"What do you mean?" Hook's interest had started to build despite himself.

"That is the ultimate revenge."

"What is?" He was growing very tired of the man's reluctance to get to the point!

"Imagine Pan's puss when he faces you, and his kids are standing there, ready to fight for the sleaziest sleaze of the seven seas, Captain James Hook. Oh, captain, it's beautiful!"

Comprehension finally illuminated the Captain's face. "Yes, I see." He stood and circled his desk with a pondering expression. "You know, Smee... I like it! Oh, Smee, what a superb idea I've just had! Tomorrow, I'll make Pan's brats love me. Oh, Peter Pan will fly again. He'll remember how. And if he doesn't those dirty Lost Boys will jog his memory. Oh, yes you'll see. He'll crow, he'll fight, he'll fly... and then he'll die." Smee was rather disturbed by the manic laughter that arose from Hook, and was grateful when it subsided and the Captain retired for the night.

Neither thought of the boy Pan, locked deep down in the bowels of the ship, shivering for lack of a blanket, and parched for the lack of water. Pleased that Hook seemed to be leaving him alone for now, Peter curled himself up a little tighter and urged himself to sleep.