As Jaclyn storms angrily out of the cabin Hook falls into his chair, a small grin on his lips at the sounds of male snickers coming through the open door. Doubtless the crew had heard what Jaclyn had said concerning their little "chat". He chuckles as he imagines the look that is probably on Jaclyn's face at that moment and gets up, pulling on his coat.

He stretches happily, such as a lion would before beginning the hunt. His mouth opens in a huge yawn, and he stretches his arms up to the ceiling. His mind drifts back to Jaclyn's face as she had stormed out of his cabin, and Hook feels a thorn of anxiety pierce his chest. 'What if she truly is angry?' He calms himself, a confident smile replacing the look of fear that had previously filled his face. 'Why does it even matter? It's not like she's stronger than me. I can easily win her over.' His eyes assume a hungry gleam. 'And if that doesn't work, there's always a more... forward approach.'

He walks out of the cabin, a self-satisfied smirk on his face as he takes in the deck of his ship. His eyes immediately lock onto the small figure huddled on the ground, her arms around her chest.

oOo

Jaclyn shivers violently, Hook's baggy clothes swirling around her frame in the wind. She rubs her hands together quickly, hoping that it will bring some warmth into her pale and frozen skin. No such luck.

All of a sudden she sees a shadow approaching, and she looks up to see Hook looking down at her amusedly. A surge of anger rises up in her, and she immediately turns around, looking out at the sea mutinously.

As her anger grows, the waves grow choppy and splash cold seawater against her legs. Quickly she scoots backwards, until her back bumps into Hook, who has suddenly appeared behind her. She gasps suddenly as Hook reaches down and runs the flat aide of his hook across her face.

Jaclyn jumps to her feet as if electrocuted, turning to face Hook angrily. "What's your problem?!" she shouts. Hook blinks blankly at her, and then grins nonchalantly.

"It seems to me that the one between us who has a problem is you, Miss Cross." He leans into her, placing his face a whisper's breadth away from hers.
Against her will Jaclyn feels her heart speed up, and Hook smiles as if he can hear it as clearly as she can. His smile turns seductive, and he breathes a puff of warm air into her face. "Maybe your problem is one concerning... the heart, maybe?"

Momentarily stunned by Hook's closeness, Jaclyn blinks rapidly, trying to clear her head from the fog clouding her thoughts. As soon as she does, however, she backs up, placing her arms over her chest stubbornly. "I have no problems Captain, especially not concerning my heart. That particular organ is functioning very well still, but thank you for your concern."

Hook smiles, following her backwards and unfolding his arms from where they had been previously; across his chest. His lips, already turned up in a crooked smile, twitch slightly at the corners, as if threatening to break into laughter. "That's not what I meant, Miss Cross, and we both know it."

He finally manages to get the backs of Jaclyn's legs against the gunwale of the ship, and leans up in front of her once more. Placing his hand and hook on either side of her, he rests his weight on the thin wooden railing against Jaclyn's back. Jaclyn blushes fiercely, looking over Hook's shoulder at the mass of men staring at the two of them.

"The crew is watching, Captain," she, struggling to keep her voice cool, "I would appreciate it if you would move away from me now."

She leans farther away, and gasps as she loses her balance, tipping over backwards towards the black water below her. Before she can even scream, however, Hook reaches out and snags the front of her shirt and pulls her back onto the firm deck. In the process, however, he causes her to stumble forward into his arms.

Her face pressed against Hook's strong chest, Jaclyn experiences a brief moment of peace, a feeling of security unfolding in her chest as she takes a deep breath in. The smell of rum, salt, and gunpowder clings to Hook's coat, and Jaclyn closes her eyes with a smile before realizing exactly what she's doing. A blush creeps onto her cheeks and she tries to push away from Hook. All that happens, however, is that he wraps his right arm around her and pulls her closer to him.

He leans down and whispers in her ear, "I can give you the shirt if you like it that much," then straightens abruptly, smiling.

He turns to the rest of the crew assembled on the deck, shouting, "Men! We're going to the island! Now who wants to come and get revenge on that runt of a boy, Peter Pan?!" A great cheer rises up from the men, and Jaclyn struggles futilely to break free of Hook's grip.

All of a sudden she catches the gaze of a man standing all alone on deck, leaning arrogantly against the bulkhead beside him. Though his face is half-hidden in shadow, Jaclyn knows without a doubt that this is Jenks, and a shiver runs down her spine.

She looks pointedly in the opposite direction and, out of the corner of her eye, sees Hook point out a group of six men to go with them.

Pointedly trying to ignore Hook, Jaclyn scans the group morosely. All of a sudden her heart gives a frightening lurch in her chest at the sight of Jenks, standing in the middle of the group and staring at her hungrily. Her breath hitches, and she averts her eyes, though she can still feel his gaze on her.

The rest of the crew slouches off; disappointed that they won't be able to be involved in the possible attack against Pan.

Hook glances down at Jaclyn. "Shall we be off then?"

He quickly spins on his heel, pulling Jaclyn around with him and leading her over to the jolly boat hanging off of the stern of the ship. Jaclyn attempts futilely to dig her heels into the wooden deck, trying to stop Hook. She wasn't going to go on any sort of extended rendezvous with Jenks around!

To her utter anger and embarrassment, Hook merely swings her up over his shoulder with a grunt, continuing on as if nothing had happened.

Jaclyn shrieks in annoyance. "Put me down, you bastard!"

Hook tuts at her under his breath. "Such vulgar words from the mouth of a lady," he says with a smile. "I did warn you that I had no qualms about doing this again, you know." His hand slides up her thigh and rests on the curve of her hip, his fingers toying with the waistband of her pants playfully. "Actually, I kind of like it."

Jaclyn stiffens, her skin heating under his touch, and reaches over to slap his hand away. "Stop that! You're the one who told me that the time we spent together was 'wasted', so don't start getting all involved all of a sudden!"

Hook's chest rumbles with laughter. "Is that what you were so angry about? I can assure you, I don't feel that any time with you is 'wasted' at all." He pinches her calf mischievously. "If it was, though, I'll have to 'waste' a lot more time during the next few days."

Jaclyn grits her teeth stubbornly, grinding her molars until she can almost feel them crumbling away. 'He is not going to win me over,' she thinks angrily. 'He's just saying things that he thinks will get me to drop my guard, but it won't work. I know his game. Kiss me, make me angry, and then make up to get me in his good graces again until he wants to kiss me again. No way am I falling for that trick!'

A small part of her brain says rebelliously, 'but what else do you have to do here? Honestly, you aren't planning on going back home, you're too old to join Peter and his gang (not that you would want to anyway), and joining the crew would just invite more advances from them! Why not just take what he has to offer?'

Jaclyn gives herself a mental shake, not even wanting to consider 'what he has to offer'. She lets her head hang down towards the deck, Hook's shoulder pushing against her stomach and her thoughts still undecided.

All of a sudden she feels Hook grab her waist with both hands and lift her up off of his shoulder. She sighs with relief, expecting to be placed on the ground, but is instead passed down to yet another sailor standing in the jollyboat hanging off of the side of the ship.

The man places her on one of the seats and then makes room for the captain, who climbs down into the boat with the practiced ease that comes of being out at sea for so long. Jaclyn turns to him sulkily. "I could have gotten in by myself, you know."

Hook eyes her with some amusement. "I know. I just enjoyed seeing your expression, my dear."

Jaclyn glowers at him, trying as hard as she can to burn holes through his head. When that doesn't work she simply sits back on her seat and gazes out at the island as the jollyboat is lowered into the water.

Her angry grimace turns to a look of wonder as she sees the sparkling blue water surrounding the island, and the bright green foliage covering the land. From her distance she can't see many details, but patches of pinks and reds burst forth from between the trees and spill onto white, sandy beaches. Farther down the coast, almost too far for her to see, is a sharp cliff face rising up out of the water, and Jaclyn can only imagine that that is where the harbor and town are.

Her heart gives a small flutter of anticipation at the thought of being able to see some people other than Hook and his pirates, and Hook leans down beside her. Almost as if he's reading her mind he says, "Getting tired of us already? Don't bother looking for new places to live; I won't be letting you go anytime soon."

Far from making her less worried, this comment sends a chill of foreboding through Jaclyn, and she turns her gaze back to the island. Catching the direction of her gaze, Hook leans beside her again. The boat lurches forward as two men start pulling on their oars and Hook says quietly, "I wouldn't look so lovingly at that island. There are many hidden dangers there that even I try to avoid."

Jaclyn looks at him in disbelief. "Like what? That island is the least threatening thing I've seen here yet." She looks pointedly at Hook's metal appendage, and smirks when an angry tinge appears on his cheeks.

He grits his teeth, and points towards the island. "On that island, there are lakes filled with poison, mermaids who would drown you as soon as look at you, living plants who take pleasure in strangling people, and an entire area of the forest where the vilest creatures roam free. Besides those, there are also the Lost Boys, natives, and that blasted crocodile."

Jaclyn blinks in shock. "All of those things are on that island? But I always thought that Neverland was, like, a beautiful place with no dangers where you live forever."

Hook stares at her for a moment, then bursts out laughing, clutching his sides and bending over in mirth. Jaclyn blushes. "What? That's what I heard!"

Hook finally sits up and wipes his eyes, still chuckling. "Then you heard wrong my dear. It's true that you live forever in Neverland, but that is only because men dream of living forever. There are, however, many evils here for the same reason."

Jaclyn looks up at him in confusion. "What do dreams have to do with anything?"

Hook looks down at her with a smile and says, "This world is linked with the real world through dreams. That is why that blasted flying boy can travel back and forth, because he is nothing but childish dreams, when I would never be able to because I have no dreams at all." He turns away from Jaclyn and stares at the island morosely. "I don't know why I still bother to go to that island anymore."

Seeming to get over his sadness, Hook looks back at her. "If someone somewhere in the real world, let's say a child, where to dream of a flying horse, that dream would travel across the bridge between worlds and take the form of a pegasus in Neverland."

Jaclyn frowns, her brow furrowing in concentration. "But then why isn't this place packed with different creatures? I mean, this island has been the gathering place of people's dreams for millions of years! What—" She stops as Hook lays his finger on her lips.

"I don't know the exact details of how it works, but I believe it has to be a very strong dream for it to take shape. For example, dragons have been legends dreamed of throughout history, so—"

"Wait!" Jaclyn says in shock. "There are dragons on the island?! Can I see one? Are they huge? Do they breathe fire? Can they fly? Are there—" Hook groans, cutting her off.

"I think I liked you better when you hated me." He sighs resignedly. "To answer your questions; yes, there are dragons, yes, you will see one when we get to town, no, they aren't huge, they would barely fit in the palm of your hand, yes, they breathe fire, and yes, they can fly. Any more questions?"

Jaclyn sits back in amazement. There were still so many questions she wanted to ask him, but at that moment she lurches forwards in her seat as the boat bumps against the sandy shore. She blinks; where had the time gone? Shaking her head, she stands up and leaps out of the boat, landing in the shallow surf beside the boat and splashing water everywhere.

"Wha—" Hook splutters, water dripping down his front. Jaclyn grins mischievously at him and sticks out her tongue at him. Immediately Hook's eyes brighten to a vivid blue and he growls hungrily.

"Mind you put that tongue back in your mouth, Miss Cross, before I put it to better use," he says with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

Jaclyn immediately snaps her mouth shut and scampers up the beach, and Hook smiles at her retreating figure with a grin. 'Well what do you know? This trip might actually be some fun after all.'