Disclaimer: Sorry, not mine. All Mr. Barrie's except for a few of the characters and some minor plot details.

Thanks for the fantastic reviews: You are wonderful and you are the ones who make me meet my up-date deadline every Friday.

Babybluestarangel, kate, Terriah, wendy, Chayter, Captain Oblivious, ( ), Kirby 12, Lifes Dark Angel, SuperStar4eva88, Edwards backup, dArKaNgEl A076, Dazzle1, Lostgurl920, Princess Moonbunny, Chii-123, ChildofGod, Bruja-de-Draco and squidluvr4eva.

Author's Note: Wendy in this story is two years older than when Peter first brought her back to her parents. Let's say she is 15. Peter…well, no one can tell how old he really is, but in this story he looks like 16 or maybe 17 right know, the problem is that he seems to age faster than usual, he might look like 18 tomorrow, like 30 in a few weeks time…as I mentioned in the last chapter, he grows older and older every day. J Soon, he'll be a fully grown man. If anybody can change/reverse the process, that is.

SHOW ME HEAVEN

Chapter 8

Dead

White, hot pain shot through him and he wanted to scream. Scream until his throat was sore or the searing pain would go away, but no sound emerged from his lips.

His shoulder, all he could focus on was the throbbing in his shoulder. Why did his shoulder hurt?

Slowly, the pain turned into black coldness and he had the feeling that he was falling, deeper and deeper, faster and faster. Falling into nowhere. Forever.

He looked so pale and fragile. All colour had drained from his face and it looked ghostly white, standing out from the green grass and plants around him. He didn't move and his chest only heaved so slightly that she wasn't sure if he still was breathing or if it was nothing but her imagination that made her wish and pray for him to still be alive. Blood was oozing from the wound, framing it with its sticky, dark red colour, making the stain on the expensive silk clothes he wore bigger by the second. She couldn't take her eyes of him. Her gaze seemed to be glued to the wooden shaft that had penetrated his shoulder. A sweet, coppery smell hung in the air and made her feel sick.

Around her, the Lost Boys stood flabbergasted, not knowing what to do. After all, Wendy had shot a pirate, and not just any pirate, but the Captain of the Jolly Roger himself. It was Fozzy who first started cheering.

"You killed him! Wendy killed him!" At first, he only whispered it, then the message sank in and all the boys jumped around Peter, chanting "Wendy killed him!" with all their might. They broke into a ferocious dance, twirling around the body in their midst.

The world was spinning and she didn't even take in all of what was going on around her. All she could focus on was Peter. She didn't even notice that Jaz had suddenly appeared in the trees above their heads and now was gradually floating down to them.

"I didn't mean to," she said and sank on her knees. "I didn't mean to." It was like a mantra and she couldn't help but repeating it over and over again.

She hesitated, then touched his face with her hand. He was still warm and his skin was as soft as it had been when she had last touched it so many months ago. Peaceful. Innocent. The cruelty he had shown her on the ship had gone and all that was left behind now was pure Peter. His eyes were closed. The expression on his face mirrored surprise.

"Please, don't die. Don't be dead. I'm sorry. Please, I didn't mean it. Peter Pan can't die." A tear rolled found its way down her cheek and fell on his lips. She was crying.

"Jaz, she killed him! Did you see it? Oh, Jaz, she shot and bam he fell and then, then…Jaz, she killed a pirate!" Brownie babbled clutching at Jaz's make-shift trousers of vines and leafs with his dirty hands to get his leader's attention.

"I always thought she had it in her!" Wiggy added and shoved the smaller Brownie away from Jaz.

"Yeah, sure you did, but it was my bow and my arrow she used to kill him!" was Nooves dry reply.

Jaz didn't pay much attention to either of the boys, who were still busy cheering and laughing. He got down on one knee, grasped the hilt of the arrow and yanked it out of the Pirate.

For an instant, Peter's body came to life again. He hissed and buckled, then groaned and feel back down on his mossy bed.

"Peter!" Wendy cried, desperate to make him hold on to life.

Little drops of his blood pearled from the weapon and it glistened in the random sunrays that had found their way through the thicket of the trees. The boys had gone silent, watching their leader.

"She didn't kill him," Jaz stated calmly and snapped the arrow in two before throwing it away. "He isn't dead, yet."

Wendy's head shot up. "Then there's hope? I did not kill him?" She sounded encouraged and a glimmer of hope gleamed in her eyes.

"You did not kill him," said Jaz with a court nod and turning away from the hurt pirate. He added, "Now let's go so that he can die in peace."

"Die in piece? What's that supposed to mean? We can't just leave him here! Are you crazy?" Wendy exclaimed and her words called the lost boys back who had already started to follow Jaz's lead back home.

"We have to take him home with us. We can't let him die, Jaz!" Wendy's voice quivered. Hadn't Jaz told her that there was still hope for Peter? How could he even just think about leaving Peter here to die?

The boys were speechless. "He's a pirate!" huffed Wiggy and looked at her indignantly.

"Yeah, we kill Pirates, we don't nurse them back to health so that they can kill us!" Nooves said and polished his glasses.

Fozzy, on the other hand, looked alarmed. "If we take him back to the tree house, he'll know where we live and then-"

"But-" Wendy tried to interject and then was cut off herself as the boys rambled on.

Jaz's frown deepened. Already, he was in a bad mood. That it was Wendy who had managed to shoot the pirate Captain was a pity and it hurt his pride that he had not been there to claim his right as leader. It was his duty! His! He had accepted her as one of his group, and now this girl was taking his honour away from him, and still, he would forgive her and let her stay with them. Who did she think she was to question his orders? Did she want to take his place as leader? The boys had already followed her out into the woods instead of waiting for him as they usually did.

"I said let him die in peace." He spoke with determination in his voice and as if to underline the sincerity of the situation, his jaw was firmly set. He wouldn't let this Wendy win.

"But-"

"No!"

Wendy looked at him, her eyes pleading to the boy to reconsider his decision. Her hands were clenched so tightly in the material of Peter's shirt that it threatened to tear.

The silence between them seemed to be excruciatingly long and heavy. Finally, Jaz spoke again.

"Very well, if you wish it, stay with him, but don't you even dare and come back to us. Stay with him, and you're dead, as dead as he will be before the sun sets!"

Wendy gulped. There was a knot in her throat and her stomach was churning, but she stood her ground.

"I am not leaving him!"

"Then do as you wish and die with him!" he said cruelly. "You are no longer one of us! You're dead!"

"Jaz, please…Jaz."

Jaz didn't even bother to answer her pleading. The Lost Boys stood around them in silence. With one last, pitying look, he rose into the air and flew off into the sky and as if their leader had given them a silent command, the Lost Boys turned and trotted away from Wendy and Peter. Nooves gave her one last smile and she could see that even Wiggy looked as if he doubted that Jaz had made the right decision. However, she would not leave Peter. She could not.

All she could hear now were the birds which sang happily above her in the trees, oblivious to the tragedy that was happening right below them, and Peter's now ragged breath. Blood had spilled on the ground as well and had started to form a little dark pool on the grass and moss. Again, she touched his face. Cold, it had been so warm only minutes before and now it was as if she would touch a block of ice. Cautiously, she peeled the shirt hiding the wound to the side. It looked horrible. Never had she seen anything like it before. The arrow hadn't gone through his shoulder completely, nevertheless, the wound looked like a big red hole continuously leaking blood, and with it, Peter's life. Wendy knew she indeed had to stop the bleeding. But how? All her clothes were too dirty to be used as bandages. Peter…he would have somewhat clean clothes. She rummaged through his trouser pockets and, yes, there was something. A handkerchief. It looked clean enough, it would do. She pressed it on the wound. Hopefully, it would stop the bleeding, or at least, slow it down. She needed time to think, time to make a plan.

"Peter, please, don't die. Please, please, don't."