Disclaimer: Peter Pan, all characters, places, and related terms belong to J.M. Barrie, and Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures, and Revolution Studios.

Author's Note: My forth '03 movie fic, this time starring Captain Hook, which I've been slaving over the last couple months. Feedback is welcomed.

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He Needed a Wendy

I now barely pay any attention to the crew and prisoners going on still about believing in fairies. My attention is on the sky, which minutes earlier had been full of dark clouds and falling snow. A chilling wind had whipped across the churning water. Now the clouds are gone, the sun shines brightly, and the snow ceases falling. The waves calm. I watch the change with a tiny bit of awe and confusion. What is the meaning of this…? My brows knit together. Slowly, understanding dawns on me. It cannot be true…! But I understand the ways of Pan that others do not. My disbelief quickly melts into fierce anger. Quickly I turn to face the crew who is still chanting.

"He's alive!!!!!" I scream in rage. The others finally fall silent. I storm towards the mast which Wendy is tied to, roughly pushing aside members of the crew who do not move out of my way fast enough. "Why is he…?" What is he?" I demand. Reaching Wendy, I close my fingers round her neck. "We'll have one last story before you die," I hiss darkly, "the story of Peter Pan." I lift her chin, causing her to gasp in pain. "Once upon a time…" I start for her.

"Once upon a time…" Wendy repeats, her voice shaking with fear.

"Proops!" I grit my teeth at Smee's interruption. "Red-Handed Jill is gonna tell us a story!"

Wendy continues once everyone has quieted down, "There was a boy named Peter Pan, who decided not to grow up."

I throw my hook into the wood next to her head, cutting her off. I know all this about Pan; there must be something else in his story to help me solve this riddle... "Skip the prologue!" I instruct impatiently.

"So…he flew away to the Neverland…where the pirates are," Wendy says.

I frown at her; this does not answer my wonderings.

"Was one of them pirates called Noodler?" Wendy is interrupted again.

"Yes," Wendy says quickly.

"Captain!" Noodler addresses me happily, "Did you hear? I…am in a story!"

In one swift movement, I turn and fire my pistol at him. The boys yell as he falls over. I do not have time for this nonsense -- there are more important things to deal with!

"What fun he must have had," I say, returning my attention to Wendy.

"Yes," she replies, trembling. "But…he was rather lonely…"

My brows draw together as I frown. Here is something I did not know before. Pan, lonely? With his band of boys, and I and my crew here? How was it possible? "Lonely?" I ask her, my eyes thoughtful as I glance at her, thereby discovering the answer. "He needed a Wendy!" I realize. A girl's presence among all those boys.

"I need a Wendy." The words reach my ears, and I fire without turning around. The boys' screaming confirms my hit.

"Why a Wendy?" I am slowly piecing the puzzle together…

I watch as she searches for an answer. "He liked my stories," she says finally.

"What stories?" I ask harshly.

Wendy answers, though confused, "Cinderella…Snow White…Sleeping Beauty…"

I recall these tales, tales I was told a long time ago. As I quickly remember these stories, I become puzzled. Why would such a boy as Pan enjoy… "Love stories…?" I finish my thought out loud.

Wendy immediately shakes her head. "Adventures," she corrects, "in which good triumphs over evil," she says strongly.

She is right, I acknowledge, but there is something else regarding those stories. "They all end in a kiss…" I grimace.

Wendy looks at me in astonishment.

I open my mouth, and then I pause. "A kiss…" I whisper to myself. What was it I had told Wendy that night my men stole her away to the ship? "He cannot love. It's part of the riddle of his being." Pan has not known love; he is youth, joy, freedom…a boy who won't grow up and has fun. A boy, who despite being forever young, independent, carefree, and leader of his band, was lonely and for the first time brought a girl to Neverland. Something must have changed for him to desire a girl's company, Wendy's company… Suddenly, it comes together. And I have been wrong

"He does feel…" I voice my realization, and focus on Wendy. "He feels about you," I state. In a single, graceful movement, I cut with my hook the ropes binding Wendy to the mast and hold her captive with my hook against her neck and my hand clutching a handful of her hair.

"She told him stories; he taught her to fly! How?" I demand.

"You just think happy thoughts. They lift you into the air!" she explains.

"Alas, I have no happy thoughts," I growl, dissatisfied.

"That brings you down!" Wendy says sternly.

"How else?" I press my hook a bit harder against her neck, the boys begging me not to hurt her.

"Fairy dust! You need fairy dust!" shouts one of Wendy's brothers, the first to give in, his eyes wide and filling with tears.

"Michael!" The other boys scold him.

I smile a little before roughly pulling Wendy's head back so that we are face to face. "What about Pan…would unhappy thoughts bring him down?"

"He has no unhappy thoughts," she denies.

But I can see some uncertainty in her eyes, and I sense she does not know what I know about Pan. Well, she shall very soon. "How about if Wendy…walks the plank?!" My question is met with wild cheering.

As I push Wendy forward, I smile broadly. Pan has discarded the thing that is his weakness. The boy has placed the winning ace in my ready hands, and I shall have victory at last. Pan shall meet his downfall!

THE END