Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Peter Pan, Captain Hook, or any of Mr. Barry's other wonderful characters. I write about them solely for my own amusement, and make no profit from it except that which I receive from knowing my writing has been enjoyed by others.

Chapter 4

Eyes Red as Blood

"I thought I told you to stay away from the Lost Boys," James said. His voice was low and soft, but Sophia would have had to be a fool to miss the dangerous undertones of the Captain's silky speech.

"I didn't seek them out, they found me," she said. Quiet. Reasonable. This, she guessed, was probably the best way to deal with Hook when he was angry.

"Then you should have run. You should have returned to the ship the minute they saw you," Hook said. Sophia had seen James command his crew, giving them orders that he expected would be obeyed instantly. However, having him expect her to act in the same manner… rankled. Her eyes narrowed.

"I wasn't about to run away from one little boy. That would have been silly." She put her hands on her hips and faced him square on. Any of his crew would have been either dead or groveling for forgiveness by now, that she knew. Well, she was not one of his crew.

"And I'm sure you didn't look silly at all, running through the woods with all of them chasing you." The corner of his mouth held the beginnings of a sneer. "You're lucky Jukes was there to save you."

While Sophia was, in actuality, quite thankful that the pirate had been there to help her out, she wasn't about to tell James that. Instead, she said, "And that's another thing! You could have told me you were sending someone to look after me. I wouldn't have minded. I don't take kindly to being spied on."

"And I 'don't take kindly' to insolence," Hook said, more loudly than he intended.

Something hard and angry appeared in Sophia's eyes. The kind, bookish little woman was beginning to wear away, exposing something else completely. "Insolence," she said, "is defined as the disrespect of an inferior towards a superior. I wasn't aware that it could come into play when two friends were having a discussion."

"I am the captain of this ship," Hook reminded her. "I know the dangers of this island better than you do, and when I tell you to do something, I expect…"

"Perhaps we should continue this conversation somewhere more private," Sophia interrupted him, gesturing at the deck of the ship. Every single pirate was standing still as stone, straining to hear what was being said. They had all obviously stopped in the middle of what they were doing. One had the rope he'd been tying still hanging limply in his hands. Hook stared at Sophia in astonishment. No one ever interrupted the Captain.

He grabbed her arm and began to pull her in the direction of her cabin. Sophia, who had had quite enough of being pulled around for one day, tried to free herself. At the exact same moment, James let her go and gave her a push through the door. She half stumbled, half fell into her room.

"This discussion is over," he said. "And you may stay in there until you're ready to come out and apologize." His long red coat swirled around him as he slammed the door, turned the key in the lock, and stalked away.

It took Sophia a moment to regain her balance. She heard the click of the lock being secured, and stared at the door in disbelief.

What am I doing? she wondered. Sophia had learned early that being obedient, quiet, and good was the best way to avoid the displeasure of her guardians and get the teaching she so craved. She never would have dreamed of raising her voice, or being biting and sarcastic to one of them, no matter how much she would have liked to do so. In fact, now that she thought of it, she had spent her whole life being yelled at and ordered around. She had lived in a perpetual state of timid fear and loneliness. Somehow, Neverland had caused all that to fall away, freeing her to be strong for the first time in her life. She was not a little girl any more, and James was not one of her masters. He was her friend. Friends do not order one another around. Someone had obviously neglected that area of the Captain's education, an oversight which Sophia intended to remedy. And suddenly, she knew how she was going to do it.

"There's nothing keeping me here," she said aloud, and laughed quietly. Then, she began to chant.

James had only taken a few steps when Smee cried out and pointed to Sophia's door.

"Captain… it's… growing!"

He turned to see what had so disturbed his first mate, and realized that Smee's description wasn't very far off. Leafy tendrils had begun to creep under the door, all of them sprouting delicate green leaves as they climbed up the wood. Vines sprouted through the normally airtight crack between the door and the wall, under the lintel, and through the keyhole. The key, being displaced by the rapid growth of the vines, fell to the deck with a metallic clatter. As the pirates' attention was drawn by the strange happenings, James found himself surrounded by his crew.

"What's she doin' in there?" someone asked. Several people shouted out answers, but before they could come to a consensus, Hook hushed them.

"Quiet!" he yelled. "I want to listen. And I can't do that with all of you idiots making a racket."

The crew fell silent instantly. Taking a step towards the vine-covered door, James listened intently. He could just hear the sound of Sophia's voice, speaking in quick rhythmic patterns.

"She's chanting something," he said. Then, more loudly, "Sophia? What are you doing?" He tried to knock, but leaves had grown so thickly between the planks that made up the door that there was no hard wood left. And, when he put his hand close to the new foliage, it reached out and began to grow around his fingers. He pulled back quickly. The door began to creak, not being used to supporting such a weight of greenery, and the metal lock squealed as the vines twined their way around its inner workings. Finally, the lock gave in and sprang open, and the door flew outwards and banged against the wall. Leaves flew everywhere.

Sophia was standing four feet inside the room. Hook's breath hissed between his teeth when he saw her. Her gaze was concentrated on the place where the lock had been only a few seconds ago, and the residue of the spell she had cast still danced in the air around her, making her seem to shine with thousands of different greens and golds. She took a few steps, and carefully stepped over the threshold and onto the deck. All of the men except James backed away.

"Listen to me, James Hook," Sophia said. "I am not one of your crew. I stay here because you invited me. I am not another person for you to order around, is that clear?"

"It's becoming more so," he answered. Another thing that was becoming clear to Hook was that he had underestimated his guest. While he had never though her simple, the display of power he had just seen her perform went far beyond what he had thought her capable of. He needed to tread carefully here, very carefully.

"If that upsets you, perhaps I should find other accommodations," Sophia suggested. James blinked for a moment, then shook his head. Despite the embarrassment she had just caused him, he still wanted her where he could keep an eye on her.

"No, no, that won't be necessary. Unless you want to leave."

Sophia smiled, relieved. The light around her had faded almost completely. She would have left the ship if James had asked her to. Perhaps she might have commandeered some of his crew to help her build a little hut hear the beach, just inside the forest. But, that would have made things more difficult. She would have been alone again.

"I'd like to stay, if that's all right," she said. James took a step toward her. "And I'd like to be alone for a while." And with that, she touched the bushy piece of wood that had lately been her door, and whispered, "Wither." The leaves shriveled and fell away, leaving the door looking exactly as it had. As she went inside, James heard her murmur, "It worked… how very interesting."

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Sophia sank carefully into a sitting position on her bed and folded her hands in her lap. Now that the excitement was over, and the power and life of the magic burning in her veins had dissipated, she was exhausted. Her hands shook slightly, and her breath came in quick, uneven fits and starts. She closed her eyes and tried to perform a centering ritual to calm herself. It worked, somewhat.

Outside, Hook glared at the few crew members who were still staring at him now that the show was over.

"Get back to work, you mangy excuses for sailors!" he yelled. There was a sudden flurry of activity as the crew scrambled to look busy at their tasks. From the crow's nest, there came an excited shout.

"Lost Boys spotted of the starboard bow!" the man on watch called.

Hearing the shouting, Sophia cracked her door open and peeked out, and saw Hook transform into a different man completely. He drew his sword and ran to the starboard side of the ship. Taking his spyglass from his pocket, he scanned the clouds. Sure enough, he saw dark shapes, too large to be birds, flying towards the ship.

"One, two… three…" he counted as they flew past his line of vision. "Four, five, six, seven… That's as many as I've ever seen together," he said to Smee, who had appeared at his elbow.

"You mean all of 'em are here, Captain?" his first mate asked. "They've been so quiet lately. Seems strange they'd attack all sudden-like, doesn't it?"

Hook trained his spyglass on the leader, a boy who was slightly taller than the others, clothed in leaves. "I would imagine that meeting Sophia agitated them. And yes, I believe that is all of them," James said. That boy, without a doubt, was Peter Pan. "What are you fools waiting for? Prepare the guns! Shoot them down!"

With surprising efficiency, the Jolly Roger's cannons were loaded and aimed at the fast-approaching boys. Matches were struck against the deck, and fuses lit. The boom of the guns was deafening, and birds took flight from the trees on the mainland when the first round of cannon-fire sounded.

The boys drew nearer. There were still seven.

"They close in quickly! Draw your weapons!" Hook shouted.

Knives and swords slid from their sheaths, and pistols were cocked and loaded. Several of the pirates fired at the boys as they came nearer, but the Lost Boys dodged the bullets as easily as they had the cannons. Hook ran to the front of the ship, brandishing his sword, and put himself into a position where he would be one of the first to meet the enemy. He looked wild and fierce standing there, with his fine coat billowing behind him and his face turned into the wind. Sophia opened the door a little more so she could see, and couldn't believe her eyes. James was grinning.

The boys came within range for close combat, and the battle commenced. Sophia had never heard nor read of a stranger conflict. She could see that some of the boys were armed with knives because the sun glinted off of the metal, but they also hand slings and hatchets, and one of them carried a stout wooden club. The boys had the advantage of being able to fly, and it was obvious that they were the better fighters. They were smaller, quicker, and more nimble than most of the crew, except one. While the Lost Boys might have darted in and out, teasing and harassing the other pirates, all of them gave Hook, his sword, and his steel hook a wide berth. The only one who dared come within Hook's range was Peter Pan.

The boy almost seemed more than human as he darted out of the way of James' slashing hook and quick sword. James was no mean swordsman. Peter's knife met the Captain's sword, and the boy laughed.

"That was a stupid plan, Old Man," he said.

"What are you talking about, Boy?" Hook demanded. He lunged at Peter, but the boy flew up into the rigging and out of reach.

"Trying to catch us and turn us into grownups. Sending us to school," Peter said, and grinned. "My Lost Boys told me all about it."

Hook leaped into the rigging and began to climb, crossing blades with Peter as soon as he reached the boy's height.

"And why would I want to waste my time doing that?" James asked. He swung his sword at Peter's throat, but Pan's knife blocked it. "Why wouldn't I just want to kill you?"

Peter retreated a little, confused. "But my Lost Boys said…"

"You, and your Lost Boys, are fools, as always," James said. He leapt from the rigging, and would have run Peter through if the boy hadn't come out of his bewilderment and dodged. James, finding himself overbalanced, fell to the deck, but managed to right himself and land in a crouch.

"And you're an old popinjay, as always!" Peter crowed, and flew circles around Hook's head, just out of reach. As James shouted for Peter to come down and face him like a man, the fight between Slightly and a pirate spilled over into the arena of the epic battle between pirate Captain and leader of boys. Slightly, who had been knocked about rather soundly by the pirate, rolled to a stop at Hook's feet. He was much too dazed to fly away. James grin widened into a snarl.

"If I can't get Pan, I can at least rid this island of one of you!" he said, and raised his hook over his head. It flashed for a moment in the afternoon light, then descended. Before it reached Slightly, Peter Pan swept down and ran into Hook's side, knocking his murderous weapon off target. Instead of slitting the boy's throat, he only made a shallow gash in Slightly's arm. The force of Peter running into him sent James tumbling to the ground. Before he could regain his feet, Peter had picked up his fallen comrade, who was now whimpering pitifully.

"Lost Boys! Retreat for now! We'll come back for revenge another day!" Pan yelled. The boys pulled back, but the twins each let loose with a departing rock shot from their slings.

The pirates jeered and shouted after them. James, however, had noticed Sophia's open door. He walked purposefully toward it. Sophia saw him approaching and closed it until the tiniest crack was left for her to see through.

"And that," he said, gesturing at the departing Lost Boys with a hook still stained with blood, "is why I told you to stay away from them."

Sophia didn't move, didn't breathe. James could just make out two wide eyes staring at him from behind the door. They seemed to be fixed on his hook. He favored her with a sardonic smile.

"Are you frightened?" he asked.

"Should I be?" Sophia's eyes may have been wide, but her voice was steady.

James smile broadened and became more genuine. "No. You have nothing to fear from me, Sophia. You know that." Though she believed him, she did not open the door any further.

"It's getting late. Would you like to join me for some wine before dinner?" he asked. "I've worked up a powerful thirst."

Sophia shook her head. Though he seemed to have returned to normal, she could get the image of him standing over the Lost Boy, ready to kill, out of her mind.

"I don't think so. Actually, I don't think I'm very hungry." She shut the door. James rapped sharply on it with his fist.

"Sophia! I wasn't done speaking with you!"

"Just leave me alone for a while, James," the muffled reply came.

James threw up his hands and stalked to his own cabin. If she wanted to be difficult, he wasn't going to try and stop her. He, for one, was starving. Battles with the Lost Boys never failed to work up his appetite.

Sophia laid on top of the covers of her bed, in the dark. She had never answered James' question as to whether he frightened her or not because she was not sure of the answer herself. She took a deep breath. Watching him fight Pan had been… exhilarating. She had enjoyed it much more than she liked to admit. He was good. Very good. And graceful, too, and… And ready to kill as easily as you blink, she thought.

Well, of course he is, he's a pirate, that annoying inner voice of hers said. That was not what worried her. When he had been about to kill the boy, he had been like one possessed by some strange madness. It was as if he had lost himself for a brief while. While she was not afraid of James, that man made her very anxious.

Quite some time later, her stomach rumbled. She hadn't eaten anything since that morning, and she was hungry now. Not wanting to venture outside, she ignored her hunger, changed into her nightdress, and crawled into bed. She closed her eyes, but sleep would not come.

Sophia sighed and lit a candle on the nightstand. She retrieved her journal from the desk and propped herself up with pillows. After attempting to write a few lines about the events of the day, she set her pen down and closed the book.

"I miss James," she said aloud. Usually, at this time, they had just finished dinner and were settling into their respective seats to talk, and write, and read.

"Well, I'll just have to get used to it," Sophia said. She had the feeling that even if their argument today hadn't damaged their friendship irreparably, she would not be able to hold on to him forever. With that pessimistic thought, she blew out the candle and pulled the covers over her head in an attempt to sleep.