I don't own the pirates, Hook, Peter, or the Lost Boys.
OK... In Neverland, you lose track of time. Smee is wondering how long Mary'd been there exactly, but he thinks weeks or months. I'd say something like a month or so had passed between the fairy thing and them kicking eachother's butts. Here, another month or so passes
The crew of the Jolly Rodger was relieved to find that they quickly had no reason to bet on any fights, because there were no more. Mary and the Captain were getting along very well; almost a little too well, causing some more speculation, and more bets on a decidedly different topic. If they had ever been caught, their captain would have killed them for sure, but since they never were, the betting continued. They were far more careful to hide their betting from the Captain, especially after the painful end of George Fredricks, and a fairly vast fortune would go to whoever won the bet. It took a good deal of time, but there came a day when one unlucky pirate almost won.
Mary sat in the chair across the desk from James, who was busy carving her features into the wood of a figurine. She'd long since relented to his persistent nagging about using her for the model of his figure of James dancing with a lady, but she'd yet to see him work on it in front of her since he'd finished the facial features. Now he was working on a figure of her alone, similar to the ones he had of the rest of the crew. She watched him as he worked, his pale eyes flickering between her and the figure in his hands. He slowly carved out the shape of her face, the tip of his tongue poking out between his lips.
She smiled softly as she watched him. James had become kind (to her only) and almost sweet (like a lemon drop, he still had his sour moments). He made her feel... she couldn't place the emotion he gave her, but it was a wonderful one. She'd thought about asking him about it several times, and each time they'd dodged the subject, their pride getting the better of them.
"There," James said, holding up the carving. "It's almost as beautiful as the real thing." He smiled as she blushed at the complement. He loved her. He hardly would admit it to himself, but he loved her. Over time, she'd become more and more dear to him, and he would have done anything for her. But he didn't know how to express these new emotions, let alone tell her. He put the carving away with the others, cleaning the wood curls and sawdust off his desk.
Mary took his cleaning up as a cue that she could go and stood, turning to go to her room. She turned in surprise as she felt James grip her arm, preventing her from leaving. He looked down at her for a moment before he kissed her hard. The sheer force of the kiss would have frightened Mary had she not been returning it. He lowered her onto the newly cleaned desk, his body covering hers. His lips trailed to her throat, biting lightly down to her collarbone. His left hand moved down her arm to her waist, traveling lower still. Mary's body arched instinctively as his hand moved down, pushing her body into his. She wanted- no needed something, something that she felt only he could give her. She let her hands move down his back, pulling him closer to her.
James gave a quiet groan and began unlacing her bodice with growing urgency. She let her eyes fall shut as he resumed his earlier explorations of her body. She curled her fingers into his long hair, small gasps escaping her lips. James' blue eyes opened and watched her writhing under his touch. Her body arched instinctively, her eyelids fluttering with passion. He had waited so long for this, to possess her, body and soul. Her small gasps grew more frantic and Mary felt she would explode...
But it was not to be.
"Cap'n! Cap'n, Pan's attacking!" Smee yelled from outside the cabin. James reluctantly moved off of her, telling himself that he'd finish what he'd started after the battle. It surely was reason to live through it!
"I want you to promise me something, Mary," James said as they strapped on their swords.
"What is it?" Mary asked as she checked the knives in her boots.
"Leave Peter Pan to me." Mary nodded as they went out the door, swords drawn for battle. On an impulse, she held him back.
"Wait, James, I want you to promise me something as well," Mary said, just before they reached the deck.
"What is it?" he asked cautiously.
"Don't die," she answered, kissing him tenderly.
"I promise. Now, let us join the battle, before it ends."
Pan was flying around the main mast, laughing as the pirates tried to catch him. Mary watched as James walked towards the boy, ignoring all the others around him. She didn't watch for long, though, as the boys launched an attack on her. At first, she avoided their attacks, not wanting to harm the children, but when one cut her hand, she decided that if they were old enough to live by the sword, they could die by it as well. She fought, easily deflecting their attacks at first, and although she would have bested any of them individually, together the Lost Boys were a force to be reckoned with, and she was driven back slowly but surely. She would fight off two on one side of her only to be bombarded by attacks from three more on her other side, and the Lost Boys soon had her surrounded and were pulling her to her knees. She continued to thrash around, even after they'd relieved her of her sword and knives, punching and kicking where she could. It wasn't until a boy hit her behind her knees that she finally collapsed, looking up at a boy standing over her with her sword in his hand, pointing it at her throat. She closed her eyes, steeling herself for death at the hands of a child.
Meanwhile, James looked at his enemy with contempt, furious as always over how unfair the situation was. Pan grinned at him arrogantly, fueling the captain's temper.
"Ready to die, Hook?" the boy asked, flying over James' head to avoid his attack.
"Come down here and fight me, you coward!" he roared, racing up toward the wheel to try to level off their distance. Pan attacked, flitting around so that James couldn't quite catch him. They were both expert fighters, and had been playing their deadly game for a very long time, ever since the older man had come to the island, before he'd become James Hook. He hadn't liked Pan from the moment he'd set eyes on him, and vice versa.
They continued to hack at each other, neither doing any real damage until James caught the boy's arm with his hook. Momentarily blinded by pain, Pan dropped to the deck, holding his arm. James took the opportunity to grab onto Peter, laughing darkly. "Now, Peter Pan, you shall meet thy doom..." he whispered, raising his hook for the killing blow. But, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something that made him pause. Held down by several boys, Mary was on her knees, one of Pan's wretched brats standing over her with a sword in his hand, ready to strike.
James had Pan in his grasp, and it would only take a second to finish him off... but if he did, he would have no time to get to Mary. The rest of the crew were fending off attacks themselves, and didn't notice Mary's peril. Time slowed down around him, giving the whole of the Neverland more of a dream-like feel than usual. James Hook had to choose between killing his mortal enemy and saving the woman he had come to love, and the answer was quite simple.
I love cliffhangers! Love 'em!
I'm so terribly sorry I've let this story slide… But I am doing a rewrite that will have this story within it. So, enjoy this while I write like mad to include some stuff before this about Hook's adolescence.