Chapter 3: Of Rescues and Rags

Disclaimer: I don't own any of JM Barrie's work….do I really have to write this…damn

The cold water sent Gwen into shock. She began to sink slowly as she struggled to gain control of her body and swim to the surface but the icy water was like a thousand knifes stabbing away at her skin. The sparkling daylight started to fade as Gwen's vision warped before her. Then…Gwen saw a movement to her right. Something was swimming towards her but she couldn't make it out. Gwen felt drugged as the blurred figure watch her sceptically.

"Help me!" Gwen wanted to scream as loud as she could. She needed air! Black spots were blotting her vision like ink.

"Help…I need…Help" Gwen thought at the figure as her vision finally failed and her senses blurred. She didn't feel someone grab onto her clothes and pull her up.

Gwen woke to a breath on her face. She groaned loudly and then turned on her side and vomited up sea water. She was vaguely aware of someone pulling back her hair as she heaved.

"Thank you." She murmured as she sat up. Icy blue eyes stared back at her; Gwen recoiled as Hook locked eyes with her. He looked back at her, his black locks dripping, the sunlight making the droplets sparkle like diamonds. Gwen was speechless. Why had he saved her? She searched for something to say but those eyes! His eyes looked deep inside her soul and suddenly Gwen felt naked under his gaze. She blushed unwillingly and bit her blue lips.

Hook turned away and walked towards the Captain's cabins without a word. Smee, as Gwen now knew him as, hurried after him but stopped with a dismissing wave of Hook's hand. When the captain disappeared Smee took charge, "Lower the anchor then take a break!" He yelled. He then turned to where Gwen sat shivering in a small pool of water. He briskly strode towards her and hoisted her up by her arm. He led her by the arm, Jaclyn know falling in behind them, to the cargo hold.

Inside the hold, there were many crates full of provisions, and loot heaped in mounds. Smee rummaged in a pile for a moment before extracting an empty potato sack, a piece of rope, a sewing kit, and a worn looking nightshift. "Here." He said gruffly as he heaped the items in Gwen's still shaking arms. He headed for the doorway and glanced back at them, "Well," he said, "make some new clothes to wear; the ones you have are indecent." Then he left the two girls alone and slammed the door behind him.

The two girls were silent for a moment until Jaclyn spoke. "You complete idiot!"

Gwen was sent reeling back, dropping all of the items to the floor, by a sharp stinging slap to the face. Jaclyn panted; her face was red with anger.

"What were you thinking? 'All come back for you Jaclyn'," Jaclyn whispered ferociously, "Yeah right! And I'm about to let the only female contact I've had for five months swim away! I don't think so! You're lucky I lied and told them you couldn't swim or Hook wouldn't have gone after you!'

Gwen stared at her wide eyed and slowly raised her hand to her cheek. "Oh," she said after a moment's pause, "I guess I deserved that in a way." Jaclyn kneeled down beside her and an almost smile flickered on her face.

"You're pretty stupid…and brave for standing up to Hook like that. I guess there's a fine line between being brave and stupid." Jaclyn said with a sigh.

"I guess I should get started on making an outfit," Gwen said between shattering teeth, "I have no idea how to sew though."

"Oh! I completely forgot! You must be freezing!" Jaclyn exclaimed, "I can sew, I can help!"

"Thanks." Gwen said as they began gathering the fallen materials.

On closer inspection, Gwen and Jaclyn found that the white nightshift only had one long sleeve; the other sleeve had been cut off on the shoulder. They decided to do the same with the long sleeved side and came up with a mangled version of a dress with thick straps. The potato sack was creatively constructed into a pair of (rather itchy) pants that were cut off at the knee. The rope was tied around Gwen as a makeshift belt. Overall, Gwen looked like a "scrounger" as Jaclyn had put it. Gwen however, was quite happy with the results, and gave Jaclyn a bear hug which was half returned.

Smee came in a while later and motioned for them to follow. They hadn't noticed when they were in the cargo hold that it was now nightfall and the stars were twinkling in the sky at them. Gwen could distantly hear the sound of drunken laughter and singing from the crew's quarters. None were on deck and it looked strangely empty by contrast of the morning's goings on.

"You'll be sleeping in the kitchen tonight," Smee told them, "The crew found some rags for you to lie on. Be grateful, kindness is a rare commodity and you two haven't done a thing to deserve it. Especially you, Miss Gwen."

Smee pushed the swinging doors open wildly and walked through, it came back and banged into Gwen's nose, she fell back on her backside. Gwen thought she heard Smee chuckling softly, but she couldn't be to sure. Jacklyn hoisted her up and they walked through the doors to the kitchen.

The kitchen stunk of fish, Jacklyn gagged and Gwen wrinkled her nose. It was a medium sized room but was cramped with the many appliances and working areas. In the far corner of the room Gwen noticed a pile of drab rags. She walked towards it and stifled a cry of disgust as she saw a cockroach crawling over a cloth stained dark red. Smee left them after Jaclyn discovered the cockroach with a scream.

"Shut up Jaclyn! Do you want them to come up?" Gwen warned. Then it hit Gwen that they were in a risky position. Obviously, she already accepted that she was on a pirate ship with an exceedingly good looking captain, and a crazy captive royal on some bizarre island where people could fly. But it just hit her that, she is on a ship with an entire crew of sex-deprived, ruthless, pirates who wouldn't think twice about forcing themselves on either of them. Gwen voiced her concern to Jaclyn.

"Yes, someone tried to touch me on my first week on the ship. Luckily, the Captain was there." Jaclyn said quietly

"What did Hook do?" Gwen asked suspiciously

"He shot him on the spot….without a moment's hesitation." Jaclyn replied in a minute whisper

"He kills his own crew!" Gwen said open mouthed.

"Is that so hard to believe?" Jaclyn asked dryly. "Look, "she paused, "the captain isn't that bad of a guy…"

"He killed his own crew! And you tell me he isn't that bad of a guy?" Gwen said incredulously. Jaclyn's eyes filled with tears and for a second Gwen thought that she was going to cry.

Jaclyn cried with rage, "You've only been on this ship for a day! Who are you to judge! I've been on this ship for months now and the captain is the only reason I'm not dead or worse!" She flung herself around and grabbed an armful of rags and threw them in another corner before throwing herself down on them face first. Her back heaved and Gwen could hear her sobbing. Gwen took a step towards her and the floorboards creaked, Jaclyn's back stiffened. There was no way Jaclyn would allow herself to be comforted. So, Gwen sorted the dirty rags from her own pile and sat down with a huff.

Gwen couldn't sleep so she watched Jaclyn's breathing slow and even out before picking up the dirtied rags and swooping out of the kitchen and onto the main deck. The air was cool Gwen looked for a bucket in which to wash the rags. She came across one with a rope attached on to it. She threw the bucket over board and then pulled it up when it was full. She dunked the first rag into the frigid water and scrubbed it with her hands until all of the stains were worked out before starting on the next rag. Gwen cleaned ten of the rags until the water in the bucket turned brown before she threw it overboard and started pulling up some fresh water.

"Good evening Miss Gwen." A velvety voice said behind her. Gwen nearly dropped the rope in surprise before steeling her shoulders and heaving up the bucket. It came splattering over the edge and Gwen saw Hook's bare hand steady the bucket as Gwen tried to gain control over herself. She took the bucket and set it on the deck before sitting down in front of it and started to clean the next dirty rag.

"Do you make it a habit to scare the daylights out of everyone?" Gwen sneered harshly before plunging the rag back in the chilling water.

Hook laughed. Gwen didn't understand what she had said what was so funny and glared up at him. She couldn't help but notice that the laugh didn't seem real. His eyes didn't crinkle, his voice sounded hollow. And she couldn't understand what he was laughing at. When he finally stopped laughing his terrible laugh Gwen asked him what was so funny.

"Sometimes the truth is amusing, don't you agree Miss Gwen?" Hook's eyes were piercing into her again. Gwen stood up suddenly splashing more water onto the deck.

"Stop it!" Gwen growled. Hook looked taken aback and confused.

"You know…the thing what you do with your eyes! That I can see what you're thinking stare! It's…unnerving." Hook raised an eyebrow before taking a step closer. Gwen breath quickened as his hand reached out for her. She unconsciously glanced at his lips and back up to his calm face. He leaned in so his mouth was close to her ear, she could feel his warm breath tickle her.

"There are many more ways that I can be unnerving Miss Gwen." With that he pulled back at grinned. Gwen was slightly dazed but quickly brushed him off and sat back down by her bucket and continued to wash the rags. She could see Hook was getting frustrated. And out of the corner of her eye she saw him turn to leave. Gwen panicked; she wanted him to know…

"Wait!" Hook turned around to look at her, "Um, yesterday when, um, I…"

"Jumped off the ship" Hook supplied

"Yes! Yah, when I jumped off and went under I saw...things...looking at me." Gwen finished meekly

"And?"

"Well I was wondering if you knew what they were."

"Probably mermaids."

"Mermaids!" Gwen exclaimed. "Cool! Do you think they were trying to rescue me?"

Hook's face darkened. "A mermaid never rescues anyone, they are treacherous creatures and you're lucky I got to you before they did or you would have surely drown." He turned to leave again.

"Oh and Hook?" Gwen ventured, "Thank you for saving me."

He gave no sign that he heard her as he disappeared into the captain's cabin.