Chapter 5

Captain Hook felt the glare of the morning sun through his eyelids, and reluctantly rolled over and forced them open. It was early, and he could tell by the stable motion of the ship that the sea was calm.

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes with his good hand, Hook heaved himself up and sat, gathering his energy for the day ahead. Looking down at the scarred stump where his right hand should have been, the Captain remembered his prisoner, and looked over to where the boy was lying on the couch.

Peter had rolled onto his back at some point in the night, one arm hanging off the side of the sofa, not quite touching the floor.

As Hook stared at him, he felt a strange bristling of concern; the boy looked pale, and was utterly still. So still, in fact, that it was unnerving.

Getting out of bed, Hook made his way over to the child, trying to place just exactly what he was finding so ominous.

Placing his good hand on the boy's chest, the reason suddenly dawned on him; Peter wasn't breathing.

"Peter?!" The Captain began to shake the boy roughly, and screamed for his bo'sun. Mr Smee was there in an instant, looking from his Captain to Peter Pan, lying unresponsive in Hook's grasp.

"Get the smelling salts!"

"Aye aye, Captain!"

Pulling Pan into a sitting position, Hook continued to shake him, "Breath, damn you!"

The child suddenly gasped and flailed, his legs kicking out reflexively as his brain prompted his lungs to start working again.

Opening his eyes wide in surprise, Peter took deep breaths as he stared at Hook, kneeling in front of him and holding him steady. The expression of concern on Hook's face was almost as confusing to Peter as his current state… waking up out of breath and panicked.

Glancing down, Peter stared at the fleshy stump held against his left arm. The Captain saw the boy grimace at the sight of his disfigurement, and Hook released his hold on the boy quickly, pulling his arm away in embarrassment.

Mr Smee bustled over with the smelling salts, Hook waving him away.

"They're of no use now, are they? You blockhead!"

The Captain stood and marched away, grabbing up his hook and beginning the process of affixing it to his disfigured arm. Smee put down the salts and began trying to examine Peter, pulling open the boy's eyelids and staring into his eye.

The boy brushed Smee's hands away and stood, shakily.

"Leave me alone, Smee."

The old bo'sun looked over his shoulder at his Captain, and Hook waved him away, "You may go, Smee. Bring me some breakfast."

"Aye aye, Captain."

Alone again with Hook, Peter watched the man suspiciously as he finished attaching his namesake and proceeded to dress.

Neither man nor boy said a word until Hook was finished with his morning rituals. Then he turned a hateful stare onto the boy.

"You really are the most ungrateful brat to ever draw breath, Pan."

"And you are the most disgusting pirate!"

Hook smirked at the boy's weak insult before taking a seat at his desk.

"Get out, Peter."

"And go where?"

"Get out."

Peter stared at the man for another moment before walking to the door.

Outside, the sun was streaming down, reflecting glittering light on the surface of the ocean. Peter leaned over the bulwark to take in the sight, but gasped as he was roughly grabbed and spun around by Mr Mason.

"All better today, me bucko? We've got a score to settle."

"Let go of me!" Peter struggled as the pirate dragged him back to the Captain's cabin, knocking on the door confidently.

"What?!" Hook's angry tone caused Mason to pause… but the man quickly mustered his courage and opened the door, dragging Peter back into the Captain's quarters.

"Beggin' ya pardon, Cap'n Hook, Sir..."

"Well?!"

"It's just… I noticed the whelp here is up and about, and seemingly much better than he were yesterday..."

"Your point, Mr Mason?"

"Well, Cap'n… It's just… You said I was to carry out his punishment when the boy was recovered, and… He seems well-recovered to me, Cap'n."

Hook leaned back in his chair and considered the pair before him. Peter scowled and kept tugging his arm away from Mason, but the pirate kept a firm grip on him with ease.

"I'm afraid I must disappoint you, Mason..."

Peter stopped his struggling and gazed at Hook in surprise, his dumbstruck expression mirrored on the face of Mason.

"Cap'n?"

"Pan is improved… but he has yet to sufficiently recover for you to take a belt to him. He will work on deck today and complete all the duties that are assigned to him. If he makes it through the day without his body failing again, we may think about fulfilling his punishment tomorrow."

Mason glanced down at the boy, and Peter returned the pirate's gaze, neither quite sure of what to make of Hook's decision. Was James Hook actually turning down an opportunity to hurt Peter Pan?!

"Aye, Cap'n… If you think that's best..."

"I do. Now, get out of my sight, both of you."

"Aye aye, Sir."

Peter found himself being tugged back out on deck, Mason roughly shoving him away once they were outside.

"Now listen good, bucko… You do as your told and pull your weight, or I'll have your guts for garters."

"Not unless Hook says you can, bucko!"

Mason grabbed hold of the boy's scruff and yanked him close, Peter pulling away from the pirate's chest hopelessly.

"The Captain might've gone soft on ya, Pan, but I sure as hell won't. Stay out of my way if you know what's good for ya. Understand?!"

"Yeah, yeah… I understand. Now let me go."

Mason complied, shoving Peter away from him before returning to his own duties. Peter looked around to see several of the crew had stopped to watch the exchange, and he scowled at them before marching off to find a spot where he could keep out of sight. Peter Pan wasn't about to take orders from filthy pirates.

"Pan?!" Captain Hook's voice boomed across the deck, and Peter shrank a little lower in his hiding place.

The crates of cargo that surrounded him had made a perfect den, and Peter had promptly fallen asleep. Now, the sun sat high in the sky, and the Captain had finally noticed the boy's absence.

Peter knew hiding was just asking for another beating, but he couldn't help himself. He wouldn't give in to Hook if he could avoid it. But now his defiance seemed like a bad idea, and his hiding place felt inadequate. Nevertheless, he kept quiet and resolute in his refusal to follow orders.

Hook's gaze swept over his ship for a second time. His crewman were growing nervous in his angry presence, and slowed in their tasks to watch him fearfully.

"Where the hell is Pan?!"

An awkward silence followed, the men fidgeting and looking at their feet. Peter stifled a giggle that threatened to ruin the game, his fear subsiding with the fun.

"Damn it, you fools! Who saw him last?" Again, no one answered.

But Peter was failing to keep his laughter at bay, and the insubstantial chuckle that escaped grabbed the attention of Billy Jukes. The young pirate was leaning against the stack of cargo, watching his furious Captain warily. At the sound of a giggle, Jukes glanced at the cargo to his side, then slowly started stepping back until he had a view of the boy sitting amongst the crates.

Billy smiled cruelly, delighting in his sudden power.

"Captain Hook, Sir..."

"What?!"

Billy flinched and gulped at the man's rage, now singularly directed at him. Instead of answering, Billy pointed at Pan's hiding place and offered his Captain a knowing look.

Fixing his gaze of the stack of cargo, Hook marched towards it determinedly.

Peter screamed when the crates above his head were dashed across the deck. Covering his head with his hands to protect himself from the debris, he only thought to run when it was too late. No sooner had he climbed to his feet than Hook had grabbed him, tugging him violently to stand before him.

"And what, may I ask, have you been doing all this time?"

Peter's heart was hammering in his chest, and he struggled to calm himself.

"Well?!"

"Sleeping."

A smattering of laughter swept over the crew at the boy's foolish and brazen answer. If any of the men dared speak to the Captain the way Pan did, they'd be visiting Davy Jones for sure.

"Sleeping?"

"Yes… mostly."

"And what should you have been doing?" Hook's voice had become menacingly calm, and Peter recognised the danger. He tried to look the man in the eye and resist fidgeting, but his nerves were growing.

"No one had told me what to do… so I made myself scarce. I didn't want to get in anyone's way."

Hook stared at the boy, unblinking. Peter willed the man to break eye contact, and flinched when Hook threw his head back and laughed. The boy felt some of the tension release, and he let himself sigh in relief.

Of course, he knew better than to think the Captain had suddenly grown forgiving and benevolent, and true enough, Hook's laughter died as suddenly as it began, and Peter chocked as the Captain's good hand squeezed his throat.

"Well, seeing as you are so well-rested, Pan… I'm sure you've recovered enough for Mr Mason to give you your lesson."

Peter's eyes grew wide as he comprehended the Captain's meaning, and Mason stepped forward, grinning ear to ear.

But the pirate had served under Captain Jas. Hook long enough to wait for the skipper's direct order before removing his belt.

"Mr Mason… it seems you will dispense justice this day, after all. Would you have a crewman hold onto Pan while you exercise his punishment?"

"Many thanks to ya, Cap'n, but I'd rather subdue the whelp myself, if it's all the same."

Hook considered the man for a moment, and Peter had the strangest thought that he'd rather take a beating from Hook than the huge and eager Mason; the Captain's thirst for revenge was so much more familiar to him.

"Very well," Hook declared, shoving Peter into his crewman's arms, "But see he survives it."

"Aye aye, Capt'n."

Peter felt frozen to the spot, surprising Captain and crew with his stillness. Was Peter Pan really not going to resist his rightful punishment? Wasn't he going to fight? Mason used one hand to remove his own belt, and even then, Pan didn't move.

The stillness held all of them in place for a long, pregnant moment until Mason couldn't take the tension any longer. He felt himself losing his nerve, which disturbed him. With insecure anger welling inside of him, Mason knelt on one knee and roughly pulled the boy down to lie across the other.

The aggressive tug of the man suddenly brought Peter to his senses, and he finally began to fight. Pulling away from Mason, who only had hold of him by one arm, Peter used his free fist to crack Mason in the jaw with all his might.

The man grunted in pain, but didn't lose his grip on Pan's arm. Growling in rage, Mason lunged at the boy and they crashed onto the deck, Peter crying out as he landed painfully on his back with Mason straddling him.

The boy punched and kicked at his attacker to no avail until Mason flipped him onto his stomach and pinned him in place with a knee between the shoulder blades.

Peter desperately tried to push himself up from the deck, but Mason's weight was too great. Tears streamed down Pan's cheeks as the position of the man's knee sent shooting pains along his spine. He felt like his backbone would snap.

Finally in a decent position, Mason held up his leather belt and swung it down viciously on Pan's backside. Peter screamed as the sudden blow caused him to jolt, the subsequent stabbing pain that shot through his back being almost worse than the belt itself.

As each blow fell, Peter tried to hold still, but each time the pain caused him to flinch and create another agonising spasm along his spine.

Finally, although Peter hadn't been counting, Mason reached eight strikes and let the belt hang at his side, his chest heaving with exertion.

Apart from Mason's heavy breaths and Peter's quiet, trembling sobs, everything grew still.

Hook glanced away from Pan's face for the first time since Mason had pinned him down to see the worried expression of Mr Smee, who was staring at his Captain with a tinge of disgust. The old bo'sun quickly averted his gaze, but there was no denying what Hook had seen. A look of disappointment.

Hook realised Mr Smee was the only other crewman to know of Pan's earlier condition when Hook had found him not breathing that morning. And Smee was clearly disturbed that Hook would allow the boy to be punished so harshly when he was obviously still in a weakened state.

The Captain curled his lip as a nagging guilt tugged at his conscience. It was a rare and unpleasant sensation indeed, to find himself concerned for Peter Pan's welfare.

Noticing Mr Mason was now looking to his Captain for orders, Hook broke the silence and stepped forward,

"Get off him, Mason."

"Aye aye, Cap'n.

Peter's body was shaking, but as soon as he felt Mason's weight leave him he tried to push himself up off of the deck.

"Defiant to the end, Pan."

"Get away from me."

The boy's voice was shaky but bold. If anything, he seemed outraged. Hook let a small smile dance across his lips as he watched the child struggle to sit up.

Crouching before the lad, he again offered the boy assistance with his good hand, but Peter glared at him and pushed himself up onto his knees, his face wincing with pain and one hand instinctively moving to the bruising spot on his back where Mason's knee had been.

Without thinking, Hook picked Peter up and held him to his chest as a father would do to a son, the boy's head on his should, arms and legs wrapping around him reflexively. Hook didn't wait for Pan's reaction before marching with him across the deck towards his cabin. It was only after several strides that Hook let himself realise, Peter wasn't resisting; he was quietly sobbing into the pirate captain's neck.