Chapter 11

"Regrouping on the Dutchman"

After his long fast swim to get away from Tick-Tock the crocodile, Hook was back on the Flying Dutchman feeling sick from all that had happened to him. Despite the sneezes and chills of his illness, Hook was still feeling bitter about the events that had transpired earlier in the day.

"Curse that Peter Pan," he muttered, keeping the blanket around him warm. "Making a fool out of me…"

He then felt a sneeze and bent down to sneeze in the water where his feet was and felt the pain of his headache through the ice cube that was on his head. Just then, he heard a knock on the door and saw Smee, the March Hare and the Mad Hatter walk into the room with tea and a thermometer.

"Thought we'd bring you some of my homemade tea," said the Mad Hatter, pouring Hook a glass. "Always good for what ails you, if I do say so myself."

"We are all sorry for what happened to you, Captain," said Smee, putting a thermometer in Hook's mouth. "Pan has always been one who always gets the upper hand on us."

Hook merely gave his first mate a glance as if he didn't want Smee to say what he was intending to say. Since this had all happened to him before, he didn't want a repeat of what was going to happen.

"There has to be a way to get that girl alone," said the March Hare, his ears flipping back and forth in thought. "She needs to understand that it is very rude to leave a tea party before its finished."

"Indeed," remarked the Mad Hatter. "I had this splendid all ready for her and this is how I am thanked for it."

The thinking continued for a while and any one of the souls in that cabin could have given the best possible answer.

"Perhaps," suggested Smee. "I could do what I did with Tinker Bell and just say that you want to have a word with her, Captain."

"Ah, Tinker Bell won't matter this time," said Hook, talking through the thermometer. "We are working together and we need to think this through."

"Indeed you do," said a voice and they all turned to see the Queen and Davy Jones walk into the cabin. "Had it not been for your inability to lure Peter Pan and that girl in, we would have gotten our revenge."

"It was the fault of his Pirate friends," protested the March Hare. "They are the ones to blame, not us."

The Queen felt that this was a poor excuse for an answer and picked the March Hare up by his ears.

"Question my authority again and I will have a headless hare in my kingdom," she said icily. "Understand?"

The Hare nodded nervously and the Queen dropped him back onto the ground. This made Jones think of a way to contribute to this plan, one way or another.

"Of course you all could blame Jack Sparrow and those fools for interfering," he remarked, sitting down in a chair. "I've known Jack Sparrow for a long time and he still owes me a debt for keeping the Black Pearl."

"What does that have to do with anything?" asked Hook, as he felt a twinge of pain in his head.

"You see," replied Jones, pacing around the room. "Thirteen years ago, Jack Sparrow and I made a deal that I would keep him from joining this crew in exchange for the Black Pearl, a ship that was cursed by an ancient Aztec curse. If I am to help in capturing this human girl, then I need something in return."

A hushed silence fell around the room as the subject quickly turned from capturing Alice to this debt that Jack Sparrow had owed.

"Do you desire this Jack Sparrow so greatly?" asked the Queen. "What you are saying is if you help us get the girl, we give you Jack Sparrow."

"Indeed, your highness," replied Jones, who was now smoking his pipe. "Jack Sparrow comes to me and his crew will also belong to me."

This talk of dealing had made Hook start to feel left out slightly. As far as he was concerned, his beloved ship was still in the possession of Pan and his lost boys. He needed to get it back somehow. This was his home, his ship and he needed to do whatever it took to get it back.

"In addition," said Hook, butting in on the conversation. "There is something that you need to give me."

This made everyone turn over to him as they were now going to hear what Hook wanted out of this conversation.

"I want you to help me regain my ship that Pan has stolen from me," he said, trying to hold the ice cube on his head. "For days, my crew and I have been without a ship to call home and if you help me regain my ship, then you can have several more crew members for your crew, Jones."

Jones took this matter into consideration and extended his lobster claw hand out to Hook's and the two captains shook on the deal. It seemed that everything was starting to fall into place as the deal that the villains were putting together was to be divided. It was a deal that would satisfy all the sides and it would be a plan that would supposedly be foolproof.

"I suppose we all have a deal here," said the March Hare. "Care to drink on it? It's the Mad Hatter's favorite."

All but Jones agreed to drink on the matter and this new pact that the villains had formed was supposedly meant to be foolproof. But, of course, being villains they would all eventually lose in the end.

Meanwhile, Alice, Peter and all their friends had returned Tiger Lily to the Indian Encampment and there was something that Peter wanted to show his new friend.

"Alice?" he asked as they left the Encampment. "There is something that I've meaning to show you."

"What is it?" she remarked.

Alice would find out soon enough…