Seriously, what was up with that 503 Error nonsense today? Anyhow...

Happy Christmas to all fellow readers and writers! Here is a nice long chapter for all of you!

Chapter 13: Wendy's Bargain

"Wendy….Wendy…wake up…"

"…Peter…?"

Captain Hook raised an eyebrow.

"Smee." he said, budging the boatswain from the bedside. Resting on Smee's foot-stool, Hook watched Wendy stir. Her cheeks were shiny with fever, but she shivered under the velvet covers. "Out. Now."

"Oh…um…aye, aye Capn. But…" Smee edged toward the door, nervously pulling fuzz from his knitted cap. "…But, Capn? What should I tell…"

Smee gulped. He glanced at the door. "The seawitch!" he whispered, cupping a hand around his mouth.

"Tell her…" Hook said indifferently, adjusting the pillows around Wendy's head, "…to amuse herself. Tell her to eat one of the crew if she must."

"Aye, aye Capn!" smiled Smee, relieved to have a suggestion that would appeal to the seawitch. Popping on his red cap, Mr. Smee skipped away. "Aye, aye!"

"Blithering idiot." Hook muttered. An icy draft prickled into the cabin. Wendy shivered. Her eyes fluttered.

Hook considered. After checking the door, he took Wendy's hand. Planning to coax information from the girl, Hook rubbed his thumb across Wendy's palm. He was unprepared when Wendy's fingers interlaced with his.

The web spaces of Hook's hand tingled. He couldn't remember the last time he'd interlocked fingers, either with his severed hand or the hand of a companion. The pirate was stunned. So stunned, Hook forgot Wendy until she murmured again for Peter Pan.

"Yes." Hook answered, more tartly than he intended. Gathering his composure, the captain lowered his voice. "Yes, little Wendy….tell me…"

Hook studied Wendy's face, pressed deep into the pillows. The girl's lids were stitched shut but her eyes moved beneath them. She was dreaming.

"…what are you dreaming?" asked Captain Hook.

Wendy moaned, turning her head into the pillow.

"Nightmare?" Hook guessed.

"Mmmhmm." Wendy frowned. She coughed a little. "The hook."

"Really?" Pleased with his apparent infiltration, Hook flexed his fingers against Wendy's, feeling the pressure. "Captain Hook?"

"No, no…" Wendy brought her wrist to her forehead. She breathed shallowly, wheezing with each inhale. "…Brine."

"Brine?" Still holding Wendy's hand, Hook smiled triumphantly. Licking his lips the pirate leaned forward.

"Wendy." Captain Hook whispered. "Peter Pan hates you. He doesn't want you anymore. He banished you from Neverland."

The toe of Hook's boot tapped furiously. Wendy's eyes opened heavily as she roused from the nightmare. Squeezing Wendy's hand, Hook placed his lips against Wendy's ear. "How would you like to be a mermaid again?"

Wendy's eyes opened.

Hook smiled as her blue eyes darted to the cabin, to the velvet pillows, to the closed door, to the captain, to her hand laced in his.

"Good morning…Wendy."

Wendy snapped upright…and sneezed.

Captain Hook laughed, despite himself. Laughing harder, he clutched Wendy's hand as she attended to her red nose.

Hook stood, watching his shadow fall over the girl's frightened face. Wendy pulled away, scampering across the bed.

"Not so fast, My Dear." Leisurely, Captain Hook dragged Wendy over the covers. He relished the tension between their locked fingers.

"Come, come. Let's not be feisty, shall we?" Hook said, adding a purr to his voice. "Whilst I admire your attempt, you are no match for Captain – AH!"

Captain Hook reeled as a red velvet pillow walloped into his face. Taken by surprise, the captain staggered and fell backwards over the stool. Wendy's hand snapped away.

"Stop right there, Missy!" barked Captain Hook as Wendy sprinted to the door. Kicking aside the stool, Hook lunged to his feet. "There's no escaping! Stop! Smee! Smee!"

Heat pounding, Wendy wrenched the golden door handle. A wintery gust stabbed her like a storm of icy nails as the door slammed open.

Pausing only for the cold, Wendy ran out the door; And into the tentacles of the seawitch.

"Hello little Blue Bird. Remember me?"

Voluptuously, the seawitch waded across Captain Hook's cabin. The dark golden glow of Hook's treasure shaded her lavender skin and pale eyes.

"Bring her here." said Captain Hook, massaging the bump forming at the base of his skull. Otherwise perfectly immobile, the pirate watched Wendy struggle against the black tentacles.

"Please." Captain Hook hissed as the seawitch dropped Wendy into an armchair. "Sit down!"

Wendy gasped as the black tentacles braided across her wrists, up her arms, and excitedly into her face.

"Sing my little blue bird." drawled the seawitch, securing her fingers around Wendy's head like a crown. Satisfied, she smiled as Wendy cried out – her only defense against the tentacles peeking into her eyes. "Sing until your little neck splits apart. Oh…let me squeeze the blue from your eyes."

"You…horrid creatures!" Wendy coughed, still shivering from the cold as Captain Hook approached. "Release me! Release me or – "

"Or what?" Hook snarled. "Or your precious Peter Pan will come flying to your rescue?"

Hook glanced up at the seawitch, amused by Wendy's defiance. "My Dear there are two reasons Peter Pan will not rescue you from me. One: some short time ago I bargained sunken treasure to our Mistress Seawitch for allegiance against Peter Pan. Should he ever attempt to rescue you, the seawitch will blast him with her magic. And two:…"

The captain lowered his hook. "…it was Peter Pan that damned you to this fate. Come, come now My Dear. Have you forgotten already? Or is your girlish head too daft and too naïve?"

"Besides." Captain Hook continued, reaching into his breast pocket. "We are willing to set you free. For a bargain."

Wendy stopped. Captain Hook held the golden comb before her. The sapphires dulled against Wendy's wide eyes.

"…Brine…"

Flick. Captain Hook clenched the golden comb in his fist. Wendy's eyes lingered on his fist as her memories lingered on the moment Brine smoothed the comb though her hair.

"Yes." Hook sneered. "Your nauseating amphibious romance with that abysmal merboy. What did you call him…Brine?"

"Basalt's youngest brat." the seawitch said contemptuously. Her nails dug into Wendy's temples. "Worthless little urchin."

"Brine?" Wendy asked, worried of the grudges the pirate and the seawitch held against Brine's antagonism toward them. "What do you want with him?"

"We rather thought," Captain Hook said over the seawitch's deep chuckle, "that you might want him. That is…you might want him…alive."

"Alive?" Wendy blinked against the tentacles. "You've hurt him!"

"Not…yet." The seawitch tilted back Wendy's face to look into her pale eyes. "But I could. Oh I could skin his worthless indigo hide and feed him to you bit by bit on a silver platter. How does that sound Blue Bird? Brine's severed head, drizzled with butter and tartar sauce? Unless…" the seawitch fingered her shell necklace. "…unless, we can make an arrangement. A bargain."

Wendy twisted her head from the seawitch. The tentacles jumped as Wendy coughed.

"Bargain?" asked the girl, ignoring the warning voices in her head. "What…what bargain?"

"I think you'll find it agreeable. And profitable." Hook stood and started to pace around Wendy's chair.

"Bring the pixie Tinkerbell to me. In exchange, I will set you free and the seawitch will not kill your dear, darling merboy."

"Brine."

"Yes…" Hook confirmed, speaking as if he'd swallowed tar, "…Brine."

Wendy thought for a moment. The tentacles started nudging against her cheekbones.

"Tinkerbell is gone." she finally said. Hook crossed into her line of sight. "A white fish swallowed her. But…"

Wendy took a deep breath. It was a confusing situation. Wendy did not trust Captain Hook or his intensions for the fairy, but she desperately wanted to see Tinkerbell safe. And alive.

"But…" Wendy continued, "…but if I could get to the Northern Nevesea – "

"Confound it!" Captain Hook interrupted. "Where do you think we are, Girl? The cold? The ice? Your blistering red nose. My Dear, I've shanghaied you to the blasted Northern Neversea."

"Oh please!" He waved his hook at Wendy's resentment. "Who do you think captured that dratted pixie? Coincidence? Come, come My Dear." Hook curled his lip. "I thought you more intelligent."

Wendy tried to sit forward. "You? You sent the fish?"

"Indirectly." growled Hook. He cursed. "A mer…ally of ours beat me to the pixie. However, without consulting with me first, the icicle fish has disappeared with the pixie inside its belly."

"But regardless," Hook said, leaning on the armrests. "I think freedom and the merboy's life are generous barters for finding that snappish pixie."

Wendy pressed backwards. The tentacles constricted over her face.

"Why…why do you want Tinkerbell?" Wendy asked, stomach clenching in guilt.

"Damn it, Girl!" Hood grabbed Wendy, tearing her from the seawitch's tentacles. "I'm offering you freedom! More than Peter Pan ever offered you in that cage of an island."

Hook's breath blew Wendy's curls. "I am growing impatient. Do you or do you not accept?"

"But how can I?" Wendy cried. She tried to pull away but backed into the seawitch. "Tinkerbell is in the fish – underwater. And I don't know where I am –"

"Ah! And that…" said the captain, holding his hook under Wendy's chin. "…is the beauty of my bargain."

Captain Hook held up the golden sapphire comb. Gently, he fastened it in Wendy's hair.

"Because you will be a mermaid."

Wendy stopped breathing. The golden comb felt heavy in her hair.

"What?"

"The seawitch will turn you into a mermaid." said Captain Hook, stroking the curls around her ear. "Think of it, My Dear. You are magically turned into a mermaid. You flittery fluttery under the sea. Find the pixie. Hand her over to me – for little consequence other than piracy. And most of all…" Hook touched his thumb against Wendy's hidden kiss, "…you reunite with your little merman. Brine. Forever."

Something stirred in Wendy's eyes, like a ripple in a pool. "Forever?"

"You will have indefinitely be a mermaid. Provided you find the pixie." drawled the seawitch, tilting her head over Wendy's shoulder. "And give her to me. Underwater. But, should you become bored with Basalt's little brat…the spell offers an alternative."

The seawitch snapped her fingers. "Rise your head above the surface of the water, and you will turn back into a human. Forever. Once your head leaves the water, the spell will be broken. And you can never be a mermaid. Ever. Again."

The tentacles slithered off Wendy's shoulders. Hook stood. He studied the girl's face.

"If I can find Tinkerbell…" Wendy began. Hook's eyebrows rose slightly as Wendy spoke, "…you wont hurt her? You will bring her back to Neverland?"

Hook grinned. "I, Captain James Hook, give you my word: Ms. Bell shall not be hurt and promptly returned to Neverland. If…" Hook said, "…if you can get her to our Mistress Seawitch. She shall then hand the pixie to me."

Phantom sensations still throbbing between his fingers, Captain Hook extended his hand to Wendy. "Do we have a bargain, Wendy Darling?"

Wendy stared at Hook's hand. Helplessly, her eyes fell to the captain's opposite hand. The hook grinned evilly at her.

"Come my little Blue Bird." The seawitch's contralto chant muddied Wendy's thoughts. Stepping her fingers across Wendy's head, the seawitch conjured images of undersea adventures, ocean wonders, and Brine inside the girl's head. "Save the pixie. Save the merman."

"Free yourself. From this ship. From me. From the hooks in your nightmare." Captain Hook knelt before the girl, drowning her in his cerulean eyes. "Free yourself from Peter Pan."

Wendy faltered.

Then…

…thinking of Peter…

…she shook the pirate's hand.

Suddenly, the ship lurched. It careened to the side before bucking back in the opposite direction, as if something had knocked it from below.

"Capn!"

The door flew open, throwing in ice and snow. Shark followed. The pirate stumbled, pulling an arrow from his thigh. Without flinching, Shark looked up.

"We're under attack."

Zing!

An arrow thud into the floor. It missed Captain Hook by hair's breath.

Then again, the ship lurched.

Wendy's eyes went black. The tentacles curled over her face. But through the seawitch's scales, Wendy heard Captain Hook.

"Start the spell." said the pirate. He still held her hand. "Now."