A/N: Wednesday's chapter is here. As always, thanks to my reviewers CaptainHooksGirl and ThePandaHat, the ring shall be fully explained soon! Enjoy and as always, tell me what you think!

Chapter 10

Peter Pan was stressed. Not stressed in the way that a normal child could become, nor even stressed in the way an adult may, but stressed to a point where he was beginning to doubt the beauty and joy of living in Neverland where, supposedly, he could reside without a care in the world and spend his days fighting pirates and playing imaginary games. The cause of his stress, or rather the cause of his most recent and currently most prominent stress, sat before him in the form of seven not so young boys. Peter had insisted that they be blindfolded on the way to his underground home however, as the memories of living in Neverland slowly filtered back into the visitors' minds, it was discovered that all bar John and Michael were adept at finding the hideout with their eyes closed anyway.

They had opted to delay their voyage to the Black Castle until nightfall, Peter having decided that the only way to truly test the supposed 'Lost Boys' was by putting them in danger as soon as he had the opportunity to. Until then, he had sent the eldest of his new gang out to spy on the pirates and discover their whereabouts whilst he remained and interrogated the less than welcome visitors. Nibs had fallen back into silence as the boys had answered Peter's questions, ranging from how, and why, Tink had really found them and bought them back to Neverland, to the minute details of their previous adventures. Peter refused to mention Wendy, and he purposely ignored her name whenever one of the boys accidentally mentioned it, so, with a sigh, they eventually gave up on trying to discover what had befallen her since her return to Neverland. It was clear that Hook had her in his possession, but his reasoning and intentions beyond using her to capture Peter, which he didn't even seem interested in doing, remained a mystery.

It was with an air of defeat that Peter, having exhausted both the boy's minds and his own, retired to his bed for an afternoon nap. He collapsed heavily in an uncouth manner, his hand draping over the edge of the bed as his mind was whisked away into the dream world. He hadn't slept for long when the dreams started to turn sour, dark shadows clouding his view as he soared through the skies, visions of a young girl in a night dress falling past him, her scream ringing in his ears. Before too long he was aboard the Jolly Roger, but instead of being overcome by pirates the moment he landed, silence instead greeted him, cobwebs and dust lacing each and every surface, as if it hadn't been touched in years. As he looked out over the ocean he realised that it too was flat and lifeless, drained of colour as far out as Peter could see. He began to explore, searching the brig for clues but finding none before turning to Hook's cabin, something mysterious drawing him towards it like a moth to a flame.

The door made no sound as Peter opened it, or at least no sound that he could recall upon awakening, and as his weary eyes glanced around the once elegant cabin something painful panged in Peter's heart. Was it guilt, or regret, or perhaps even sympathy? He didn't dwell on it for long however, instead exploring the room with all the vigour of a curious child. As with before everything was fading away, the bed's linen torn beyond repair; the gilded desk scratched and chipped; and the once elegant and scrumptious feast of food had rotted into oblivion. It seemed that the entirety of the Jolly Roger, and the pirates that had once called it home, were slowly decomposing into non-existence, and Peter, in his slumbering mind, could not figure out how or why this strange occurrence was happening.

It was only as he turned to leave the cabin, deciding that this dream was far too perplexing a dream to be having, that Peter noticed something unusual resting upon the closed lid of Hook's former grand piano. He stumbled over towards it, noting that, unlike everything else in the cabin and aboard the ship in general, it appeared to be in near perfect condition. As he approached, Peter suddenly realised that the object of his curiosity was, in fact, three smaller objects, which only served to entice him further.

As Peter's eyes were first able to distinguish the nature of the items before him, the boy was initially unable to contain his surprise. Jumping away from them he suddenly found himself pressed against the ceiling of the cabin, staring down at the objects with a furrowed brow. After a moment or two, he lowered himself back to the ground, cautiously placing his fingers on the curve of his nemesis' appendage that was glinting menacingly in the sunlight. Besides it lay an object Peter had not seen in an extremely long time, one that he thought had been lost to the belly of the crocodile at about the same time the hook before him had been bequeathed to a certain pirate captain. However, there is was, in one piece and in as fine a detail as it had been when he had last laid eyes upon it. The only thing about the brass clock that Peter deemed unusual was the fact that it was ticking, not even the faintest little chime emitted from it. But, he supposed, if it had indeed come from the mouth of the crocodile, then it had a perfect reason not to.

It was then that Peter turned to the third and final object, the one that until now he had almost entirely dismissed due to it being both rather small and not as familiar with the boy as the other two had been. He picked up the ring with a look of curiosity splashed across his features. The band itself was rather small, ruling out any possibility that the item could have belonged to a male. Engraved in the smallest of letters and fanciest of fonts just on the inside of the band, Peter could just about depict the words, 'with all my love, James Hook' alongside a miniature engraved skull and crossbones. He turned the ring over slowly, eyeing up the dark gem that now glinted up at him. There was something unusual about it: it appeared to have some sort of mist trapped inside, for, upon closer viewing, Peter could see that the mysterious pattern underneath the gem's surface was not part of its design, but moving freely inside the gem itself.

Before the curious little boy could question the ring any further, it suddenly let out a loud whine and burst into ashes right there in Peter's fingers. As he looked around in panic, the Captain's hook and the crocodile's clock also exploded into ash, clouds of the powder rising into the air and engulfing Peter as it accumulated. Peter barely had time to cry out before the Jolly Roger and all of its rotting contents abruptly disappeared too and all of a sudden he was falling fast through the darkness, unable to muster even one happy thought in order to regain his flying ability. He screamed, beginning for someone, anyone, to help him in his plight, but it seemed no one could hear his calls for no answer came. Without warning the ground suddenly came into Peter's view, him hurtling downwards so fast that he would not be able to avoid smashing into it. However, the closer he fell the more Peter realised that it was in fact a large, wet tongue he was travelling towards, surrounded by a set of even larger teeth, and accompanied by a macabre and constant ticking sound. No sooner had Peter consigned his terrified self to the idea that his destination was the belly of the crocodile, than his world went black.

Peter awoke with a start, springing up with a loud exclamation and most promptly falling onto the cold dirt floor. Tinker Bell was by his side in a flash, quickly followed by the few Lost Boys who hadn't chosen to nap when Peter had left them to their own devices. Springing up into a seating position but not quite able to bring himself to move further than that, Peter cast his gaze upwards, groggily surveying the faces of the people around him, from the concerned expression of one of his newest charges to the blank face that the ever-expressionless Nibs displayed. After a moment or two, Peter dismissed them all with a half-hearted wave, as if trying to convince both himself and the onlookers of his well-being. They left slowly and hesitantly and soon Peter was alone once more, trying to recall the strange details of his latest dream. Stretching out his legs in order to lean back and stare wistfully up at the ceiling, Peter placed arms out behind him, however instead of touching the solid ground, one of his fingers grazed against something cold and small. He had retracted his hand in an instant, cautiously turning his head to see what it was he had touched. A soft glimmer of silver caught his eye and, reaching forward, he removed the necklace from its hiding place, once again studying it. A small gasp of air left his lips.

"The kiss."

Naturally, after Tink's disruption of it, the re-arrival of the kiss into Peter's life had gone forgotten, but now, as he held the item delicately in his not too clean hands, another flicker of a memory began to filter into Peter's head.

"The Wendy lady."

Peter rose to his feet, a plan formulating fast in his head. He hid the necklace on his person and made for the door of his room, only stopping for an instant to check that he still had the ability to fly: sometimes the scarier remnants of dreams do remain, and apparently Peter's inability to fly had been one of those.

As he opened the door, expecting the boys to be lying around and keeping themselves entertained, a sudden rush of commotion erupted before Peter. He looked around, trying to survey its cause, when suddenly the eldest of the boys stepped forward. Peter grinned: he'd returned.

"Peter, Hook is headed for the Black Castle, he's searching for something!"

"What about the woman?"

"She's still on board the Jolly Roger, in Hook's cabin. I couldn't quite hear what was going on but I think Hook is protecting her: he told Smee to keep guard."

Michael piped up angrily, "Hook isn't protecting Wendy. He kidnapped her!"

A small ruckus erupted as the boys began to argue over Hook and Wendy's relationship. Peter's patience grew thin.

"Silence!"

It was achieved instantly as each boy turned back to Peter, apprehension covering their expressions, even Nibs', at Peter's tone.

"You are all to go to the Black Castle and hide in wait for Hook. Do not attack until I give my order, no matter what. Understand?"

A general chorus of 'Yes, Peter' arose from the crowd of boys before they began to drift towards their destination. Peter, however, did not have the time to spare: he was to take a detour.

Within only ten minutes he had arrived at the Jolly Roger, and I'm sure, as a boastful Peter would have insisted, he would have arrived at his destination in half the time if he hadn't have been so kind as to hurry the Lost Boys, both old and new, to begin their voyage. He landed on the ship's railing with a soft tap, not wanting to arouse any suspicions… for the moment at least. If his informant had been accurate in his detailing of the situation, the majority of the pirates would still be occupied below deck whilst Smee and the Wendy lady were occupying Hook's cabin. After a quick surveillance of the scene, and upon finding his informant's words to be true, Peter cautiously prepared to execute his plan. He turned around to face the ever faithful, and ever jealous, Tinker Bell to ensure she was on the same page and, with a wink and a slight nod of the head, their mission to kidnap the Wendy lady began.

Asides from being one of the shortest and easiest missions Peter and Tinker Bell had ever embarked upon, it was with certain trepidation that Peter made his presence known. Perhaps it was the remnants of the dream hanging around him still but a definite unease filled Peter's conscience as he made his move, as if danger was lurking right behind him and, in choosing his action, he had set a much bigger chain reaction of events into motion, one which no amount of fairy dust or believing could stop. However, always the curiosity and danger-seeking child, Peter pushed the thoughts out of his mind and continued on nonplussed. Fate may have been fate, but he was Peter Pan: the boy who defied expectation simply by being in existence.

Upon capturing Wendy and trapping Smee in the satin curtains that laced Hook's grand four poster bed (Tink's doing), the flying boy and his hot headed fairy made their escape as quickly and as quietly as possible. Of course, carrying the unconscious Wendy was no easy job, but with a little extra fairy dust the task was managed.

They arrived at the Black Castle just as a scream echoed throughout its decaying form. It was undoubtedly a dying scream, and that of a male too, but Peter wasted no time in pondering whose it might be. The noise was also loud and sharp enough to alleviate Peter of his next task: waking up the Wendy lady. She sat up with a gasp, as if awaking from a nightmare, her wide eyes frantically taking in her surroundings. Her gaze settled upon Peter and she gasped once more as it occurred to her just what had happened.

"Peter, why did…"

"Be quiet!" Peter leapt forward, placing his hand over her mouth, much to her shock. "Do not talk or I will silence you myself."

The threat was clear enough and so Wendy succumbed to Peter's orders. Satisfied, he moved away, unwrapping the rope he had collected whilst aboard the Jolly Roger from his waist and using it to bind Wendy's hands behind her back. She grimaced but made no complaint, partly curious as to what Peter had in mind to do with her. He clearly hadn't remembered her, but instead must have come to the crazy decision that she was worth something in Hook's eyes; at least enough that the Captain would consider his moves in accordance to whatever fate Peter had in mind for her.

When Peter was content that Wendy was bound to an acceptable standard he stood back, removing his sword from his holster and pointing it towards her.

"Stand up."

She did so, only encountering the slightest difficulty as she was unable to use her hands to guide her upwards. When she was steady Peter spoke once more.

"You are to obey my every order or I will run you through!" He jabbed the sword at her as if to make his point. "Take me to Hook."

Wendy sighed.

"But…"

The sword was jabbed at her again, prompting her silence, which Wendy reluctantly gave. With another sigh, she conceded defeat. There was no use arguing, it was better to pretend to know where she was going than risk becoming 'another dead pirate', and so, it was with that, that Wendy and Peter began their search for Hook.