Hey, guys. I didn't get a chance to update any earlier this week. I had too much going on with school! I guess that's what happens when you leave your assignments to the last minute… Anyway, I hope you like. Don't forget to let me know and tell me what you think.

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Chapter Ten: Call Out To Your Brother

Wendy's POV

My stomach dropped as Hook stared down at me with wary, green eyes. His black hair was cropped short, showing off the silver hoop that adorned one of his ears. Light stubble coated his strong jaw, making his incredibly lovely face seem rugged and…I dare say, attractive. Black tattoos peeked out of the thin, white shirt he wore, swirling up the side of his neck. His black coat was unbuttoned, reaching down past his knees and thick boots covered his feet. An uneasy feeling overcame me as I stared at the hook that sat in place of his left hand. Unlike Peter, he hadn't aged in the time that I had been away and still looked around twenty.

"Who are you and why are you on my ship?" he asked with mild curiosity.

Well, here goes nothing, I thought.

I didn't remember much about Hook, but the little I did would sure be coming in handy soon. His birth name was Johnathan Callington. His mother, Helen, was a barmaid in the small village of Lawton; his dad was a pirate and settled down once he found the love of his life. When he was eleven, Hook's mother had an affair and fell pregnant. Enrage, his father left when he found out, taking his only son with him. After the death of his old man, Hook took over the ship.

I only knew the basics, but that hadn't stopped me from wondering what had possessed such a young, handsome man to turn to a life of piracy. Surely, there must be better things out there.

"You don't know how long I've been looking for you, Johnathon," I said. He looked taken back when I used his given name. I suspected that it had been a long time since he had last been called Johnathon.

Hook studied me with interest. "And why is that?" he asked, raising a dark eyebrow.

"I've always wanted to meet my brother."

Hook's eyes instantly widened and he took a step back. The pirate who had marched me across the deck and was now attending closely behind me, gasped. Hook tried to mask his expressions but couldn't. Shock, disbelieve, pain and anger flashed across his features. He seemed at a loss for words.

As I took as steadying breath, I was aware of the other pirates on the deck beginning to come closer, curiously taking in their shell-shocked captain and the stranger across from him. Their eyes bored into the back of my head, but I didn't break eye contact with the man in front of me. "I've come to join your crew," I said, sounding a hell of a lot surer than I felt.

Not hearing the previous part of our conversation, the pirates laughed around me. Hook remained silent, appearing to be trying to wrap his head around the lies I had just told him.

"A woman on the ship!" one of the pirates roared mockingly. I didn't look around to see who it was. In all honesty, I was too scared to.

"She's got to be kidding," another yelled.

"Send her off the plank," a third suggested. The men voiced their agreement and I felt myself begin to panic.

No, this wasn't how it was supposed to happen!

I felt them close in around me until they surrounded us. Most grinned wickedly, causing my stomach to churn. One made a grab for my arm, and I let out a yelp, jerking away. That only moved me closer to another. I cried out in shock and terror as strong arms circled my waist. My back was pushed against a broad chest. Terror seized me.

"Wait," Hook ordered firmly. He didn't raise his voice but the pirates listened instantly.

Most turned to look at him and the steel-like arms that were around me loosened. I pushed out of them instantly, stumbling forward. My heart was racing at a million miles an hour and my chest rose and fell rapidly as I returned my gaze to Hook. A giant coloured man now stood beside him. Unlike the other pirates, he didn't look at me with malice, only curiosity.

"Follow me," Hook said to me, jerking his chin in the direction of the double set of doors that stood behind him. His voice conveyed no emotion, and he didn't wait for me as he turned and pushed through them.

I had two choices: I could either stay out on deck with gang of brutal pirates, or I could follow their captain. Looking at the unkempt men around me who were itching to throw me off the side of the ship, I made my decision. I scurried after Hook and burst through the doors loudly. They shut behind me with a bang.

Stepping forward hesitantly, I surveyed the room. It was spacious, furnished with a large desk and chairs. The desk was covered with maps and endless pages of illegible writing. A long, cushioned bench travelled the length of the far wall, allowing the person sitting on it to look out through the window at the water behind the ship. Large, heavy cupboards were bolted to the wall. Seemingly useless looking objects were situated around the room. A miniature wooden statue of a monkey sat atop the cupboards. Beaded necklaces were hung over the doorhandles, reminding me of the Indians. What looked to be grass skirt was thrown on the floor in the closest corner. Why a pirate would own a grass skirt was beyond me.

Hook turned to face me, standing in the middle of the room with his arms crossed over his chest. "Who are you?" he asked bluntly, getting straight to the point. He surveyed me with green eyes that showed his barely controlled anger. It was painstakingly obvious that he didn't think kindly of his mother and half-sister, not that I was actually either one.

Trying to keep my face blank, I replied not unkindly, "I told you who I am. I'm Harper Callington, your half-sister." I was positive that that wasn't the girl's real name, but seeing as Hook had never met her, it seemed safe to use.

Hook's jaw tightened as his eyes took in my thin, almost insect-like frame with disgust. Just when I thought he was going to speak, Hook turned and walked away quickly. He strode over to stand in front of the bench seat, starring out of the window for a few moments.

"You're no sister of mine," he spat, refusing to even look at me. His words were cold and final. I was glad that it was me standing here, not his actually sister, because his words would have cut deep. "You're just the product of a dirty affair." If John had ever talked to me like this, I most likely would have cried. Luckily, this man in front of me wasn't of any actual relation. I just had to make him think that he was.

"And you think that is my fault?" I asked.

He didn't reply.

"I had no control over being conceive," I continued. I felt a strong desire to stand up for the girl I didn't even know. No one deserved to be talked to like that. "If anyone deserves your anger it would be our mother and the father I don't even know, Johnathan."

He head jerked around quickly, and eyes that held barely controlled hatred pierced mine. "Don't call me that," Hook snapped. I flinched back involuntarily at his tone. "And, trust me, I'm pretty pissed off at Mum too. She's the reason I left in the first place. That whore disgraced our whole family."

"That whore is your mother," I said heatedly. I couldn't ever imagine talking about my mother the way Hook did about his. By the vulgar was he talked, it was obvious that he hadn't been raised with a woman's touch. In fact, he had been motherless for most of his life. I felt a tinge of sadness for the man in front of me as I realised this.

"Why are you even here?" he asked.

"I wanted to meet you. I thought that you would at least like to meet me too."

"And why would I want to do that?" he said coldly. Hook's face was a hard mask, but his eyes were different. They showed an eleven year old boy who had left his mother, ashamed and incredibly enraged by her actions. Despite what he wanted me to think, Hook had also been hurt. He had been hurt a lot. I felt pity for him, then I remembered that he was the monster that had kidnapped Peter and the boys.

"Because," I started, do my best to read the emotion playing in his eyes. "You have always wanted to know who the baby in your mum's belly was." I took a step closer towards him. He didn't back away in disgust like I presumed he would. I took that as a good sign. "All these years that you have been in Neverland, never aging, never growing older, you thought about us. You thought about Mother and I a lot."

His expression wavered slightly. "I…" He trailed off, at a loss for words.

"You've wondered what it's still like back home." I took another step closer. "You've wondered how Mother is. You've even wondered about me."

Hook paled visibly. "What do you know?" he said roughly, looking entirely unsettled.

"More than you think," I said.

He shook his head in either disbelief or confusion. Hook turned and padded over to the desk and dropped down into the chair. He looked through me as he gestured to the seat across from him. Hesitantly, I walked over and sat opposite Hook.

He stared at me for a long, hard moment and I fought the urge to fidget. "How did you get here?" Hook finally asked.

Good question.

I took a deep breath before talking. Thankfully, I had had plenty of time while walking around the island to rehearse my life story. I just hoped he bought it. "As soon as I turned eighteen, I caught the first ship out of Lawton." The lie easily slipped off of my tongue.

"Mother let you leave?" he asked, skeptical.

"I was over eighteen," I countered. "There wasn't much that she could do."

Hook nodded curtly and his eyes studied my face with unwavering focus, but he didn't comment. I took his silence as a sign to continue.

"She wasn't happy when I told her that I was leaving. Mother didn't want me to go after you alone. She said that you wouldn't be exactly the most welcoming of hosts." Hook let out a short, harsh laugh, and I couldn't stop the corners of my lips turning up. It was the understatement of the week. "She wanted to come with me, but, well…she couldn't afford to lose her job. It's not like we were raking in the money."

I felt a tinge of sadness for the unknown woman who had lost her son. Surely, she must miss his terribly. Judging by the emotion that played across his face when mentioned the woman, I can only guess that Hook missed her too.

I cast the thought aside, clearing my head. "Anyway, the ship docked at the closest kingdom. It was ginormous. I didn't have a clue where you were so I asked around, trying to see if anyone knew of a Johnathan Callington." His jaw tightened at the name. "It wasn't the most effective method of finding you, but it was all that I had. For four months, I travelled and heared nothing about you."

"Did you ever think that I didn't want to be found?"

His face was hard as my eyes locked with his. "Of course," I replied. "I'm not stupid, Johnathan. You left with your father for a reason. I knew that if I ended up finding you, you wouldn't be happy."

"Well, at least you aren't delusional," he said dryly.

"No, I have my head firmly screwed on, thank you very much." I tapped my head, emphasising my point.

His mouth twitched in amusement for a second before he schooled his expression, his face turning back to its stony mask.

"A few weeks ago, the cargo ship that I was traveling on stopped overnight at a small island, dropping off some of its good," I continued. "It was late and I stopped by at the local pub, looking for a meal. It wasn't long after when a group of drunk men burst through the door. They were carrying on about some pirates from the south who were flying under the Bloody Mary. That was your father's flag."

I looked at him pointedly, but all he did was stare back. The fingers on his remaining hand fiddled with the edge of a piece of paper that lay on the desk.

"I had to wait almost a week until a ship was heading out this way," I said. "The captain refused to dock on the island, something about it being nothing but trouble. The sailors wouldn't go anywhere near it. I'm not sure why. Anyway, they dumped me about a kilometre offshore on the other side of the island as they passed. It took me about a day to trek around to here. Then I found you," I finished, shrugging lightly.

Hook stared at me with a blank expression. I didn't know if he believed me or not. I prayed that he did.

"That's a lot of work to find someone who doesn't want to see you," he concluded.

"I decided a long time ago that it was worth it," I said simply.

Believe me, believe me, believe me, I silently begged. Hook rubbed his jaw and let out a deep breath. He seemed as though he didn't know what to think.

Hook stood abruptly, scraping his chair back loudly along the wooden floorboards. He looked down at me, confusion and emotional exhaustion etched into his face. "Look, you…you can stay in here tonight. The men won't bother you." He gave a curt nod, before striding towards the door. Hook ripped it open with enough force that I feared it was going to fall off the hinges. He went to leave but stopped. Turning to look at my briefly, he said, "I…I just need to think."

Without another word, he left. The door slammed shut behind him.

I almost felt bad for the anguish that I had caused him with my lies, but I cast that feeling away roughly as I thought of Peter.

He, the boys and Tink were somewhere on this ship, and as soon as the sun set, I was finding them and getting off this awful boat.

Please leave a review and tell me what you think of Hook. I really want to know. Thanks for reading another chapter!