Categories > Books > Peter Pan > hiraeth: return to neverland [a darlinghook fic]
Wendy spun around and pointed her sword at him. He wasn’t as impeccably dressed as usual, wearing knee-high boots, black pants and a loose white shirt. The shirt showed the strap that went around his arm, holding his hook in place. His long black curls spilled loose over his shoulders. He looked… younger than she remembered him.
Even though she had planned everything out in her mind, Wendy was afraid. In the dim lamplight, Captain Hook’s cold blue eyes and hook gleamed.
Recognition flickered across his face, followed by surprise. “Wendy?” he said, caught off-guard.
Although she first was startled, the island had been getting to her, making her braver, maybe a little reckless, so she held her head up. “Captain.”
Hook tried to regain his composure and said, “My, my, you have grown up. How many years has it been on the mainland?”
“Quite a few,” she said shortly.
“And, pray tell, what are you doing on my ship?”
“I am here to kill you,” Wendy squared her jaw and looked him straight in the eye. “and then take over your ship.”
“Really?” he said. A threat, that was something he knew how to deal with. He put his hook on her sword, which was still pointed at his chest, and pushed it aside with a little more difficulty than he had expected. “Hmm,” he said, not impressed.
But Wendy was not about to give up and she stepped forward, resting the tip of her sword on his collarbone.
“Give me complete control of the ship and maybe I won’t kill you,” she said, raising her chin confidently.
Hook wanted to laugh, the idea that Wendy, even an adult Wendy, could take his ship from him was absurd. But there was this look on her face, this fire in her eyes that made him hesitate. He felt like she might be able to succeed by sheer force of will.
He had no sword at his side, and while his hook was an alright weapon, it did put Wendy at an advantage. His rapier lay on his desk, behind Wendy, and to get it, he would have to stall and distract.
“So, I’m assuming you all crept aboard the ship and quietly got rid of the men on watch. The boys took the forecastle, slicing the men’s throats as they slept. Peter” He noticed Wendy tense slightly. “sent you here until he came to kill me.” She was expressionless, but he continued, slowly moving to the left. Wendy kept her sword at this neck. “I know of his rule that none of his men, ahem, boys may kill me. Although,” He was now almost close enough to grab his rapier. “perhaps he has given you that privilege. After all, he did care for you.”
The past tense bothered her, although it shouldn’t have. Wendy was torn between claiming to have the Lost Boys and Peter with her or distancing herself from them in pride.
Hook took advantage of her few moments of confusion and managed to lean around her and grab his own rapier.
Wendy, angry at herself for getting distracted, attacked immediately. But Hook was ready, and while Wendy’s previous opponent was only her better in physical strength, not in swordplay and speed, the captain was better at both.
Soon her sword was twisted from her grasp by a clever wrist movement by Hook. His blade at her throat, she backed up until she hit the wall of the cabin. She looked up at the captain, trying not to let her fear show.
She tried to reach for her dagger and hunting knife but he noticed and pressed the tip of his sword harder against her neck. She quickly raised her hands above her shoulders and he pulled the knives from her belt, tossing them to the ground. Although he didn’t take her pistol, she knew that she would never have time to use it. He had lowered his rapier, but his hook had taken its place against her neck, the cold metal against her skin.
“Well, where is your precious Peter now?” he asked.
She swallowed. “He isn’t here.”
“He isn’t here?”
“No,” she said. “I came by myself. I haven’t seen him in years.”
He looked genuinely confused but did not lower his guard.
“Don’t really want to either, actually,” Wendy muttered quietly, more to herself than anything. Then she shook her head, she shouldn’t have said that out loud. He didn’t need to know that. “So, Captain James Hook, are you going to kill me?”
“Well, I do have a reputation to keep up,” he said, searching for any sign of her being afraid. Her voice had not shaken when she spoke, her hands were steady and she did not lean on the wall for support. Her chin was raised and her chocolate-brown eyes were clear of any fear. There was an elegance in her defiance, a beauty in the way she refused to stand down and cower.
Any fear that Wendy had felt before seemed to float away as she stood face to face with the man who had haunted her dreams as a child. The man who had been the bad guy in all her stories, and yet was so… entrancing? No, that wasn’t the right word. It didn’t matter anyway.
She waited for the tell-tale red spots that would appear in his eyes when he was about to kill someone. But they didn’t come. Captain Hook didn’t move and they stood there for a long moment, seemingly at a stalemate, both unsure of what to do.
Suddenly, the door of the captain’s cabin opened and a pirate burst in. “Cap’n! Someone’s on the ship!” he shouted. “We have to-” He stopped when he saw Captain Hook and Wendy. “Oh.”
Hook cleared his throat. “As you see, I have caught the culprit.”
“That’s good, cap’n,” said the pirate. “is she gonna walk the plank?”
“No!” he said, louder than he meant to. “I am holding her hostage to lure out Pan. Alert the crew.”
“Yes, sir.” And with that, he hurried out, closing the door behind him.
Suddenly very aware of how close he and Wendy stood to each other, Hook stepped away and sat at the edge of his desk. Wendy breathed out slowly, looking around the room.
“You do realize that Peter doesn’t give a damn about me, right?” she said, looking back at him. “Especially not now.”
“Because you grew up?”
Wendy shrugged.
His brow creased as he nodded.
“And that is why I am completely done with him.” She turned and looked out the window at the back of the cabin. “I didn’t come back here for him.” There was a moment of silence after that, and Wendy realized what that had sounded like and winced internally.
“What did you come back here for?” his voice was quiet, almost cautious.
“Adventure,” she said quickly, turning back toward him. “life on the mainland is boring. My parents wanted me to find a respectable job, to settle down. My brothers have completely forgotten this place.” She shook her head. “I can still hardly believe that they could.”
“How did you return?” He stood up from his desk and pulled out a chair for her, taking one for himself and setting it across from hers.
After a moment of hesitation, Wendy sat down. For some reason, she felt that she could trust him, which was ridiculous, but she sat anyway. He was acting very differently than he had before, on her last trip to Neverland, where he had threatened to kill her brothers and the Lost Boys. It didn’t even seem like the same man.
His tone, expression and body language told Wendy that he didn’t want to hurt her. He was relaxed in his chair and seem genuinely interested in what she had to say. But he had always been charming. Cruel and murderous perhaps, but always with the utmost possible charm and manners. And his rapier lay across his knees, ready to be grabbed at a second’s notice.
So, while Wendy sat down, she slipped her hand into her pocket. As she told Captain Hook about her search for a way to return, she worked to pistol out of the plastic bag. When she told him about the feeling of flying again, a faint smile actually spread over his face, softening his features. She almost fell for it, but then remembered the murderous, red glint in his eyes from last time. She cleared her throat loudly to hide the click of the safety.
She hurried through the rest of the story, omitting her little house, and its location, and Blue. When she was finished, there was a moment of silence.
Quickly, she kicked Hook’s rapier from his lap and pulled out her pistol, pointing it at his face as she stood up. He didn’t move, and his eyes were not fixed on the barrel of the pistol, but on her own. There was something in his pale blue eyes that she had never seen them express before.
Betrayal.
Suppressing her sudden feeling of guilt, Wendy quickly turned and fled from the cabin, stuffing the pistol back into its plastic bag as she did so. There were a few men on deck, but they were stunned at her sudden appearance. Without hesitating, Wendy leapt overboard, pistol-carrying bag in hand. She hit the water not very gracefully and, on surfacing, quickly oriented herself and swam toward the island.
There was unintelligible shouting on the ship, silenced by Hook’s roar of “Quiet!” then, in a normal voice, he said, “Let her go.”
Exhausted and dripping wet, Wendy stumbled up the beach. Blue bounded out from the bushes, asking her how it had gone with his eyes. Wendy shook her head. “It didn’t work.”
He pushed at her side with his nose, trying to get her to stand up. She got on her feet, shoving her pistol into her pocket. Looking back at the ship as she slipped into the forest, the last thing she saw was the glint of the moon on a spy-glass.
Even though she had planned everything out in her mind, Wendy was afraid. In the dim lamplight, Captain Hook’s cold blue eyes and hook gleamed.
Recognition flickered across his face, followed by surprise. “Wendy?” he said, caught off-guard.
Although she first was startled, the island had been getting to her, making her braver, maybe a little reckless, so she held her head up. “Captain.”
Hook tried to regain his composure and said, “My, my, you have grown up. How many years has it been on the mainland?”
“Quite a few,” she said shortly.
“And, pray tell, what are you doing on my ship?”
“I am here to kill you,” Wendy squared her jaw and looked him straight in the eye. “and then take over your ship.”
“Really?” he said. A threat, that was something he knew how to deal with. He put his hook on her sword, which was still pointed at his chest, and pushed it aside with a little more difficulty than he had expected. “Hmm,” he said, not impressed.
But Wendy was not about to give up and she stepped forward, resting the tip of her sword on his collarbone.
“Give me complete control of the ship and maybe I won’t kill you,” she said, raising her chin confidently.
Hook wanted to laugh, the idea that Wendy, even an adult Wendy, could take his ship from him was absurd. But there was this look on her face, this fire in her eyes that made him hesitate. He felt like she might be able to succeed by sheer force of will.
He had no sword at his side, and while his hook was an alright weapon, it did put Wendy at an advantage. His rapier lay on his desk, behind Wendy, and to get it, he would have to stall and distract.
“So, I’m assuming you all crept aboard the ship and quietly got rid of the men on watch. The boys took the forecastle, slicing the men’s throats as they slept. Peter” He noticed Wendy tense slightly. “sent you here until he came to kill me.” She was expressionless, but he continued, slowly moving to the left. Wendy kept her sword at this neck. “I know of his rule that none of his men, ahem, boys may kill me. Although,” He was now almost close enough to grab his rapier. “perhaps he has given you that privilege. After all, he did care for you.”
The past tense bothered her, although it shouldn’t have. Wendy was torn between claiming to have the Lost Boys and Peter with her or distancing herself from them in pride.
Hook took advantage of her few moments of confusion and managed to lean around her and grab his own rapier.
Wendy, angry at herself for getting distracted, attacked immediately. But Hook was ready, and while Wendy’s previous opponent was only her better in physical strength, not in swordplay and speed, the captain was better at both.
Soon her sword was twisted from her grasp by a clever wrist movement by Hook. His blade at her throat, she backed up until she hit the wall of the cabin. She looked up at the captain, trying not to let her fear show.
She tried to reach for her dagger and hunting knife but he noticed and pressed the tip of his sword harder against her neck. She quickly raised her hands above her shoulders and he pulled the knives from her belt, tossing them to the ground. Although he didn’t take her pistol, she knew that she would never have time to use it. He had lowered his rapier, but his hook had taken its place against her neck, the cold metal against her skin.
“Well, where is your precious Peter now?” he asked.
She swallowed. “He isn’t here.”
“He isn’t here?”
“No,” she said. “I came by myself. I haven’t seen him in years.”
He looked genuinely confused but did not lower his guard.
“Don’t really want to either, actually,” Wendy muttered quietly, more to herself than anything. Then she shook her head, she shouldn’t have said that out loud. He didn’t need to know that. “So, Captain James Hook, are you going to kill me?”
“Well, I do have a reputation to keep up,” he said, searching for any sign of her being afraid. Her voice had not shaken when she spoke, her hands were steady and she did not lean on the wall for support. Her chin was raised and her chocolate-brown eyes were clear of any fear. There was an elegance in her defiance, a beauty in the way she refused to stand down and cower.
Any fear that Wendy had felt before seemed to float away as she stood face to face with the man who had haunted her dreams as a child. The man who had been the bad guy in all her stories, and yet was so… entrancing? No, that wasn’t the right word. It didn’t matter anyway.
She waited for the tell-tale red spots that would appear in his eyes when he was about to kill someone. But they didn’t come. Captain Hook didn’t move and they stood there for a long moment, seemingly at a stalemate, both unsure of what to do.
Suddenly, the door of the captain’s cabin opened and a pirate burst in. “Cap’n! Someone’s on the ship!” he shouted. “We have to-” He stopped when he saw Captain Hook and Wendy. “Oh.”
Hook cleared his throat. “As you see, I have caught the culprit.”
“That’s good, cap’n,” said the pirate. “is she gonna walk the plank?”
“No!” he said, louder than he meant to. “I am holding her hostage to lure out Pan. Alert the crew.”
“Yes, sir.” And with that, he hurried out, closing the door behind him.
Suddenly very aware of how close he and Wendy stood to each other, Hook stepped away and sat at the edge of his desk. Wendy breathed out slowly, looking around the room.
“You do realize that Peter doesn’t give a damn about me, right?” she said, looking back at him. “Especially not now.”
“Because you grew up?”
Wendy shrugged.
His brow creased as he nodded.
“And that is why I am completely done with him.” She turned and looked out the window at the back of the cabin. “I didn’t come back here for him.” There was a moment of silence after that, and Wendy realized what that had sounded like and winced internally.
“What did you come back here for?” his voice was quiet, almost cautious.
“Adventure,” she said quickly, turning back toward him. “life on the mainland is boring. My parents wanted me to find a respectable job, to settle down. My brothers have completely forgotten this place.” She shook her head. “I can still hardly believe that they could.”
“How did you return?” He stood up from his desk and pulled out a chair for her, taking one for himself and setting it across from hers.
After a moment of hesitation, Wendy sat down. For some reason, she felt that she could trust him, which was ridiculous, but she sat anyway. He was acting very differently than he had before, on her last trip to Neverland, where he had threatened to kill her brothers and the Lost Boys. It didn’t even seem like the same man.
His tone, expression and body language told Wendy that he didn’t want to hurt her. He was relaxed in his chair and seem genuinely interested in what she had to say. But he had always been charming. Cruel and murderous perhaps, but always with the utmost possible charm and manners. And his rapier lay across his knees, ready to be grabbed at a second’s notice.
So, while Wendy sat down, she slipped her hand into her pocket. As she told Captain Hook about her search for a way to return, she worked to pistol out of the plastic bag. When she told him about the feeling of flying again, a faint smile actually spread over his face, softening his features. She almost fell for it, but then remembered the murderous, red glint in his eyes from last time. She cleared her throat loudly to hide the click of the safety.
She hurried through the rest of the story, omitting her little house, and its location, and Blue. When she was finished, there was a moment of silence.
Quickly, she kicked Hook’s rapier from his lap and pulled out her pistol, pointing it at his face as she stood up. He didn’t move, and his eyes were not fixed on the barrel of the pistol, but on her own. There was something in his pale blue eyes that she had never seen them express before.
Betrayal.
Suppressing her sudden feeling of guilt, Wendy quickly turned and fled from the cabin, stuffing the pistol back into its plastic bag as she did so. There were a few men on deck, but they were stunned at her sudden appearance. Without hesitating, Wendy leapt overboard, pistol-carrying bag in hand. She hit the water not very gracefully and, on surfacing, quickly oriented herself and swam toward the island.
There was unintelligible shouting on the ship, silenced by Hook’s roar of “Quiet!” then, in a normal voice, he said, “Let her go.”
Exhausted and dripping wet, Wendy stumbled up the beach. Blue bounded out from the bushes, asking her how it had gone with his eyes. Wendy shook her head. “It didn’t work.”
He pushed at her side with his nose, trying to get her to stand up. She got on her feet, shoving her pistol into her pocket. Looking back at the ship as she slipped into the forest, the last thing she saw was the glint of the moon on a spy-glass.
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