Captain's Quarters (Sequel to The Piper Boy)

Chapter 1

"Girl! Up ya get. Decks ain't gonna scrub themselves!" A loud knock at the door forced Amily awake from her horrid nightmare.

She knew it was nightmare because she woke frightened and shivering. Yet the dream itself didn't feel completely terrible like a nightmare should. Amily swore that she could still feel Pan's gentle caress across her cheeks. But she had to remind herself that the dream was a nightmare and Pan was a monster and she'd never go back to Neverland.

Amily laughed at herself for a second there. Of all the things 'never' when it came to Neverland, Amily was sure that she was the first to never want to return. She was also sure that she was the first to escape.

But Amily wasn't completely free yet and she often thought of how she could've landed herself into a worse situation. She'd escaped Pan only to run into his one-handed, rum-swilling 'business partner', Captain Hook of all people. The man famous for getting what he wants, whenever he wants it. No matter how he had to get it.

Amily pulled herself out of bed to go scrub decks. She didn't want to sound ungrateful, of course. The pirates had indeed given her a room and a clean bed. But Amily was sure that she was not cut out for the pirate lifestyle.

But then she realized an even worse problem.

***

Amily knocked at the Captain's door wrapped in a flimsy bed sheet. She had forgotten that once you stopped believing in Neverland's magic and all it's glory everything you conjured up with it vanished along with your belief. Amily's clothes included.

She stood at the door, cold and red-faced, awaiting a reply. Apparently everyone except the captain was expected to be up early.

"Captain Hook? Sir?" Her voice was shaky. She still didn't completely trust the man behind the door. After his use of her to get to Pan on that dreadful day when everything fell, Captain Hook was the last person she wanted to take care of her.

Amily knocked once more before deciding it was a lost cause. She still had no idea what to do about her clothing situation. She turned to leave. When her back was turned she heard the door creak open.

"Are you wearing a sheet?" the sly voice of the pirate captain said from the doorway.

"My clothes have gone. I need new ones" Amily said without turning to face him. She knew that this was disrespectful to a person of Hook's status, even if he was a pirate.

Finally she turned to look Hook square in the face. Her face was determined and unafraid.

Hook turned to lead her into his quarters. Never had she entered a room with a man dressed in only a sheet. It was a terrifying experience.

"There've been only men on this ship ergo I have only men's clothes" Hook was leaning against his desk now, looking at her dully.

Amily swallowed, "Anything will do" she said.

"I don't know... I think a sheet suits you" He raised his eyebrows once playfully and moved slowly away from the desk towards her. Hook held up a hand and Amily flinched away.

"No, don't. Don't touch me" She didn't know if she'd ever trust another boy or man ever again. Amily was against the door now and she eyed Hook's raised hand fearfully. Her heart was beating fast and she was panting.

"Calm down, girl, I was only joking. I'm not going to hurt you. You're only a girl" Hook turned to look in a chest of drawers next to a closed door Amily guessed led to his sleeping chambers.

"What's your name again?" He said whilst shuffling through the drawer.

"Amily"

"Bloody hell, there's no need to look so terrified" said Hook when he got a look at Amily's still frightened face.

"You're a man and a pirate. I can't trust you" Amily's voice wavered and she clutched at the sheet covering her tightly.

"I may be a pirate, but I never bed a woman against her will. I don't need to" He winked. Hook was playful yet when Amily refused to give in to his charm, his face fell.

"What did he do to you, lass?" Hook's voice was disgusted like he was genuinely concerned.

Amily said nothing and stared at the rugged floor.

"It's alright if you don't want to talk about it" The pirate looked uncomfortable and took a step toward his guest. This time Amily didn't flinch.

"My crew and I will not harm you. You have my word, Amily" He added her name to the end as if he was unsure whether or not to use it.

"Th-thank you, sir" Amily spotted the folded garments in his hands and looked up at Hook expectantly.

He handed them to her slowly and Amily accepted the clothes with a grateful smile. Captain Hook coughed coarsely to remove any tension in the air.

"They might be a little big but it's all I have" Hook reached behind him before Amily left and handed her some soft leather boots.

Amily nodded and returned to her room, smiling to herself yet hoping Hook would not see it.

She slipped the clothes on quickly. The room was chilly and the sheet she had wrapped herself in provided little protection from the cold air that slipped through the room's port-hole. Amily made a mental note to shut it later.

The clothes were too big but not by much. Tucking the hem of the loose cream-colored shirt into the waist of her leather trousers, she looked almost half-decent. The ankles of her pants needed to be folded upwards though or nothing practical would get done. Lastly she pulled on the leather boots and went to look at herself in the mirror.

Not only did the clothes make her look tough, she felt like it. The boots made her at least a few inches taller and the leather pants gave Amily a superior, mighty look. She spied some loose cord on the dresser beside her bed and snatched it up quickly to pull her hair into a messy pony-tail. A few strands had slipped loose to fall across her face. Amily had never considered herself pretty but this outfit did something to her appearance. She didn't know what it was though.

Amily almost though these clothes suited her like nothing else did and in it got her thinking. Maybe a pirate's life couldn't be that bad after all.