Hooked On You

Saving a Damsel

A/N: Let me know what you think of this story! I should be posting a chapter every week, maybe more often depending on how much time I have. Enjoy!

"Captain," Smee murmured quietly as they rounded towards the Jolly Roger, glancing at something over his shoulder.

"What is it, Smee?" Captain Hook asked tiredly, thoroughly exhausted by the day's activities of scheming and stealing.

"In that boat back there, did you happen to see someone tied up through the porthole?" Hook looked over at Smee in concern, he didn't usually act this strange before he started drinking.

"What on Earth are you talking about?" Hook turned around to face the only other ship in port, a dingy old thing with moss growing out of the sides. "Which porthole?"

"The one on the right, sir." Smee looked relieved that his Captain was taking him seriously in such a situation. For a few moments, all was quiet, but then Hook saw a flash of red and two hands banging against the window.

Without a second thought, Hook ran over to the ship and gazed inside the hole where a girl was being kept. She had red hair, and a cloth was tied around her mouth. Her wrists were bound from the elbows down in front of her and Hook could make out numerous bruises starting to form on her back where the shirt she was wearing had been ripped. Looking up at him with brown doe eyes, Hook knew he couldn't leave her there.

Being as quiet as possible, Hook climbed on board, as Smee finally caught up. "Captain, what are you doing?" he asked desperately. It was quite sad that a pirate had such a hard time running, but that was Smee.

"Well, what does it look like?" Hook responded with a cocky smile, "I'm saving the damsel in distress." With that, he found his way below deck and headed towards where the said damsel was waiting to be rescued.

"Hello, love," he whispered when he happened upon her. Stepping closer and gesturing that he meant no harm, Hook took the cloth out of her mouth.

"I'm nobody's love, pirate," The words were supposed to be harsh, but he could hear the fear and confusion she felt so he didn't take her too seriously.

"How did you come to this place?" Hook asked, cutting her arms free with his hook.

"Smelled treasure." A crazy sort of grin took place of the frown she'd had before, a grin Hook knew all too well. "Didn't expect to get caught." The smile was gone again and she stood up, a thinking expression on her face. Suddenly, she spun around and held out her hand. "Thank you for saving me, I'm Lea. Do you want to help me get some treasure?" Hook smiled a bit, taken aback by the girl's fast talking and happy attitude, considering she had just been tied up in a dingy old boat and left there for who knows how long.

"You're welcome, Lea. I'm Captain Hook, of course I want treasure." He had an entirely arrogant look on his face that Lea felt the need to slap off. She thought about it for a moment, head tilting as her eyes searched his face before nodding.

"Fine, but I take whatever I want." Then, she was moving, too silently to be a regular girl smelling treasure. Hook deduced that she must be a pirate also, or at least a thief with a bit of practice.

She led him through two doors and a hallway before coming to a stop at a door that seemed to be locked. Lea immediately crouched down and stuck two thin pieces of metal--that had appeared out of nowhere--into the lock and started jiggling them. A few seconds later, the door swung open and Lea crept inside, glancing around with almost over-the-top caution. If there was anyone else on this boat, Hook believed they would have seen them by now.

"It's right over here," she whispered, walking over to a chest in the corner. It wasn't very big, but the gold inlets spoke volumes. It had to have been designed by a true craftsman, one that couldn't have been found in a shabby town like this. Something about the chest gave Hook pause. It seemed a bit too easy. But then Lea was working her magic with the pieces of metal, and as the lid swung open she stepped back to let Hook see the little mound of gold inside. Suddenly, a sword was pressed to his back. He turned around slowly to see Lea holding the sword to his chest and a man walking into the room. Where she was hiding that sword, Hook almost wanted to know.

"Good job, little sister," the tall man said with a sneer of a smile, clapping Lea on the back. Surprisingly the sword moved no closer as he did that, even as Lea's whole body shifted forward. If anything, the sword was pulled away just a bit. "We have a proposal for you, Captain Hook." the man sneered again, moving closer so Hook could see just how much buffer he was. "The name's Captain Ronald, and-"

"Sorry, mate, but I don't do proposals from a man who uses a woman to do his dirty work." Lea got an outraged look on her face and Ronald's turned red at Hook's words. "No offense, love." He added as an afterthought when the sword poked through his jacket. The angry look had already been replaced by a bored stare pointed towards the tip of the sword as it slowly made its way closer to Hook's chest.

"You don't really have a choice in the matter," Ronald explained as his own face went back to normal. "You either kill Captain Red Beard, or you die. Just that simple." Captain Ronald glued a strained smile to his pudgy face. "He's docked across the city, and most of his crew were recently taken by the plague. If the legends are true," Ronald's words turned venomous, "about the famous Captain Hook, then I know he would never give up his life instead of someone else's." His smile turned real and smug when Hook just glanced at the floor instead of denying the accusations.

"Looks like someone has done their research." Hook admitted, thoughts racing a mile a moment. His next words sounded forced, but he hoped the others in the cabin would not think too much about his hesitance. "I'll kill your pirate, but what do I get in return?" This seemed like the question of the day to Ronald, whose smile enlarged significantly. Hook noticed Lea was just standing there next to her brother, pointing the sword to Hook's chest with complete nonchalance, but not showing any emotion or looking up from the sword to the conversation. It was as if she wasn't hearing any of it, or that she just wasn't interested in the bargaining of a man's life. Hook couldn't help but wonder where the fiery girl from a minute ago had gone.

"Your life, of course. But also, you get a handful of gold and a ruby finer than anything you've ever seen." Lea's eyes widened a bit and her unoccupied hand went to the ruby necklace at her throat. Hook studied the ruby around her neck curiously. It seemed important enough to her that she looked about to speak up to her brother. "Bring me his hat after he's dead, and you get your reward." Ronald promised and walked out of the room in a dramatic fashion. "Let him go, Lea." His voice seemed to hold an extra layer and Hook saw Lea wince as she brought down and put away the sword. Her eyes were had moved and were now trained on the floor, not letting Hook see any of the emotions swirling inside.

"You agree with him?" Hook asked curiously, watching the way her hands shook after the sword was gone. For someone who held a sharp object with straight shoulders and without the slightest tremor, Lea's current, almost crumpling, demeanor was concerning to say the least.

"I have to, he's the Captain." Lea answered with no other explanation, venom lacing the edges. "We leave at sunrise the morrow after next. Be here, or our crew goes after you." She walked out just as her brother did, not bothering to show him the way out. Considering he hadn't seen a crew on this ship, Hook wondered where they were hiding, or if the siblings were lying and would go after him themselves. He couldn't decide which would be worse.

"Smee, remind me never to listen to your ramblings ever again." Hook spoke as he jumped off of the broken old ship.

"May I ask why, Captain?" Smee asked, looking behind to see if the damsel in distress was coming along. When she didn't follow, he got a little worried.

"Because I listened, I have to go kill Red Beard." With an intensely brooding look on his face, Hook stormed off to the Jolly Roger, knowing that gold and a ruby would never be worth the life of an old friend. Now, if only he could think of a way out of this mess without killing anyone.