My Darling Girl *Disney fanfic*

13. The Girl with No Shadow

Hook woke up, facing an unfamiliar wall. He rolled over, his hand instinctively going to the pillow beneath his head to retrieve his pistol. He found nothing there and, slowly, his months spent in prison returned to him. They'd taken his pistol during his arrest. He scanned the room. It was small, with a low sloped ceiling. Mould flecked the walls and mirror opposite him was stained and broken. He was lying on a creaky bed with a threadbare coverlet.

Memory of the jailer, a gun protruding from his impossible mouth, flashed across Hook's feverish mind and he sat bolt upright – beads of sweat rolling down his face. The door squeaked on its hinges as it was pushed open and a small man with a rotund stomach and fluffy white side burns filled the doorway.

"Ello Capt'n," the stranger greeted cheerfully. "You're awake, that's g-good." The man was carrying a bowl of broth which he handed over to Hook. "G-get that down you." He had a slight stammer and runny eyes and nose. Hook glared suspiciously at the bowls contents.

"Who are you?"

"Smee." The floorboards creaked as Smee fussed about the room, straightening things.

"Where am I?"

"M-my humble home. Ti-Tiger Lily brought you, sh-she explained," Smee's Adam's apple bobbed in his throat as he struggled with his words. "You n-need to stay hidden, cap-capt'n."

Hook sipped cautiously at the broth, his stomach growling loudly. He barely tasted the food but he felt the immediate good it did him.

Tiger Lily, Hook frowned as he drank. It was like waking from a crazy dream only to discover none of it had been a dream at all. There really had been a kid in the dungeons and grown men turned into dolls...

"Where is Tiger Lily?"

"She's gone – to fi-fight."

Hook's brow darkened. Tiger Lily had told him that the mayor and his people had been turned, turned into mindless killers. How could a slip of a girl hope to fight them on her own?

"Why aren't you helping her?" Hook demanded angrily. Smee shouldn't have just let a child walk into something so dangerous.

"Oh, she'll be all-alright."

"Is she your daughter?" Hook asked, his expression stern. Smee shook his head, laughing at the idea as he cleaned his glasses.

"No, no. I sent her a message to-to come here. Sensed trouble capt'n. Though none believed me."

"You sent for a child, for help?"

Smee smiled, not at all affronted by Hook's tone.

"She's spec-special. Helped my family a lon-long time." Smee replied cryptically. Hook finished the broth and wiped his mouth with the back of stumped forearm. The dregs however had caught in his beard. Glancing down, Hook saw that he'd been cleaned. Months in prison had turned his skin grey but now, properly bathed, his skin was snowy. He was shirtless, his ribs protruding in his slender frame, with his shoulder securely wrapped up with fresh linen.

"Thank you, for fixing me."

Smee shook his head, declining Hook's thanks.

"The girl did it, she asked that I give you this cap-capt'n." Smee handed Hook a scrap of paper that had been folded over. Hook dextrously flipped the paper with one hand before quickly reading the contents.