Late that night, Slightly finally awoke to a multitude of aches and pains. His head throbbed and his chest burned, but at least he was still alive. He opened his eyes to see what the heavy lump on his side was, and saw that Jukes was there. The gunner had his head pillowed on his arm, and was curled up on the small bed with Slightly.

“Welcome back, boy,” growled a familiar, frightening voice.

Slightly looked towards the bars of the cell and saw Captain Hook staring at him, an alarmingly friendly smile on his face. “What… why… how?” Slightly stammered. He looked down at Jukes, then back at Hook, “Is Billy a prisoner, too?”

Hook chuckled, amused by the boy’s discomfort. I need him to be receptive to me, and he won’t be if he’s too frightened. “Hardly. He’s been tending to you since I brought you here, and he’s worn himself out. He opted to sleep here in case you awoke.” He frowned, “Mr. Jukes can sleep through anything, apparently. And I have yet to decide if you are a prisoner or a guest, so I am erring on the side of caution by keeping you in the brig.”

“A guest? I’m slightly confused,” Slightly replied.

Hook looked at him, smiling. “You said Peter Pan banished you. Therefore, I assumed you are no longer a Lost Boy.”

“I – I guess I’m not,” Slightly sighed, remembering the fight. It pained him to remember, and he felt the sadness welling up in him again. “What are you going to do with me?”

“If you aren’t a Lost Boy, then you’re not my enemy. My only enemies are Peter Pan and his allies. I couldn’t care less about anyone else. But Mr. Jukes has named you his friend; therefore I’m inclined to count you as an ally.”

“I’m not a pirate,” Slightly snapped, remembering Peter’s accusation.

“Indeed you aren’t,” Hook chuckled. “If you wish to leave, you may go at anytime. I don’t know if you can fly, but if you can’t I will have a man row you ashore.” He smiled at the disbelief on Slightly’s face and continued. “But you are welcome to stay here and recover more. Your injuries aren’t deadly, but they will hinder you for awhile. You’ll need to be well before you start fending for yourself… since you are homeless now.”

“Homeless,” Slightly repeated, “I slightly didn’t realize that. I can’t go home. Maybe I can stay with the Indians.”

“Maybe. Unless Pan had told them you’re a traitor, in which case they may just run you off. I’m afraid I’ve made solid enemies of the Indians, and if they believe Pan that you are a pirate…” Hook shrugged. He unlocked the cell door and opened it wide. “As I said, go or stay. Mr. Jukes is fond of you, so he’ll be happy if you remain and recover. I’d prefer you stay. I risked a lot to save you from the river. I’d hate to see that effort wasted if you get yourself killed because you were too hurt to run from the croc, or any of the numerous other wild animals.”

“I slightly remember…” Slightly said slowly, trying to piece the images together. “I was in the water… you came after me, you saved my life. Why?”

Hook entered the cell and looked at Jukes. He picked up another blanket and draped it over the sleeping boy. “You and Jukes are friends. He can’t swim, and I wasn’t going to make him leave you behind. The idiot would have gone back and drowned himself trying to save you. Jukes is too valuable for me to lose. I’m the strongest and I can swim, so I opted to save you myself.”

“Oh,” the boy said softly, “thank you.”

“By the way, how did you come to be there? And with so many injuries? I know I’m the one that opened your side, but you look like someone beat you. Did Pan…”

“No!” Slightly shouted, waking Jukes. He took a breath and smiled at Billy.

“Welcome aboard, cully,” Billy said with a yawn. He stopped when he saw Hook there. “Cap’n! Sorry! I was…”

“Jukes,” Hook interrupted, “I may be a black-hearted slave driver, but even I recognize my men need sleep from time to time. You’re fine; Mr. Slightly and I were just discussing how he came to be in the river.”

“I fell,” Slightly explained. “I was trying to cross when Peter found me. I – I slightly don’t remember what happened. He was talking to me, then I was underwater. I remember going over the falls. It’s all slightly blurry and confusion after that. I woke up when I hit the rock and I got hung there. Then you pulled me out,” Slightly sat up carefully, mindful of his aching ribs.

Hook nodded and looked at Jukes. “Go get some food for you both. I’ve invited your friend to stay, but he can go if he wishes. It would be wiser for him to stay at least until he’s better.” He looked back at Slightly, “You’re free to go about the ship. I’d prefer if your ex-friends did not know you were here; I don’t want Pan coming and causing more trouble than he usually does.” With another nod at the boys, he turned and went back to the deck.

“That was slightly not what I expected,” the boy muttered when Hook was gone.

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Jukes replied. He looked at Slightly and smiled. “This is the part where I’m supposed to make you want to stay.”

“Why?”

“Cap’n Hook wants you to join us,” Billy answered truthfully.

“Umm… again with the ‘why’?” Slightly repeated, feeling mystified. “If Peter was my friend and didn’t want me, then why would Hook see any use in me? Peter won’t rescue me.”

“He doesn’t want my loyalties divided,” Jukes said with a sigh. “If you’re a pirate, I’ll work that much harder for my crew. Between Mullins and you, I’d never betray the ship. Plus, he needs any crew he can get, there’s hardly enough of us for the duties and we have to do extra shifts to get it all done.”

Slightly nodded and sat deep in thought. Billy left him for a bit to tell Cookson to warm up some stew. When he returned, Slightly looked at him with tears on his cheeks.

“I think I’ll stay here, Billy. At least for a little while. I – I slightly have nowhere else to go,” he broke into sobs, thinking about Peter, Wendy, and the Lost Boys – friends who didn’t want him anymore. Hear heard Peter’s voice again, Let him go to his pirate friends, for all I care!

End Chapter 3