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Hook wanted revenge. The crocodile had to die and that was his life’s work up until that day. His thoughts revolved around how and when. Not that there was much he could do while stuck in Neverland. He admitted now that he hadn’t thought that plan out as thoroughly as he should have. Yes, it gave him the time he needed to come up with plots and plans to slay his foe. But he had a dozen of each and none of them were possible while he was still in Neverland. He also had no way to return as of yet.
The only time he wasn’t thinking of his vengeance was when he was asleep. That was, until one particular night. The answer to his problem fell right into his lap. Well, into the sea to be more specific, but just yards away from his Jolly Roger, so he would say it was close enough. The captain and Mr. Smee had both run to the starboard side of the ship to see what had made the splash. He half expected to meet the gaze of a mermaid, wretched creatures they could be. The last thing he expected to see would be a boy. And that’s exactly what it had been.
Before he could call out to the boy, who seemed unresponsive, Hook caught glimpse of The Shadow swooping down from the sky. Smee covered the lantern he held so as not to attract attention. The captain watched as The Shadow flew left and right, looking down at the water. It was obvious what he was looking for. But Killian stayed silent until The Shadow took off out of sight. Smee turned the lantern again and pointed it at the boy’s body in the water. Hook busied himself with a rope, gathering one long enough to throw out to sea.
He managed to get the rope around the boy and began pulling him in. With no resistance on the rope, Hook really thought he was fishing himself out a body. Soon the boy was up and over the gunwale. To the captain and Smee’s surprise, as soon as the boy hit the deck he began to cough, sputtering water and catching his breath. “Good lad.” Hook spoke. “Get the sea out of your lungs.”
The boy looked up. Blinded by the light from the lantern, all he could see were shadows standing over him. “Who are you?” He asked, his voice sounding as waterlogged as he looked. The captain smiled. “Name’s Hook. Captain Hook. Welcome aboard the Jolly Roger, my boy.” The boy didn’t answer after that, simply collapsed to the deck once more.
“Take our guest to the forecastle so he can rest. And tell the crew to leave him be.” The captain ordered Smee, who nodded and went to work getting the boy untangled from the rope so he could take him below deck.
Hook gave the young man a few hours to rest. When he next saw Smee, he asked of the boy’s health. Smee informed him that he was still asleep, but that he would be fine. So the captain told Smee to take him to the boy, which Smee did. Hook knew where the boy had come from. In a matter of speaking, that was. He didn’t know from where exactly, but he knew where The Shadow got his children from. He also knew that The Shadow had lost him, and that could only mean that Peter would want him back. And Hook, being a bartering man, could use this boy as a tool to leave Neverland. If Peter wanted him bad enough, that was.
Those were Hook’s thoughts, up until the boy had uttered a single word in particular. His name. Baelfire. Surely this was no coincidence, especially having heard the state of the boys parents. There couldn’t possible happen to be another Baelfire, whose mother was dead and father was a coward. Being a pirate, Killian was good with weighing odds. And those odds were slim to none. His thoughts then changed. He couldn’t let Peter have this boy. This was Milah’s son. And suddenly things were very complicated.
It wasn’t long before Peter’s Lost Boys had come around to look for their missing boy. Even after Hook assured them they had seen no boy, they searched the ship anyway, casually tossing threats around as they did to scare Hook. The threats didn’t bother him. What did was that the leader of the Boys had sent one of them down into the Hold, where he had stored Bae for this occasion. Hook made sure he kept his sword easily accessible at all times, ready to do battle with these boys when they discovered Baelfire. He kept his composure enough to not be surprised when the boy emerged with no word of Bae. Once the boys were gone, the captain went to see just where Bae had gotten to, only to discover him as soon as he lifted the hatch.
From then on, Hook’s thoughts were less on revenge and more on Baelfire. Killian watched from the helm as his crew bonded with their new shipmate. He noticed how the men’s spirits had lifted some, having a new person on board to talk to and share stories with. Everyone else had heard all their stories a thousand times. But not Bae. He would listen to them all and loved every minute as they acted out the more dramatic scenes until they were all rolling with laughter.
He and the boy had their own moments as well. Killian was teaching him the ins and outs of sailing. He even found himself laughing along with Bae as he learned the terms of the ship and heard a particularly unusual one. “A gooseneck? You’re lying.” Bae laughed as he looked up at the part Killian pointed at. “I’m not. Have you ever seen a goose’s neck? If you had, you’d know why it’s called that.” Hook said, with probably the largest smile he’d given anyone in ages.
It was about that time that Killian started to notice another change. In himself. Instead of noticing how funny Bae’s expression was when he learned something new, he would notice the way the boy tended to bite his lip as he listened to someone telling a story. Instead of laughing at the comical way his clothes fit Baelfire, he noticed his mind wandering to images of taking them off of him.
As a year passed, Bae got wiser, but remained the same physically, just as the rest of them did. Which was the driving force of Killian’s guilt for the way he sometimes looked at the boy. But even the guilt he felt wasn’t much. What could he do, after all? The idea had already worked it’s way under his skin, it effected him on a daily basis. So he did the only thing he could do, and ignored it as much as possible.
Bae was a first class sailor by then and Killian often let him take over, just guiding Bae where to go as the boy hadn’t learned enough navigating just yet. Of course by now, Killian was just going in circles. He could only go so far in Neverland. It was it’s own little world. He could sail away from the big island that Peter and the Lost Boys inhabited only to find himself coming upon it again three weeks later. There were smaller islands here and there, each having their own particular positives and negatives. Bae loved exploring them, even though Killian and his men had seen them all a fair share of times. Killian couldn’t deny Baelfire though, and entertained his need to discover all of his new home.
Months went by and Killian’s thoughts of Baelfire hadn’t dulled in the slightest. On the contrary, they seemed to get worse. Sometimes, if Killian didn’t know better, he would think Bae did things on purpose. He would think Baelfire knew. They were subtle things. Touches, glances, things the young man said that could all be completely innocent and at the same time could be devious and teasing. Killian wondered if the boy had it in him to do such things. He didn’t seem the type. Then again, at least half of him was evil. Hook began to wonder.
Nothing more than the little suspicious interactions happened though. Until one night Killian was at the helm, which was normal at night. He liked to be alert when he knew The Shadow would be about, and The Lost Ones were always more likely to show up at night. Killian didn’t like being caught off guard. Bae and the crew though, had been vanished below decks for hours. He could hear them all laughing and yelling though, and called Smee up from below. Smee came up from below and didn’t have any good explanation for what was going on down there. So the captain told him to take the wheel and went down to investigate for himself.
The scene was normal for a quiet night on his ship. The men were all sitting around a table, playing cards in their hands and the smell of rum thick in the room. Killian raised an eyebrow as he looked around. The one difference in this night and the others before was Bae. He seemed to shut up quickly when Killian walked in. His cheeks were flushed pink and he was oddly avoiding eye contact with him. “Are you drunk?” Killian asked, looking directly at Baelfire, who kept looking at his boots.
One of the crewmen spoke up. “E’s fine. Only ‘ad a little bit.” He explained. The captain was not impressed. “Very responsible of you lot. Getting the teenager drunk.” He said as he grabbed Bae’s arm to make him stand. Another crew member spoke up. “We’re pirates! Not role models!” And the room erupted in drunken laughter. Killian didn’t bother with a reply. He just left the room, dragging Baelfire along behind him who stumbled and clung to his arm in his unsteadiness.
“Slow down.” The boy finally said as they reached the main deck. Killian stopped and let go of his arm, and Baelfire went to lean on the railing of the ship. “Not feeling so well I wager?” The captain asked. For someone prone to sea sickness as Bae was, getting drunk on a ship in the middle of the sea was a bad combination. “I’m fine.” He mumbled in response, hanging his head over the side for a minute and breathing in the sea air as his cheeks begin to return to their normal color.
Killian joined him at the side as he waited for Baelfire’s queasiness to pass. Bae spoke up again. “I’m not a boy you know. Not like I look.” He said, slightly slurred but Kilian knew what he meant. And he knew this. It was hard to remember that Baelfire was almost seventeen by then. The curse of Neverland that caused them to never age but still grow wise was the worst kind of trick for someone like Baelfire, surrounded by men and never growing up to be one. “I know.” The captain said, leaning against the gunwale as well. “How much did you have?” He asked the boy. Baelfire groaned a little. “I don’t remember. They kept filling my cup.”
Bae stood upright again once he felt steady on his feet. As steady as he could be anyway. His sickness had passed. Killian pushed himself off the railing. “Let’s get you to bed. You’re staying in my quarters tonight so I can keep an eye on you. It’ll be worse in the morning.” The captain announced, and Bae walked behind him as they headed inside, sighing again when he heard of how his morning would be. Killian told Smee to take the night at the helm since he seemed to be the only member left of his crew that was capable.
Once in his quarters, Killian lit the lamp on his desk. Baelfire had stumbled back against the closed door as the ship went over a wave. “Don’t break anything.” Killian said with a grin. Bae huffed as he looked over with a glare. Killian just laughed, shrugging his jacket off his shoulders and throwing it over the back of his chair. His quarters were almost as big as the entire crew quarters. That was a benefit to being captain. Nevertheless, it was quite cramped, but it was his home.
He stepped back by the door and kicked his boots off. Baelfire tried to do the same but couldn’t quite manage the second one. He bent over to pull off the remaining boot and lost his balance as it came loose. Bae dropped the boot and grabbed the first thing he could reach so he didn’t fall. That just so happened to be the captain, who’d reached for him to keep him from falling as well. And there they stood, face to face, Killian holding the younger male by his shoulders to steady him and Bae’s hands on Hook’s chest. “Rum has that effect on your balance you know.” Killian said.
But the teasing didn’t seem to phase Baelfire that time, he was just staring up at Killian, not making an attempt to remove his hands at all. “Bae?” Killian asked. He had that feeling again, that Bae was doing something intentionally to get a reaction out of him. And he had been really good at not reacting up until then. His wondering kept him from realizing as Bae’s fingers curled into his vest to pull him down and before he knew it, Baelfire’s lips were on his own.
Killian fell into it, his eyes fluttering closed as he kissed back. Keeping up his charade of ignoring his attraction was difficult on a good day. This was more than just a touch or a glance, and much harder to ignore. Baelfire sighed against the older man’s lips, relieved that he hadn’t been pushed away immediately. Not immediately, but after a moment Killian did come to realize who he was kissing, and stepped back. As far back as he could with Bae still holding onto him.
“Baelfire… it’s the rum.” The captain explained, but Bae was already shaking his head. “It’s not.” Baelfire insisted. “I’ve wanted to do that before the rum.” He said as he stepped forward to close the distance between them again, pulling Hook back against him. It was then that Killian realized he’d been right. Baelfire had been doing things on purpose. Bae leaned against him and stood on his toes so they were closer to being eye to eye. “I’m not a boy.” He insisted again, flattening his palms on the captain’s chest and moving his fingers to the buttons of his vest. The captain reached for his lamp again, this time extinguishing it. “I know.” He answered, pushing Baelfire to walk backwards to his bed.