Slightly met Peter at an open table and wiped the remaining sweat off his brow as he took a seat across from him. “Little winded there?” Peter asked.

“Eh, just a touch. Nothing I can’t handle.”

“Really? Seems like you almost lost it there.”

“Oh yeah, I always had it under control. I went easy on her. For both her self-confidence and to keep the crowd going.”

“Right,” Peter said as he squinted. He was almost positive Slightly wasn’t telling the truth.

“She’s not bad you know. Decent form, fast technique. It makes sense why you took her from Earth.”

“I didn’t take her from Earth,” Peter sighed. “I never meant to.”

“And yet you still did. So why bring her here to meet all of us?” Slightly stated pointing his finger at him. “What about your whole, ‘We can’t mix two worlds Slightly!’” Slightly mocked as he relaxed back in his chair, as if he was tired of having this argument. Peter rolled his eyes as Slightly began his usual argument to Peter. “‘They have to be two separate worlds Slightly’…which you know I hate by the way.”

“She snuck on. And you know why there’s-” Peter began to explain, but Slightly cut him off.

“We could live like kings, Pan. With our advanced technology we would be running the planet in one Earth day. They live like scoundrels taking pictures of themselves all day. Plus, think of the good we could do. You know how outdated their tech is! A child’s first space car would crush any vessel they have that can brace the outer realms. I mean god, they still have cancer!” Peter looked down shaking his head. He had this conversation with Slightly too many times to count. And he couldn’t even argue as Slightly raised some good points. They could really help them out. But they would lose something that is far more precious than anything that Neverland could offer, Peter thought.

“Slightly, I know. It’s just that….it’s not a good idea.”

“You know one day you have to tell me what big event happened there to change your entire view of it. You weren’t always like this, Pan. Something happened. I know it did. You’ve been different.”

Peter clenched his jaw then quickly threw on a fake smile. “What are you talking about? I’m the same scoundrel today as the day you met me!” Slightly argued against this by simply staring at him, not even giving a counter argument. “C’mon! I still have fun every chance I get flying through the stars. You should have seen me with Hook earlier!”

“I know you, Pan. You’re different,” Slightly said still unconvinced. “The Lost Boys may not see it. That girl may not see it, but I’ve known you for too long. What happened back there?”

Peter put his hand on Slightly’s shoulder, as if physical touch would convince him. “Slightly, I’m fine.”

Slightly let out a breath of frustration and rolled his eyes. He wouldn’t get anywhere with this. He ran his fingers through his messy, tangled hair. Pan wouldn’t budge, no sense in fighting a losing battle.

“You find Tootles yet?” A flash of a babbling old man ran through Peter’s mind.

“Not yet. It’s a lot harder than I thought it would be. Plus, I try to go as discreetly as possible, so I can’t go as often as I should. I don’t want to raise any suspicions that I care for it.”

“Hence why Hook tested out your loyalty to it?”

“Exactly,” Peter nodded.

“Is it really that hard finding Tootles though? Have you tried looking in the news? No massive tech mogul came out of nowhere? He’s probably living it up on Earth.”

“You don’t know if he’s happy.”

“I know he is, Pan, cause that’s how I would feel. And I would do anything to get back there. But…” Slightly stopped mid-sentence. He had a feeling they would go around in circles again. “I’m sorry, I just miss it. I’m the only one who really remembers it. And I really think you’re in the wrong here. But as long as you’re here, I’ll obey your every order. It’s weird that you chose to be this strange guardian, but whatever. I respect you, Pan.”

Peter smiled at this, knowing how loyal of a friend Slightly was. He and Slightly would constantly butt heads, but he knew they would always be friends. He remembered starting the Lost Boys and picking Slightly as his apprentice. He rose quickly through the ranks and became the obvious candidate for the new leader when Peter decided to leave. He had the same thoughts as Slightly. He didn’t necessarily agree with where he took the Lost Boys and turned them into for profit mercenaries, but he respected him.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“So Hook…” Peter began.

“Always comes back to Hook doesn’t it?” Peter was about to restart his sentence when they heard a massive cheer from the Lost Boys.

“Peter!” They heard Winter yell from the ring. They turned to see Winter standing with her foot on top of the Lost Boy with the cybernetic eye laying on the floor. Winter held her sword up high in victory. “I won! Who’s next ye scallywags!” Winter yelled pointed her sword at the crowd as she spun around. Another cheer erupted as another Lost Boy entered the ring. Peter and Slightly joined in on the yelling before turning back to each other.

“He’s planning something,” Peter continued. But something different this time. Something he’s never done before,” Peter pondered.

“What do you mean?”

“He wants me to go back for some reason.”

“To Earth?”

Peter nodded and looked back to Winter. “I think Winter is involved in this somehow.” Slightly could not believe the words coming out of Peter’s mouth.

“What? Like you think she’s a spy?” Slightly could hardly believe he even had to ask the question.

“I don’t know. Maybe? It’s a bit too much of a coincidence.”

“C’mon Pan! You’re not that stupid. And Hook isn’t smart enough to think up something like this. The amount of planning and logistics of planting someone on Earth proves that Hook isn’t capable of hiring a spy like her. If he did, well damn, I certainly have not given him enough credit.”

“You don’t give Hook enough credit,” Peter defended shaking his head. “He may not seem like the brightest, but he knows more about psychological warfare than most.” Peter watched Winter fight, bringing up memories of Wendy in his mind. There’s no way he could have known, and yet, during their fight, he seemed to know exactly what Peter did those many years ago. What secret he’s been hiding. “How does he know about her?” Peter asked himself.

“About who? Winter?” Slightly asked. Peter shook his head.

“There’s something more than a simple scheme. And Winter has something to do with it. I’m sure of it. Hook has always wanted me here. He, like you, has never understood my fascination with Earth.”

“True,” Slightly agreed.

“And yet, now he wants me to go back to Earth. He’s always wanted me here, to best me in front of all of Neverland”

“Maybe he wants you to be distracted?”

“Maybe. Or maybe there’s something else.”

Slightly sat wondering where Peter was going with this ludicrous idea. Maybe Hook was up to something. Then it dawned on him. At first, he didn’t think twice about it. He thought it was just a prank or something. Hook was known to have a sense of humor.

“Hook did try to hire us while back,” Slightly revealed causing Peter’s eyes to widen.

“What? Why are you just now telling me this?”

“I thought I did! I swore I did. When we were at the bar.”

Peter tried to recount his and Slightly’s conversation. “No you didn’t.” Peter was sure of it. They were chatting about Winter when a drunk man interrupted them twice.

Twice, Peter thought. Sure, it makes sense to be bumped into once, but twice? He tried to remember who the drunken man was. At the time, he didn’t think anything of it as he was too concerned with getting Winter back. But now that he thought about it, it could be something. Peter drifted off in thought. Something in his gut told him there was something vaguely familiar about the drunk. He felt like he knew the man. Not just knew him, but they might have had a history together.

“Pan?” Slightly asked with Peter still deep in thought. “Pan?” Slightly repeated.

“Sorry, what?” Peter stammered.

“Do you remember when I told you about it?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Peter said disregarding all the thoughts in his mind. “Why would he try to hire you? He would know that you wouldn’t do it.”

“That’s what I thought, but who am I to give Hook any more of my time than I need to? So, we simply deleted it. Didn’t even open his offer.”

“Is it still stored in your database?”

“I’m sure our tech boys could recover it in some form.”

“Let’s go then!” Peter cheered as he leapt from the table. “Winter! We’re leaving!”

“Right now!? But I’m winning!” Winter yelled from the barrier of the ring.

“Fat chance!” the challenging Lost Boy said behind her.

“Don’t you want to see our headquarters?” Slightly asked.

“Oh, hell yeah!” Winter squealed with joy as she hopped out of the ring.

“Really?” Peter asked. “She’s supposed to experience as little as possible.”

“It got her out of the ring. Plus, you’ve literally taken her to another planet and took her to a pub. As much as you don’t want to admit it, you haven’t changed, Pan”

That’s exactly what Peter was afraid of. He couldn’t let history repeat itself. He was reckless back in the day and as much as it hurt him that he couldn’t be like his past self, it was for the better. It didn’t matter anyways. His old self was long gone as far as he was concerned. He just couldn’t let anyone in the galaxy know this. He had a reputation to live up to. And this universe needed his optimism.

Winter caught up to them. “Oh my god, that was amazing! Did you all see me slash at him?”

“Yeah of course,” Peter said.

“Definitely great work there,” Slightly agreed.

“You didn’t see any of it did you?” Winter asked.

“Not a bit,” they both said..

“Ugh!” Winter rolled her eyes. “Who am I supposed to recap this with? That was one of the most amazing moments of my life and I can’t even share it with you. I can’t share it with anyone on Earth either. I would sound mental!”

“Hey I agree with you finally! You do sound mental!” Peter teased.

“Oh, you’re one to talk!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Really? The whole world knows of your name and story! If there’s anyone that should be telling me not to blab about anything, it’s certainly not you!” Wendy flashed through Peter’s mind. Peter wished she took his words to heart. Just because a story is over, doesn’t mean it had ended.