For about the tenth time that night, Tink was extremely glad that Curly was in the Grey World instead of her. From safe inside central control, her fairy avatar had guided Curly through some truly unsavory places, all in an effort to get him into the secure building that housed the servers containing Captain Hook's criminal record. He had gone through a crowded pub, over a rickety bridge, and through a sewer, and he had just wriggled through an electric fence to clear the outer premises of the building, but the most challenging obstacle was yet to come.
"I feel ridiculous," Curly muttered, squeezing between two cement walls.
"Well, you look ridiculous," Tink retorted, "so I guess that's an appropriate feeling to have."
Curly frowned and shuffled between the walls. He was wearing Nibs' chameleon suit, but he was too big for it, so his feet stuck out the bottom and he had left the mask off. When the suit blended properly with its surroundings, all Tink could see was Curly's disembodied face and feet.
"Aren't you supposed to be my moral support?" Curly grunted.
"Nope. For the next hour I'm just your fairy guide and you are my slave."
"Well at least you've made that relationship clear."
Tink blushed at his implication and she was glad he couldn't see the real her. Honestly, she was still trying to work through how she felt about him. It had been a tumultuous couple of days. First there was the Essentia fiasco at the end of the tournament and some people were still implying that she was responsible. Then Peter had returned from the Grey World and was suddenly available again. She tried not to think what it meant that he came to her first. Was it because he sought her attention and wanted to be with her? Or was it because he was just lonely and anyone would do? Was it because he trusted her? Maybe he had come to his senses and decided he wanted to date someone who wouldn't break his heart. Or he could have just wandered over to her house randomly. In any case, he was driving Tink crazy. She felt like she was just starting to get over him and then he walked into her house looking all pathetic and gorgeous and she felt herself slipping into the old feelings. She had sworn she wouldn't fall for him again, that she wouldn't waste her time with the idiot, but now he was lonely and vulnerable, and it seemed like the perfect time to make a move. Although taking advantage of him like that didn't make her much better than...
"Tink," Curly growled, "you're welcome to daydream on your own time, but when my life is on the line, could you please keep your thoughts about Peter to yourself?"
"Sorry," Tink murmured, burying her face in her hands. "I really need to stop thinking aloud," she mumbled.
"This is true. Now can you please focus on the task at hand? Am I going in the front doors or the side doors?"
Tink pulled up her satellite image of the building and zoomed in.
"There are four guards at the front doors, so it looks like the side doors are our best option."
"Okay."
There was nothing but a large parking lot between the wall Curly was hiding behind and the front of the building, so when he stepped out he lowered his head and crouched down to keep his feet covered. Tink had to fight back laughter as she watched him crab-walk across the parking lot to the other side of the building. Once he was clear of the guards, he straightened up and slowly approached the doors.
Suddenly, two large Rottweilers appeared around the corner of the building. They charged at Curly, barking madly. Tink panicked. She mentally scrolled through all the instructions and devices she had given Curly to accomplish this mission. She hadn't prepared for anything like this. But apparently, Curly had. He pulled two yellow candies out of his pocket and threw them to each of the dogs. They gobbled them up and immediately became docile, then curled up next to each other and went to sleep.
"What were those?" Tink whispered.
"Comfort candies. Although I think they might be a little strong for animals. I've never seen anyone go to sleep before."
"Interesting."
But they didn't have time to dwell on the effects. Two guards ran around the corner to investigate the commotion. Curly fell to the ground and Tink flew up to the roof of the building. She could just barely hear what the guards were saying from her perch.
"What was that?"
"It looked like a ... but maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me."
"I thought I saw a face in midair, but then it disappeared."
"What's wrong with the dogs?"
"There's something spooky going on here."
They shined their flashlights all around the area and began to creep dangerously close to where Curly was lying on the ground. Tink flew her avatar to the other side of the building and emitted a few bursts of bright light. When she heard the guards rushing her way, she flew back up over the building and down to Curly.
"We've got to hurry," she whispered. "They might come back any second."
Curly jumped up and pulled out Peter's unlatching cork and easily unlocked the door. They slipped in just as the dogs were beginning to stir.
"Now what?"
"Third floor, east wing. We should take the stairs."
"And by that you mean I should take the stairs because you're sitting in your rolling chair back in Neverland while I'm sweating my butt off."
"Ugh, you know what I mean. Plus, I think it'd take a lot more than just one night to sweat your butt off."
"I don't appreciate that observation."
"You should. It takes a lot more sweat to get rid of muscle than it does fat."
Curly raised one eyebrow and looked meaningfully into Tink's vision sensor. "Well, I'm glad that all this time you've been flying behind me you've been appreciating the view."
Tink smiled in spite of herself. "Get going. We don't have time for chit chat."
Curly looked amused, but turned and headed to the door that led to the stairwell. Tink took care to fly her fairy next to him instead of behind him as they ascended to the third floor. They emerged into a dark hallway.
"It's the fifth door on the right," instructed Tink.
They arrived at a thick door equipped with a keypad. Curly took out the small decoder Tink had given him and wired it into the keypad. Within seconds the combination was deciphered and the door unlocked. They entered another small hallway armed with lasers.
"It seems more dense than the diagram you showed me," said Curly as he studied the angles and spacing of the lasers.
"Maybe," replied Tink. In fact, the lasers were a lot more close knit than she had imagined, but she didn't want to make Curly nervous. "If you keep to the left, I think you'll have a little more wiggle room."
Curly looked skeptical. "I don't know. There are a few places in there that are probably too small for my muscular buttocks to fit through."
Tink groaned. "Why did I even say anything?" She studied Curly's face. He was smiling, but she could tell he was nervous. He scanned the room again and exhaled slowly, then took out some furry looking gloves and put them on.
"What are you doing?" Tink asked.
"I can't go through, so I'm going over," Curly replied. He held up his gloved hands. "These are clinging fingers. Captain Hook gave them to me. I guess he thought I could use all the help I could get."
Tink watched as he easily climbed up the wall. She was impressed that he could flatten all that bulk against the ceiling. He carefully guided himself over one laser that was higher than the rest, and soon he was dropping down on the other side of the room. Tink scurried her fairy across the space and they carefully went through the door that led to the server room. Tink stared in awe as she took in the rows and rows of stacked servers. It was bright and pristine and organized. She was probably the only person she knew who thought databases were beautiful.
"Tink, are you okay?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"It just seemed like you were choking up a little."
"Hm, weird." Tink wasn't about to admit that the server room had taken her breath away. "So, we're looking for aisle 14," she said quickly, flying ahead. Curly followed and soon they were in the correct aisle. "His record is on H-52."
They scanned the racks and found it near the back.
"Here it is," Curly murmured. He bent over and carefully pulled out the server and wired in the tiny laptop Tink had given him. She landed her fairy on his shoulder and whispered instructions in his ear. He had a little trouble getting his big fingers to hit the right keys, but eventually the virus was transferred and the server slowly went dead.
"That's it?" Curly asked.
"That's it," Tink confirmed.
Curly straitened and let out a slow breath. "That wasn't so bad."
But before Tink could warn him not to celebrate too early, the door to the server room flew open and a guard ran in.