"And when you finish clearing the rubble from the beach, you all should spend some time untangling the zebra trees."
Peter winced as Tink's voice blared through Neverland. Since her avatar and her prototype had both been destroyed, she had wired a microphone from central control into the main intercom and was using it liberally. She seemed to be having a little too much fun ordering everyone around as they cleaned up the destruction of the Crocodile's attack. Peter let out a low growl as he tossed some gnarled aluminum into the recycling pit Slightly had concocted. The Crocodile was dead, but she had still managed to destroy Neverland, and she would have killed everyone too if it hadn't been for Tink overriding the Crocodile's program. He was extremely grateful to her, even though listening to her voice in surround sound was becoming a bit annoying.
"Watch out!" Called one of the twins. Peter ducked just as a large log sailed by on the twins' pulley system and hit Curly in the shoulder. The muscular boy groaned and stumbled to the ground.
"Hey!" Tink screamed, her loud voice distorted through Neverland's many speakers. "You twins better be careful with that pulley! If you hurt my boyfriend again I will program smothering capabilities into your pillows!"
Curly turned red as he looked up at the disembodied voice, but there was a hint of a smile hiding behind his embarrassed expression. Peter walked over to him to help him up from the ground.
"So you've been promoted to boyfriend?" Peter asked with a small chuckle.
Curly ducked his head and tried to conceal a goofy smile. "Yeah, maybe. I don't know. Sometimes she just says things she doesn't really mean. You know Tink."
Peter frowned. "No, actually. I don't know Tink as well as I should."
Curly shrugged and looked a little helpless. Peter studied him and could detect the bliss in his eyes. He should be happy for him, but instead Peter felt somewhat bitter. He recognized a feeling that he used to have for Wendy but had lost when he flew away from her window for the last time. He felt sick when he recalled how she had told him he didn't belong in her world. Peter shook his head. He didn't want to think of Wendy, and Curly was beginning to look uncomfortable.
"How long do you think it'll take to clean all this up?" Peter asked, gesturing at nothing in particular.
"Shouldn't take long," Curly responded cheerfully. "We have everything we need, and if we all work together we can probably restore Neverland in about two weeks."
Peter raised his eyebrows as Curly smiled and walked away. How could he be so optimistic? Probably because he was in love. Peter remembered how that felt - walking around like you were flying and believing that anything and everything was possible. But now Peter knew better. He had no flowery feelings to disillusion his reality. Neverland was a wreck. Half of the sky arch panels were down, an unhealthy amount of sand and debris had gotten into the lagoon and most of the mermaids were extremely sick. The jungle was full of large cracks and holes, and jagged rocks had erupted in the desert. But the worst part was that with all the systems down, flying was impossible. Neverland wasn't beyond repair, but it was going to take several months and a lot of resources. Peter had seen their reserve levels and there were a dozen or so elements that were nearly depleted. Replenishing those materials would require money, and Captain Hook was the only one who had any of that, but he'd been gone for several days.
"Ah! My pants!"
Peter looked over to see a half naked Smee shaking his fist at the twins, who were now riding the pulley. One of them had Smee's pants wrapped around his head and was laughing hysterically. Peter smiled but immediately felt a pang of sadness. Here too was something he felt he had lost. Fun, freedom and adventure all seemed to be slipping away. Any time he tried to return to carelessness, memories and pain would fill his conscience and bring him back down to a dreary sense of responsibility. These feelings weren't just from his heartache over Wendy, they were memories of his parents and thoughts that he had missed opportunities. He stared wistfully at the twins as they ran back and forth with Smee's drawers, making the pirate dance with anger. Maybe he should start taking the medicine again like the twins did. It would take away all his distress and frustration, but it also seemed like cheating, and he never cheated.
"Would you boys stop messing around?" Bill Jukes growled at the twins as he hefted a rock. "There's work to do!"
There was work to do. And Peter knew that standing around feeling sorry for himself wasn't going to help. In fact, he knew that if he was really going to help, he couldn't stay in Neverland. The answer to rebuilding their underground home was in the Grey World.
*****
Peter stared up at the glowing turtles from his bed. They crawled up the walls and rested on the ceiling, each one slowly dimming as it stopped moving. Peter was fairly certain all the other boys were asleep, but he waited a few more minutes to be sure. One of the twins murmured something and Nibs coughed in his sleep. They had been pretty lucky that their tree house hadn't been too damaged, but it had taken a few days to remove all the extra dirt that had seeped in, and the air was still a bit dense from it. Peter let out a slow breath and quietly climbed down from his bed. He didn't really want to sneak out of Neverland in the middle of the night, it seemed like a cowardly thing to do, but he also didn't want everyone asking questions and bringing up Wendy. He found his backpack and started filling it with a few personal items.
"What are you doing?"
It took all of Peter's resolve not to scream. Instead, he choked on a gasp and turned around to face an inquisitive Slightly. After he gained control of his breath, he shrugged and tried to look nonchalant.
"I couldn't sleep, so I decided to organize some of my stuff."
"Really?" Slightly asked. "You never clean up."
"Yeah, well, I guess there's a first time for everything."
"Guess so."
After they stared at each other for a few seconds, Slightly stepped aside and looked pointedly at Peter's backpack.
"So, are you going to come back?"
Peter sighed. "Yes. I just..."
"No, I get it. You're restless, you're sad, you need to find yourself. Just don't abandon us like Hook did."
"I couldn't. This is my home."
Apparently satisfied, Slightly walked away and got back in his bed. Peter shook his head, amazed at Slightly's intuition. He packed the rest of his things and crept out of the farthest tunnel.
The Neverland night sky was tinged red because of all the emergency lights shining through the gaps in the sky arch, casting an eerie hue on everything below. Peter made his way to the edge of the jungle until he was positioned almost directly beneath the entrance to the Grey World. He removed his ultra rod, which was a fishing pole he often used to catch whales. It was all just for fun, though. He'd ride them for a few minutes and then let them go. He cast his line up at the entrance, and while it took several tries, the hook eventually latched onto the hole. He held on tight and reeled himself up the the sky arch, only stopping a couple times to catch his breath and shake out his arm. He reached the entrance and had just enough strength to pull himself up the ladder and out of the manhole into the Grey World.
The air was foggy, bleak, and cold. Peter had never cared much for the Grey World, and now it held even less magic for him since Wendy was no longer a part of his life, but on the edge of the dreariness he felt there was a hint of excitement. He smiled a bit at the thought of starting something new and set off down the street.