"I'd like to thank everyone for coming to this meeting today," Tink announced, straightening the glasses Curly had made for her and trying to ignore the beach creeping into the edges of her vision.
"We're not here for the meeting, we're here for dinner," Alf Mason called out, biting into his lobster.
Tink grimaced. "Regardless, since you're all here, I'd like to make some announcements."
There was some grumbling from the group, but Tink pressed forward. "First, only one person can go into the Grey World at a time. They can only go there to retrieve necessary supplies, and they cannot stay there for longer than an hour."
Several of the pirates gave her curious looks, Nibs was scowling, and Curly was staring at the ground, but nobody said anything, so she continued.
"From now on, the winners of the games will receive extra privileges, and the losers will do favors for the winners until the next game."
Noodler jumped up. "Can we start that right now? I need one of those lost boys to give me a foot massage!"
The pirates laughed and the lost boys made faces. Tink raised her voice. "Lastly, anyone wanting to leave Neverland for an extended period of time must present their case to everyone and be approved by a unanimous vote."
"Tink, what is all this?" Nibs yelled. "What put you in charge?"
"This did," Tink replied, pulling a remote from her pocket and pressing the button. Immediately, a grating noise sounded from above them. Everyone looked up to see heavy rods erupting from around the manhole and crossing over the entrance to the Grey World. She pushed the button again and the rods retracted back into the sky arch.
There was silence for a moment, and then everybody began shouting at once.
"Tink, this is ridiculous! You can't do this!"
"Curly, can't you talk some sense into her?"
"Miss Tink, perhaps we can work something out that's not so stringent?"
"Who took my lobster?"
Tink felt her nerves beginning to fray, so she turned and started to head back to central control. One of the twins ran up next to her.
"Hey, what about Peter?"
Tink scowled. "When he gets back tonight, tell him to come see me."
*****
Tink sat in her rolling chair and stared at the animatronic birds singing in the corner. Her announcements hadn't gone over well. I should have given them more of an explanation, she thought. I should have told them why these rules were necessary. But she had started a battle. After returning to her room in central control, she had watched everyone on the cameras. They had argued about the new changes, with only a handful of the pirates being in favor of them. Soon after they chose sides and began fighting, and Smee had almost been drowned in the lagoon. The only one who didn't take a side was Curly, who just stood there looking helpless. They might have gone on attacking each other, but the Buffalostrich Rex had come stampeding along the beach, making everyone run for their lives. The creature had been acting a bit crazy ever since Slightly left.
"Hey Tink, what's going on?" Peter asked, startling her. She hadn't even noticed him come in. "The twins said you wanted to see me."
Tink turned slowly to face him. "Yes, I do."
Peter ran his hand through his hair and smiled at her, as carefree as ever.
Tink cleared her throat. "How is the Grey World?" She asked with ice in her tone.
Peter shrugged. "It's alright. I keep meeting new people, and they're fascinating! I never imagined that people who live in such a boring place could be so interesting."
Tink swallowed hard. "How's the bakery doing?"
"Great. We introduced a new sandwich and people are really loving it. And, if we keep our sales up, we're on track to have the best quarter yet."
Tink laughed bitterly. "Listen to you, Peter, you sound like a grown up."
Peter frowned. "I do?"
"You're talking about sandwiches and sales. It all seems incredibly dull."
Peter gave her a small smile. "It's actually quite an adventure. Turns out grown ups can have a bit of fun too."
Tink groaned. "Well, you can't do it anymore, Peter."
"Do what?"
"You can't keep going between the Grey World and Neverland. You're going to have to choose where you want to be and stay there."
Peter's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"
Tink only gave him a hard stare in return.
"Tink, this is ridiculous. You're acting like the Crocodile."
Tink shivered at the mention of their old nemesis, but continued to glare at him. "This is for the safety and concealment of Neverland."
Peter laughed. "No, this is so you can force everything to stay the same."
"No, it's not!" Tink yelled, frustrated that he was getting to her. "Look what happened when those two detectives followed Hook down here! People were nearly killed! You're going in and out of Neverland every day! People are bound to notice and become suspicious. Do you really want Neverland to be overrun with a bunch of strangers?"
Peter tilted his head to the side. "It might be a nice change of pace."
Tink jumped out of her chair. "No, it'd be dangerous!" She shouted in his face.
Peter stared at her, his expression unreadable. Finally, he stepped back and folded his arms.
"This is a big decision," he said soberly. "Can I have some time to think it over?"
"You have one week." Tink snapped, turning around and facing the wall. She fumed for several moments, but when she turned back to tell him something else, he was gone.