A shot glass hit the glossy counter with a clank, luring the bartender's attention to the source of the unnecessarily loud noise.
"'Nother one?" The blonde prompted in a wobbly yet assertive tone. The bartender, clearly annoyed at this last patron who haunted his pub, eyed him up and down. Edward rolled his eyes in an exaggerated manner and slowly pushed his glass across the table in response.
"I'm well aware of what you want, sir," the bartender stated flatly, turning his back to the man to polish his glasses, "but we close early on Saturdays."
"What?!" Edward exclaimed. "I've never heard'f a pub that does that 'n my 'ntire life!"
"Well, that's the way it is here. Nobody oughtta to be shitfaced or hungover in Church, bud, 'specially not in December... though it may be a bit late to prevent that, in your case."
"Whaddya mean by that," Edward slurred slowly, narrowing his eyes.
"I mean that you nearly tripped and fell over yourself three times just walking to the bathroom ten minutes ago," the bartender reminded his clearly drunk customer. "Please leave. It's nearly midnight."
'Edward, please, let's just leave, the potion will run out soon anyway, I'm sure of it,' a timid voice urged quietly from the back of his mind.
"Shut it, Jekyll, I don't need you telling me what to do in the few times I can do what I want," Edward hissed sharply under his breath. Judging by the stark silence that followed in his head, Edward knew he had succeeded in shutting his counterpart right up. He'd been getting better at this skill for a while now. Smiling in satisfaction, Edward hadn't noticed the sound of the pub door opening and then swinging shut behind him. He only turned to face the person approaching when the bartender notified them that the bar was now closed and they'd stopped walking and positioned themself just a few feet behind Edward.
"My apologies, good sir," a rather posh voice replied. "I don't require a beverage, I simply wish to chat with the man you have here, and then we will both leave in peace, I assure you. May we have a few minutes?"
Edward's blood ran cold at the sight and sound of the man before him. Robert Lanyon stood as straight and tall as ever with his hands folded neatly behind his back. Of all people to meet now, it just had to be him. Edward felt Henry in the back of his head begin to silently panic at the sight.
Realizing that this may be a good way to get rid of Edward without having to drag him out of the pub himself, the bartender nodded. "I'll give you five minutes," he grumbled.
The tapping of the bartender's footsteps slowly faded away as he exited the room, leaving the two alone, doomed to a conversation that Edward would kill to get out of. Any direct interaction with Robert he knew would have that effect on him, really. Robert then finally turned his attention to the disheveled drunk in front of him with a smile that Edward loathed. The kind of smile that cloaks true intentions.
"I take it you're Mr. Hyde?" Robert asked as he held out his right hand. "It's very nice to meet you. How has the night been treating y-"
"Cut the pleasantries, Lanyon, whaddya want?" Edward cut him off. Robert was clearly taken aback by this. "Yeah, thas right, I know who you are. I c'n smell a prick like you a mile away."
Robert blinked and raised his eyebrows as if trying to get dust out of his eyes. "Okay, then," Robert started hesitantly, "I guess I'll get straight to the point. I don't know how you know me, but I suppose that doesn't really matter right now. I've been very concerned about our mutual friend Dr. Henry Jekyll's behavior as of late. I haven't seen or heard from him in many weeks, and from what the lodgers tell me, he's been spending most of the daytime asleep or otherwise cooped up in his room. At night, apparently he's flat-out missing, and no one knows where he is."
"And whaddo I have to do with this?" Edward interrupted, gesturing to himself with an exaggerated motion. Edward could feel Henry getting antsy at the situation which manifested in an annoying churn of his stomach.
Robert paused. "...Well, the lodgers have also informed me that you've been showing up at the society more and more frequently. Rachel told me you'd probably be here or at another bar at this hour and suggested that I go talk to you because you are likely to know some information. I've been told that you're the only person seen going in or out of Henry's room at night, so-"
Immediately seeing a moment to strike, Edward interrupted him and slurred out with a mischievous smile, "What, are you jealous, Robbie?" Edward felt Henry, clear as day, furiously turn his attention to his tipsy counterpart, but say nothing.
Robert was clearly flustered at the assertion. "W-What? I… You-You appear to be drunk," Robert stated firmly, attempting to regain an unswayed composure.
"And you appear to be a stuck up twat, what's new?" Edward spat.
Clearly offended, Robert asked him angrily, "Do you even know where he is? Because I appear to be wasting my time right now."
"Of course I know where he is, and you won't find him tonight," Edward informed him dismissively, turning back to his disappointingly empty glass.
'What?! Edward, stop!' the voice in the back of his head shot up once again. Edward didn't respond. 'What are you doing?! Why are you still talking to him? Get out of there! The potion's going to run out soon!' Henry interjected. As if on cue, the distant sound of Big Ben striking twelve sung through the air like a poltergeist and chilled Edward just as much as one. It would only be minutes now.
"Well then where is he?" Robert asked impatiently. "It's important that he's-"
"Well, that's my cue! Sorry to leave so abruptly, I was having such a good time with our little chat, you know, but I have some business I need to attend to," Edward half-lied in a mockingly cheery and posh tone while standing up and heading toward the door. Robert began asking him why and telling him to stop. Edward spotted a flicker of some sort of mental connection and sudden realization click in Robert's eyes as the doors opened.
"Wait, where is he?! What did you-" Were the last words Edward heard out of the tall man before the doors to the bar swung shut. Breathing a sigh of mild relief that the confrontation was now over, he turned to stroll on home, only to hear the sounds of the doors shooting back open at a speed that could only mean that Robert wasn't walking.
'Run!'
Edward broke into a full-out sprint the moment he could process the thought and sped down the weaving roads before him. The distinct sounds of two sets of shoes loudly slapping against the cobblestone streets echoed against the empty lots and alleyways as Edward attempted to hurriedly drum up a route of escape.
'Are you sure you even know your way back home?! We're so far away! Why didn't you leave earlier?!'
"Don' worry, I got this," Edward assured Henry with full confidence. This didn't seem to calm his other half in the slightest. Edward's shoes skidded as he turned sharply into an alleyway off a largely abandoned sector of London. This was obviously a shortcut. Edward had taken this route when he was in a hurry to get back to the society many times before, so it would work now.
By the time he got to the end of it, however, something was very clearly wrong. It wasn't supposed to look like this. It wasn't supposed to be a dead end. Edward knew the streets of London like the back of his hand. Why didn't he know this was here?
Thinking fast, Edward spotted a rusty fire escape ladder high on the wall to his right. Without a second thought, he jumped for it, but the moment his body weight put strain upon the old, frail metal, the joints snapped and down he fell with the ladder in hand. Edward just barely managed to let go of it and cover his head before he hit the ground with a seriously painful thud. After a moment of rubbing the throbbing spot at the back of his skull, Edward remembered just why he was running in the first place.
He slowly stood up and turned around. The dim light of the street lamp behind him illuminated the back of Robert as his silhouette charged at him. His chaser only stopped when he was about fifteen feet away from Edward and realized that he'd had him cornered.
"Where is he? Where is Henry?" Robert demanded as he watched the now hurt man before him frantically check his surroundings for openings to escape. There were none. "If you aren't responsible for Henry's disappearances, then you aren't doing a bloody good job of showing it!"
"Oh, Christ, I hate you," Edward hissed at Robert.
"I've had suspicions of your relationship with Henry for quite some time now, but it seems now that I have a legitimate reason for it. What have you done! Where is Henry!" Robert demanded more than asked.
Edward's stomach boiled more and more with anger at this man. He'd been a thorn in Edward's side every time Henry interacted with him from day one. He'd always ruin Edward's plans to go out at night whenever he was near, and now, he'd be the nail in the coffin of ever going out again. Henry was frozen solid at the scene.
"You pretend to know what's happening, Lanyon," Edward growled, wiping the blood now dripping from his nose due to the fall, "but I assure you that you are wrong. I'll give you one last chance to leave me now, or you'll…"
"I'll what!" Robert challenged.
Edward actually paused at this.
He considered for a moment. He was so angry at Robert, and for what? What could Robert possibly say or do that wouldn't benefit Edward's future attempts at convincing Henry to hand over the wheel for a night? In an instant, Edward found himself coming to the conclusion that It didn't matter anymore. So what if Robert found out? It wouldn't be Edward's problem for long anyway, and Henry would be the one to suffer for it regardless. At this realization, Edward began to drain of anger and fill with some unidentifiable happiness.
Sensing the potion's effects coming to an end, Edward chuckled dryly. "Oh, Lanyon. You simply don't know the trouble your friend is in," he teased with fake sympathy. "You want to know so badly what the truth is? You want to see what trouble your 'friend' is really in, well don't let me stop you." Robert stood there, genuinely not knowing what to say.
Edward shrugged. "So be it! Here we go!"
In an instant, Edward felt symptoms of the potion wearing off. His stomach felt like molten rock and his blood pumped faster than it ever should. His legs buckled and he collapsed onto his hands and knees. His body trembled and convulsed as green glowing ooze leaked from his eyes, nose, and mouth, pooling in the dirt and gravel below him. Out of the corner of his eye, Edward spotted Robert whipping out a small pistol that he leveled at the no doubt monstrous looking transformation. Edward smiled at this.
This was going to be great.
The moment that thought crossed his mind, Edward wretched clumps of bright cyan sludge onto the earth below and felt his time in the real world come to an abrupt, yet personally satisfying end.
Henry Jekyll then collapsed on the ground.
Robert stood, shaking like a leaf at what had happened. His mind raced with questions and theories of "what" and "why," but none stuck around long enough to be considered. Numb with fear, Robert stepped toward the figure lying limp in a pool of the luminous substance. Gun outstretched, Robert pushed against the body with his shoe before recoiling and observing for a reaction. When none arrived, he slowly put the safety on for his pistol, putting it away, and reached down to turn the body over. His grip was firm, but cautious.
All air froze in Robert's lungs at the sight of the body he'd pushed over. Without a flake of doubt in his mind, Henry Jekyll laid before him, blood dripping from his nose and the last of the mysterious glowing liquid draining from his orifices.
Faster than he thought possible, Robert dropped to his knees and put his ear to Henry's chest. Not being able to tell the difference between his own racing heartbeat and the potential pulse of his friend's body, he moved his hand to feel around Henry's neck. Pressing his thumb under Henry's jawline, Robert waited with bated breath.
Finally, he let the stale air in his lungs escape his throat. Henry was alive.
Stopping for a second, he considered just how little it mattered to him what had actually occurred before the moment he realized Henry was alive. He would figure that out later. For now, all that ran through his head was getting Henry home. That was all that mattered to him.
Mind buzzing with one part dread and five parts relief, Robert bent down and shoveled up the unconscious body of his dearest Henry using all his strength before heading quietly back to the society.