Sitting down at a table wasn't what Sawyer had in mind after Nemo had ushered them all back onto the Nautilus after paying their respects to Allen Quartermain at his funeral. Mostly everyone looked affected by his death as each of them made their way past him on the ramp.
Dr. Jekyll bore a grim yet frantic look on his face as he huddled up the ramp to the meeting room. His long trench coat looked like it had been soaked in the seawater below from the strong raindrops of the storm that had begun to pour as if mourning the death of Quartermain. Mina looked as uniform as what she ever did as her shadowy footsteps clanged against the silver metal grill of the ramp below. "Mina." Sawyer tilted his hat slight as she walked slowly past him like a gentleman.
In return, Mina lifted her gaze to him and gave him a soft smile, obviously deeply saddened about what had happened to Quartermain. Before she could turn her attention away from the young American, a dark hand lightly pressed against her back to escort into the awaiting ship. Nemo also had a grim face but was possibly handling it better then the other two. "Mister Sawyer, are you going to wait until everyone is on board and catch a cold or are you going to follow us?"
Sawyer nodded briskly and followed the captain and vampiress on board the Nautilus, nearly forgetting about the last member of the League. The mischievous invisible gentleman thief stood at the bottom of the ramp with his hands in his trench coat and his trilby tipped low to cover his white face, which had been streaked with invisible scars by the harsh droplets of the storm. Sawyer looked over his shoulder and called down to Skinner. "Skinner, you coming?"
The near invisible man looked up and shrugged, trudging up the gangway and past his American college without a further glance towards him or anyone else until he sat down in the dining room hall and was forced to look at Nemo. "I know it has only been hours since Allen's death but we still must remember why we are here."
Skinner had painted his face with fresh greasepaint, still wielding his pince-nez, and looked directly at Nemo. "And why are we here, Captain? Last time I hear, our recruiter turned out to be the enemy and we stand here today nothing more than strangers on a ship, contemplating about Mister Quartermain's tragic death."
Everyone frowned sadly at the bitter truth that was told. They weren't the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen anymore. They were more now like friends who had met in a supposedly historical meeting. "Skinner's right." accepted Jekyll after a long and painful silence that followed the invisible man. "M tricked us all into thinking we were out saving the world; but he was just using us to profit from our unique abilities."
Skinner, seemingly calm about Quartermain's death and his extensive burns, stood up from the table and hobbled over to the liquor bar to pour himself a scotch, leaving the rest to discuss what they should do next. "Mister Quartermain wouldn't want his death to be acknowledged as a hindrance for us." These words were spoken softly but had a strong meaning from Nemo. "We are free to travel the world now that M has no control over us."
Mina, still shaken from the death of the hunter, adjusted her scarf and spoke with a hoarse voice. "We should just talk about this in the morning. I think I may go to bed. Good night, gentlemen." Every eye in the room watched her leave, except Skinner, who was more interested in his drink than a member leaving the room.
"So, what do you think we should do?" Sawyer placed his elbows on the table, laced his fingers together and rested his chin on them, looking meaningful.
"Considering our situation, we can't just disband into the world as if nothing had happened." Nemo replied. "I say we travel the world; get to know our surroundings and defend the people."
Soft clicks from under the table echoed around the hall. Everyone knew it was Jekyll, but as to why he was so nervous was confusing to Sawyer. "What's up, Doctor?"
Coming out of some sort of trance, the good doctor looked up in surprise at the American and stuttered back, "A-are you s-sure you want to do s-s-something like that after what has just happened to…"
Skinner had finally returned to the table, albeit rather noisily. He slammed his glass down beside Jekyll and patted his back in a friendly way. "Henry, what's you're problem? It's not like you've been afraid of stepping into the streets before, so why worry about it? Are you just scared that Hyde might come out and ruin you again?"
Just as the Invisible Man sat down, oblivious to his harsh words, Nemo spoke up sharply. "Mister Skinner, you have no right to speak down to Doctor Jekyll like that. We've all suffered a terrible tragedy and we're in no mood for you're selfish antics and wisecracks."
"Only one tragedy has occurred to us?" Skinner leaned back on his chair and crossed one of his arms over himself, leaving the other free for gesturing. "If I'm not mistaken, quite a few misfortunes other than John's has happened to us." His opened coat revealed his bandages that covered his third degree burns, making Sawyer's face contort into a guilty frown. Skinner grabbed his drink and downed its contents before continuing his speech. "I have many burns from saving Tom, which bloody well hurt might I add; Jekyll has deep scarring from Hyde's encounter with…" Skinner thought about how to describe the beast that fought with Jekyll's alter ego. "…well, Hyde's alter ego."
Jekyll shook his head. "That doesn't matter, Mister Skinner. We have saved the world from a war that could have demolished half of it. O-our wounds are nothing compared to our deeds."
"But we were tricked!" Skinner slammed his now empty glass on the long oak table, took off his spectacles and rubbed the right half of his face away so that only his left was visible. "In case you haven't noticed, I haven't got what was promised to me. I only joined this little club to get my antidote, and now because the person who had the cure is dead, I'll always be considered the freak of the week until the day I die."
Sawyer, being an optimist, attempted to reassure Skinner. "It can't be all that bad. You've lived with it so long…"
"So you thought I will be happy to live without being noticed for the rest of my life. It's easy for you to be Mister Happy-go-lucky, but you and Nemo are the only normal ones on this boat, so you haven't the slightest…"
Skinner stopped for two reasons. One, he didn't want to share anymore of his feelings to the League; and two, Nemo had suddenly stood up and flung a dagger to where Skinner was sitting, aiming and hitting the part of the table in front of him. "I will not have you calling my Lady by that name."
Skinner flung his arms up dramatically. "And atop of everything I've said I'm being attacked." The Invisible Man stood up, wiped the rest of his face paint off and walked out of the room, glaring at Nemo before he wiped away the paint that revealed his eye.
"What's his problem?" Sawyer asked. "He's never been like this before."
Jekyll, determined to keep himself together, replied in Skinner's defense, "T-to be honest, Sawyer, we haven't r-really known Mister Skinner f-for that long. We don't know what emotions he has towards his…condition." Jekyll cautiously stated his last word slowly, as if it were something deeply offending.
As he was limping away from the dining room, one of Skinner's bandages unnoticeably came loose and untangled itself from its host's body, slipping to the floor. Tried of walking, Skinner leaned his back against the nearest wall, not noticing the sharp hook protruding out and stabbed his shoulder. He let out a loud whimpering gasp and pulled his skin out from the hook and slid down against the wall, leaving a trail of blood along the divider. "Bloody hell." Skinner cursed softly as he ripped off all his bandages and clothing and covered his new wound with a used dressing.
Distant footsteps grew closer to Skinner as Mina rushed around the corner to see what all the excitement was all about. Skinner pulled one of his legs close to his body, hoping that would be enough to let Mina pass, but the vampiress stop just short of him after noticing the blood on the wall. "Mister Skinner?"
"Down here." Skinner put his unhurt arm up uselessly and sighed.
"What happened?" She bent down to her invisible companion and placed a hand on his hurt shoulder, causing a painful hiss from him.
"I…stabbed myself. Why do you care?"
Unexpectedly, Mina reached across to Skinner's coat, which had been discarded on the ground along with his bandages and hat, and retrieved his greasepaint. Opening the jar, Mina dipped three of her fingers in the paint and softly and slowly spread the contents across Skinner's cheeks and nose. Her sad eyes gazed upon Skinner's half revealed face and applied the rest of the paint over his brow and chin, exposing his mouth that was half opened with shock.
Suddenly, Skinner grabbed her hand, which had a little bit of the greasepaint left on it and guided it across his closed eyes. When he released her hand, Skinner opened his eyes and shifted his head over to her so she knew he was looking at her with his invisible eyes. "What do you want, Mina?"
The scientist gave the thief a tender smile and replied with an even gentler voice, "I don't want anything, Mister Skinner. I just wanted you to know that you are not alone."
Underneath his all his hardened emotions of being a thief, Skinner had to admit that Mina's words touched him in a way he could never describe to anyone. "Mina…" Skinner's voice trailed off as he shakily stood up to face her. After a small silence, Skinner closed the gap between him and the vampire and embraced her warmly and protectively. His paint never smudged as his brushed his cheek to hers and whispered softly in her ear. "Thank you."