Chapter 1 The Fear Of Being Different

Tom Sawyer walked swiftly down the long metal corridor of the Nautilus, anxious to get safely back inside his rooms without attracting attention from any of the other members of the League. Especially Mina Harker. Unfortunately, fate did not appear to be on his side, as the vampire female suddenly appeared at the opposite end of the corridor, between Tom and his rooms.

"Sawyer!" she called while walking toward him quickly, though still at a human speed. "Where have you been the past two days? Allan's death was hard on all of us, but you especially. You should not be alone right now." She stopped a few feet from him, her body suddenly going unnaturally still as she visibly scented the air around him. "Sawyer.. Tom, are you injured? I smell blood, but I thought that all of our wounds from the battle had been tended to by Dr. Jekyll."

"No, ma'am, I am not hurt, thank you," Tom replied politely, his expression clearly nervous for some reason. "Dr. Jekyll did tend to me quite well. And I thank you for your concern, Mina, but I would prefer to be alone. At least for the next few days. I need time to.. recover. I ask that you please respect my choice and allow me to pass if you require nothing more from me."

Mina just stared in stunned silence as Sawyer passed by her in the hallway and retreated to his rooms, taking the scent of fresh hot blood with him.

Sawyer slumped back against his closed door. His body was trembling all over, his nerves stretched taunt as he pressed his face into his left palm. Once his fear eased enough for him to move he crossed over to his oak dresser, still visibly shaking as he stared at himself in the large oval glass of the attached mirror.

"I don't know if I can do this, Allan.." he whispered to himself, not really knowing if he could hear Tom or not from wherever he was. "They're all bound to find out sooner or later, and I don't know if I can handle their reactions. ..Especially Skinner's. I.. I wish that you were here to give me advice, my friend."

He fell silent then, slipping his brown suspenders from his slender, though muscular shoulders before beginning to unbutton his white dress shirt slowly. After he set the shirt aside, draping it over the back of the nearby matching oak chair, he moved to sit down on his mattress and kicked off his boots, leaving them beside the bed. He had stood again and was about to remove his pants when a soft knock came at his door, causing him to freeze briefly before crossing the room to inquire, "Who is it?"

"It is Mina, Tom. May I enter?"

"Mina, I.. No," he replied, firming his voice to attempt to hide his nervousness. "I told you that I want to be alone. Having you in my rooms alone is not appropriate, ma'am. I am not decent."

Sawyer was shocked into stillness when his door suddenly swung open toward him anyway, inwardly cursing his failure to lock it as he always did, revealing Mina, Dr. Jekyll and Skinner standing in his doorway.

"Sawyer," the doctor said kindly, his tone gentle, clearly trying to soothe him. Mina must have told him how he'd acted skittish earlier. "Mina has told me that she can smell your blood on you. Are you hurt?"

"No. I am fine, thank you. Other then I want to be alone. Do I look hurt?"

"No," Jekyll declared after studying him in silence for several minutes. "Though you do look pale. But I trust Mina's judgment and instincts, and since you will likely not cooperate with us.."

Sawyer gasped, his eyes going wide as Mina and Skinner stepped forward to take hold of his arms on either side, forcing him over to the bed and down on his back despite his panicked struggles.

"What are you doing? Let go of me!"

"Please, relax, Tom," Jekyll spoke softly, moving to stand beside the bed as the other two held him down on the mattress firmly. "I am only going to examine you for injuries."

"No! You can't do this! Mina! Please, stop!" he pleaded with her, thrashing about on the bed like a landed fish.

"Calm yourself, Tom," she said quietly, her dark eyes watching his clearly frightened face. "We only wish to help you."

"Then let me go!" he begged, shaking harder now with fear. He continued to struggle in their firm grip as his bare upper torso was thoroughly examined by Jekyll.

"We can't do that, mate," Skinner replied this time, the fingers of both his hands tightening slightly on Tom's left arm. "The doc just needs to check you over. Make sure that you are okay."

"Skinner, please!" Tom begged once more, tears filling his eyes now as they met his. His body was still quivering as he began to sob deep in his chest, the hot tears spilling over now to wet his dark lashes. "Don't do this! Let me go!"

His crying was like some sort of trigger in all three of them, because they instantly released him and stepped back from the bed. They watched in wide-eyed shock while Sawyer wept harder still, curling his body into an instinctive defensive ball in the exact center of the mattress. His sobbing wracked his trembling form in a way that looked intensely painful.

"Tom?" Mina spoke softly, clearly afraid to touch him and make whatever was wrong even worse.

"Get out," he muttered, his eyes closed and still visibly shaking as he continued to sob, replying to her inquiry reluctantly.

"What?"

"Get out, I said get out! Go, now! Just leave me alone!"

The three of them exchanged uncertain glances before leaving the room together. Mina shut his door quietly behind them all and the volume of Sawyer's extremely distressed sobs was cut off by the thick metal door.

After Tom had cried out all of the fear of discovery that he had bottled up over the last month since joining the League, he somehow managed to move his exhausted body to get out of the bed. The first thing that he did was quickly lock his door, feeling as secure as he would while he was still on this ship, before crossing over to the small wash basin near the dresser. He then poured in fresh water from the nearby matching sky-blue china pitcher before finally undoing the buttons on his pants, allowing them to fall to the floor and stepping out of them. Tom stood in front of the basin's stand in his white cotton undergarments, reaching for a nearby washcloth. He dampened it and began to wash his tear-streaked face, neck and chest thoroughly.

He set the cloth down in the bowl, hesitating briefly before removing his last article of clothing and setting it aside on the bed. He visibly cringed at the sight of the bright red blood soaked fabric pad. Tom looked away from it, grabbing the cloth again and beginning to rinse his cock and balls before carefully reaching further back behind his sack. He winced at the feel of the hot sticky wetness before he gently wiped it away as best he could from the hidden opening to his body.

He placed the now bloody cloth back into the basin of cool water to soak, followed by his pad, causing the water to cloud up red quickly as he returned to the dresser. He retrieved clean undergarments and a pad, quickly pulling them on and positioning his cloth pad into position. He was shivering as he then drew on fleece pajamas and crawled back into his bed and under the covers.

It took him a long time to fall asleep.