A/N: Yeah….
Disclaimer: Don't own. Has anyone noticed that the bold upper case D looks like Spongebob's without the teeth and tongue?
Quartermain drummed his fingers impatiently atop the white table. He could hunt a man in sordid swamps of Africa for days on end, the master of patience, but he had absolutely no patience for the foolishness of people. He was by far the oldest member of the League (with perhaps Mina as exception, for there was really no sure way to determine her age and one did not just ask a lady how old she was), and could testify that young people were the most foolish creatures on the planet. He would have happily spent his days living in an African hotel, far away from England, with men his own age, swapping stories of have-dones and lovers lost.
Instead, he was sitting with a very young and foolish (though perhaps not as foolish as some) man on his left, a vastly intelligent man with barely any common sense, brining about his own destruction from fiddling with shiny tools and smoking, pretty colored liquids. Across from him sat a strong woman, possibly one of the only ones in the world that could use a gun (or in her case, teeth). Next to her sat a man whose foolishness knew no bounds, though he was, admittedly, stealthy. That was something, at least.
As Nemo walked into the room, Quartermain knew what he was coming to talk to them about. Nemo sat in his chair at the head of the table, and cleared his throat a few times.
"I imagine that few of you have question towards why I have called this meeting, but for the sake of formalities, I will state my reasons. I find myself increasingly wary of the girl, Abira. Her powers, for many of us, are unmatched with the exception of Miss Harper and perhaps Dr. Jekyll."
Nemo's eyes fell on Quartermain. The man would admit that he was stubborn, and he stared back. Besides the obvious mulish unwillingness to back down, he liked both this girl and man, albeit the latter grudgingly, and knew that if they could learn to trust each other, the League could benefit from their combined efforts greatly.
Quartermain, when he was a young man away from England, he had had a cabin and a mature hunting hound, West. Quartermain had decided to get another dog, a puppy to keep West company when he was away. He christened the puppy East, as a joke. When the puppy had first arrived, West did not like him at all. Continually fights would break out between the two, as West wanted to show that he was still an alpha. Quartermain also often took the hound for more clever than the dog let on, as every once and awhile, West would secretly follow East around, watching where the puppy was marking, and keeping the coons away when he had to. Eventually, when Quartermain knew he would have to leave the hounds with an old neighbor, he took them out on a hunting trip. East got on the scent of an old fox, and gave chase. West had taken up the rear, almost immediately knowing where East would corner the fox. Quartermain had lost sight of the two, but when they came back, wagging their tails and pulling at his cattails, leading him to the dead fox. When they got back, West tolerated East more and kept the pup safe.
Quartermain believed it would work out the same with Abira and Nemo. By this time next year, provided they lived that long, both would probably give their lives to protect one another, even though there would most likely be no great friendship there.
He just had to get them through this little bump in the road first.
Abira sat in her room, reading Homer's Odyssey. She had read it before, of course, but she was bored and this book was one of the more interesting on the bookshelf that Nemo had provided. There were also other books on Greek heroes, as well as Indian legend, history books, and different yoga and training books. She would have read the Greek legend books, but she despaired of accidentally coming across a story of Hercules. She did not think that she could stand another story glorifying Hercules's feats when he was such a fool.
She had seen Dr. Jekyll in the hallway about half an hour before; he was nervously rubbing his hands and could not look her in the eye. She greeted him politely and asked him to the library, making up a story about needing a certain book. He had shook his head and stuttered out that he needed to meet Nemo. She had not bothered looking into his mind to come to the conclusion that they were talking about her.
She read a few more line of how Odysseus was able to blind the mighty Cyclops, Polyphemus. Finally, glancing at the clock, she pursed her lips and snapped the book closed. They had had enough time.
Jekyll rubbed his temples. Hyde was silent, watching the proceedings in his mirror, for once and for that, Jekyll was truly grateful. Loud arguments were being tossed back and forth between Nemo and Sawyer, and it was giving him a headache.
Sawyer had lost the battle before it had even begun. His youth put him at a disadvantage already, and how much emotion he put into his words did not help. He used blind faith as evidence, using statements such as 'she wouldn't do that' often. More than half the League was scientists, and that was not going to suffice to gain their true trust. The young man was of no great wit (though by no means did that mean Jekyll thought he was unintelligent) and could not defend his argument with half a second to think, and he was going up against Nemo, once a diplomat and very well learned.
"You cannot possibly ignore the fact that she could kill us all without us even knowing!"
"She wouldn't!"
"You can't possibly know that!" Nemo said sharply, "How long have any of us known her? A few months? A few days? People can double-cross within seconds."
Sawyer opened his mouth, obviously searching for the words.
Gently, Jekyll said, "He's not saying that we are to eject Abira from our ship immediately, young Tom. Our captain is just suggesting that perhaps we keep a close eye on her, in case…"
"Or perhaps you could stop trying to hide things from the mind-reader, and try and sort this out logically."
Everyone, including Mina, jumped at the sound of Abira's voice.
A/N: Ending it here because I have a feeling that it would be too long otherwise. Besides, this story is way overdue for an update. Review!
