OK, first off I want to say how sorry I am for not updating this in ages…but I had writers block and couldn't even think of how to start this chapter. But now that has lifted and I can happily say that this will be a nice long chapter for you to sink your teeth into. Well, I hope that you like it and please review and let me know what you think!

And thanks to all of those who reviewed the last chapter, you were:

yaonne-san, Sawyer Fan, kdawg, Dr Moehre, Capitano, XenophiliusFan, Skunk and Hedgehog, Natalie, Sakurabound and rave- up

Chapter Ten

The League were back on the Nautilus, the crew running around and trying to get everything back into some way of order after the recent events, tables, statues and paintings lying all over the floors, or smashed. They were all sitting in the dining room around the large table, Nemo at the head of it, Jekyll and Mina on one side, Skinner, Allan and Tom on the other.

"Did your men find anything?" Allan said as he looked at Nemo, was had a stoic expression on his face, his arms crossed tightly over his broad chest.

"No, it appears whoever had initiated this attack was long gone before it actually happened…I have men out searching" He said in a regal voice as he looked at Allan, his eyes quickly swiping over the rest of the League as he spoke.

"Well, I think that the best we can do for now is rest and begin our hunt tomorrow, when it is light out" Allan said as he stood from his seat, the others following suit. The whole time that the League had been talking Tom had been thinking about the dream he had dreamt back in the motel, wondering if it had just been a bad dream or if Huck was really trying to warn him about something. Allan had noticed the far off look in the boys eyes, and as they reached the door to the dining room, Allan placed a hand on Tom's arm, halting his movements, and said in a fatherly tone,

"Is everything alright Tom, you seemed a bit distracted?"

Tom looked up at Allan with a small smile, his green eyes bright as he said,

"No Allan, just trying to think about who could've done this" Tom said, only telling half of the truth. He didn't want Allan to worry over something that he wasn't even sure was true himself. After the attack on the ship, the hunter had enough on his mind.

"You're sure lad?" Allan asked as he looked deep into Tom's eyes, trying to see if he was just hiding what he was truly feeling. Seeing nothing, Allan patted Tom on the back lightly as he said,

"Well, don't think too much Sawyer; it's not good for you"

Tom gave Allan a mock glare, earning a laugh from the older man as they made their way through the door.

It was a few hours later and Tom and Allan were sitting in the hunter's room, the latter at the desk and flipping through a book, the other sitting perched on the bed, filing through masses of pages. They had been trying to find some sort of clue about what had happened and how all afternoon, and both were growing tired as they had yet to find anything of any form of aid to their mission. Setting down the page that he had been reading, Tom leaned his head against the headboard and blew out a breath, looking at Allan as he said,

"I saw we just go out and try and find them…we're wasting time here"

Allan looked up at him, a small grin on his face being suppressed at Tom's obvious impatience's about the situation. Taking his glasses off, Allan leaned back in his own chair as he said,

"Well, it will do to be well equipped with any knowledge about M and this Charles Williams…and besides, what makes you think you're going anywhere?"

Not giving his young protégé any time to reply, Allan put his glasses back on, picking his book up once more and said with a tone of finality in his voice,

"Nearly lost you once, not going to let it happen again"

Too tired to argue, although he wasn't going to let it lie, Tom frowned and picked his sheet of paper back up, lazy scanning over it, although there was nothing of use on it that he could see.

A knocking on the door pulled both men out of their own thoughts, their heads snapping to look at the door as Allan called,

"Come in!"

The door opened to reveal none other than Skinner, his white face and floating coat the only thing that they could see. Walking into the room and over to the table in the corner that had a bottle of scotch, a bucket of ice and some glasses, Skinner went about getting himself a drink as he said,

"So, you two fellas find anything yet?"

Tom couldn't stop the small laugh that left his mouth at the look of disbelief on Allan's face at Skinners actions. Laying his right arm across his stomach, the hand in a cast due to the actions of M, Tom looked at Skinner as he said,

"No, not yet…have you?"

Skinner turned around to face Tom, allowing him to see the liquor falling down where his throat would be and into his stomach, still an odd sight to Tom no matter how many times he had witnessed it.

"Nothing much cept for the fact that this Williams seems to be somewhat into magic…suppose it could have something to do with what happened" Skinner said with a nonchalance about him.

Allan stood up and walked over to Skinner, pulling the nearly empty scotch glass from his grasp and saying in a half annoyed voice,

"Yes Skinner, it is…so if you wouldn't mind indulging before I stick my boot up your arse for being such a pain in mine!"

Skinner looked over at Tom who gave him a small shrug, and then turned to look at Allan as he said,

"Well, all I read was that he is into magic…charms and spells and whatnot, that's all…not really that much"

Allan blew out a breath as he said,

"Well, I suppose that could explain something…now all we have to do is try and find our own mystics to help us", he said as he handed Skinner the glass back, who quickly took it and downed the rest in case Allan took the glass again, and walked over to his table once more.

"What ya doin' Allan?" Tom asked as he pushed himself forward, now sitting with his feet on the floor.

Not looking up as he rummaged through pages, Allan said,

"Looking for the name of an old friend of mine…he knows all about this magic stuff and I think that maybe he could help us"

Skinner nodded his head and said,

"Well, that sounds interesting, doesn't it Tommy?"

Tom looked at Skinner with a raised eyebrow for the use of the nickname, and said slowly,

"Am, yeah, sure"

Allan, oblivious to the conversation that was going on in the same room, smiled and said, "Found it!" proudly holding up a yellowing page, some writing scrawled on it.

"Well, I'll just leave you two fellas to your business then" Skinner said as he exited the room, but not before taking another shot of scotch.

Allan walked over to where Tom was sitting and perched on the bed beside him, setting his hand on his knee as he handed him the piece of paper and said with a warm smile,

"That man there was a good friend of mine when I was living in London, and I helped him out when we were just your age" Before Allan could finish, Tom laughed as he said,

"You can remember that far back?" teasing the hunter, who sent him a mock glare and slap him lightly on the leg as he said,

"Yes boy" he made sure to put emphasis on the second word before continuing, "and he said that if I ever needed help with anything of this sort that I could always come to him"

Tom smiled, recalling how he and Huck used to always be there for each other, willing to help the other one out no matter what the problem was. Looking at Allan, he asked,

"So I guess we gotta go tell the others now"

Standing, Tom following suit, Allan patted him on the shoulder lightly as he said,

"That we do son"

Tom was in his own cabin, the rest of the League having been informed of Skinners information and Allan's plan to seek out his old friend for some help. They had decided that they were going to go to the address that Allan had tomorrow, in the hopes that he was still there. Tom's face had nearly cracked when he had been told that he could come, Allan not wanting to leave him on his own. Of course, Allan had well informed him that he wasn't to be running around and trying to save the day that he was still injured and therefore had to be careful.

Tom was looking up at the ceiling, his hands behind his head. He could hear the sound of the rain falling from outside as it hit against his small window, the sound seeming much louder than it actually was in the quiet room. Tom felt his eyes growing heavy, sleep trying to claim him, and he didn't fight it, letting it take him.

Tom was standing outside in the rain in an alley, his hair sticking to his face as it rained down, not planning on stopping any time soon. He was dressed in his black trousers and shirt, his suspenders hanging down as they always did. His didn't have his black trench coat or his guns, his arms exposed to the cruel weather around him, the rain stinging his skin like needles.

Looking around when he heard footsteps coming from behind him, Tom was shocked when no one was there. Walking on a bit to one of the narrow alleyways, Tom felt his pulse quickening, afraid of what was going to be around the corner, having no weapons to protect himself.

"Tom, look over here!" Tom turned around to where the sound of the familiar voice came from, and was surprised when he saw his late friend, Huck Finn standing before him once more.

"Huck?" Tom asked as he took a step forward, the same time as the other man did, both now within only a few inches of each other.

"Yeah, it is" Huck replied, a smile on his face as he looked at Tom. He was wearing a white shirt and black trousers like Tom, the suspenders of his actually over his shoulders. Unlike Tom however, he also had his black trench coat on and his black hat.

"Remember what I told ya last time Tom?" Huck said as he swiped a hand across his eyes, pushing brown locks out of his vision.

"Yeah Huck…but I don't understand, fight who?" Tom asked with a tremble in his voice and it was not only caused by the cold.

"I can't tell ya Tom, but I can tell ya that ya can't trust some people Tom…remember that"

Tom was confused by Hucks words, his face showing this clearly. Pushing his blonde bangs out of his face, Tom looked at Huck with narrowed eyes as he said,

"Huck, you're not makin' any sense…why can't ya just tell me what's wrong?" Tom reached his hand out to touch Huck's shoulder, a bright light flashing in front of his eyes.

He was now sitting on the docks, Huck in his arms, gasping from breath and grabbing onto the front of his shirt which was stained by his blood. The rain was falling, coinciding with the sound of the footsteps of M's men as they left the docks. Tears fell down Tom's cheeks as he looked into Huck's eyes, the light slowly fading from them.

"Huck…don't go, please, I'm sorry" Tom choked out in a sob as he pulled his friend closer to him.

Huck looked up at Tom, tears falling from his own eyes as he said in a whisper,

"Ya didn't do anything wrong Tom…don't say sorry" He watched as Tom shook his head, his tears falling onto Hucks cheeks. Huck lifted his hand and placed it on top of Tom's, the hand that was currently trying to stop blood flowing from the bullet wound in Hucks chest. Giving it a small squeeze, his energy quickly fading, he forced a small smile onto his pale face as he said,

"Tom you're…gonna be…fine, alright" His words were broken up as his body fought to live, his life slowly fading away, "ya have to…remember that" With that, the light left his eyes, his lids closing and his chest falling once more.

Tom cried harder as he hugged his friend to him, his face buried in his neck. He couldn't believe that he was reliving that night again, the pain and torment as fresh now as it had been then. As the rain pounded down, Tom felt someone pulling at him, his body unwilling to let go of his dead friend.

"Tom…Tom…TOM!"

Tom jumped up in bed, panting heavily, his blankets tangled at his feet. Strong hand were holding his shoulders, but still caught in his dream he tried to push them off, only to stop when he heard the voice of Allan saying,

"It's alright son, calm down"

Tom stopped pushing the hands away and relaxed slightly, looking at Allan as he sat down on the edge of the bed, his hands still holding onto his shoulders. Allan lifted from hand from his shoulder and ran his thumb over his cheeks, wiping away the tears that Tom had cried in his sleep.

"What was it?" Allan asked his hand settling on the side of Tom's neck as the younger man looked at him with red rimmed eyes, visibly shaking from whatever nightmare he had been trapped in.

"I was…it was the night Huck died…I was there again and-"

Allan pulled Tom to him in a hug, Toms face buried in his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around him. Placing a hand atop of Tom head, his fingers tangling in the blonde hair as he said,

"It was just a bad dream Tom, that's all it was, son" Allan said in a comforting voice, his cheek pressed against the top of Tom's head. He had nearly jumped out of his skin when he had heard Tom's cries, so anguished and scared; and when he had opened the door to his room, seeing the same look reflected on the abused face, so young in his sleep, Allan's heart had broke.

They stayed like that for a few more minutes until Tom's trembling had ceased and he shifted in the embrace, his cheek against Allan's shoulder as he looked out the window and out into the rain, his voice quiet and horse as he said,

"Will it always be like this?"

Tightening his hold on Tom, Allan shook his head as he said in a firm but gentle voice,

"No, it'll get better Tom…with your family here to help you it'll get better"

Tom closed his eyes, and in a soft voice he said,

"Thanks Allan"

OK, there you go, another chapter! And didn't I promise that this one would be longer. Well, I hope that you liked this, especially the Tom/Allan father/son moments, cos I love writing them! Please review and let me know what you think!