With That in Mind…
A/N: Sorry this is taking so much time. Tis a rather short chapter. To all a goodnight!
Thirteen. That was the number of times he'd heard that knock on his door. Mina was nothing if not persistant. "I know you're in there, Jekyll, you can open the door or I can break it down." A strong feminine voice permeated through the wood.
Dr. Jekyll shook his head and stood, straightening out his shirt. He doubted that she was bluffing, and telling her that he wanted not to be disturbed was probably easier than living here with his door in splinters. Tiredly fumbling with the lock and chain on his door frame, he opened the door with a polite and slightly apologetic bow. "Good evening, Ms. Harker." He said with a weak smile. "Forgive me, I must have dozed off for a moment or two."
"You must have dropped off the planet if you honestly didn't hear my shouting." She stated, looking around. "Not to mention the commotion that was going on a moment ago. Judging by that, I'd say either someone was being murdered or they were certainly having a good time."
"I see." He nodded, rubbing his temples.
Mina looked upon him with sympathy. "You know Jekyll, all manners aside, I must say that you look positively awful."
"Yes, I'm not exactly feeling well." He said, only really telling half a lie.
"Really? Well I'm sure this ship has at least a rudimentary medical bay. I can accompany you there, if you'd like." She offered kindly.
"There's no need. I think I just need to lie down for a while…" he glanced behind him at his still made bed. "I don't mean to be rude, but if you would excuse me, Ms. Harker."
"If there's something wrong…" she started, bringing her gaze to meet his.
Jekyll froze for a minute or two like a frightened rabbit, baffled by her sudden worriedness. It was a side he had only been chanced to see a few times.
"Can I come in, or am I interupting something?" she queried after a long while of buzzing silence.
Jekyll gritted his teeth. He wanted nothing more to say yes to that. To talk to her. To explain the situation. But he could not…
'Come on, Henry…' Rage flared in his eyes as he heard Hyde's voice in the back of his mind. 'Invite the lady in for a drink. What's the harm in that?'
Jekyll tried desperately to surpress his anger as he shook his head again. "I'm sorry, Ms. Harker. I'm sorry, but I can not."
She looked crushed at that statement, and he couldn't bear the sight of it. "I see…" she accepeted his rejection, looking down and keeping a stern face.
"I'm really very sorry…" he said sincerely. "I'll…I'll speak with you later, if you'd like. I-I'm just wary as to whether or not this illness is contagious, you see…"
'You're a terrible liar, Henry.' Hyde growled callously.
"If that's what you think is best, I won't disturb you." Mina said with a nod, lifting her head with a more confident gaze. "But be warned. I will be back tomorrow, and if you aren't feeling any better, you will come with me to the medical bay. Is that clear, Mr. Jekyll?"
Jekyll smiled slightly, touched by her concern. "…Yes, of course. I would be honored."
"Well," she smiled slyly as she took a step back. "I suppose I should say goodnight then."
"Oh, yes…Good night, Ms. Harker." He nodded hurriedly.
"Goodnight, Henry." She replied, turning down the hall. "And remember, I'll be here first thing tomorrow morning. That's a promise."
"I think I should look forward to it." He said, offering a final wave before he shut the door and enveloped himself back into the darkness of his room.
'You coward.' Hyde snickered from somewhere in the deepest regions of his head. 'Can't even face up to a woman, can you?'
"What do you care?" he stared into the mirror, seeing the ghastly reflection of the beast he had created. "It's my business, not yours."
'Everything you do is my business.' He informed factually. 'When you share a mind, you share all of its secrets.'
"We don't share a mind." Jekyll sneered, sitting on his bed.
'But we do share a body…And I think you've been forgetting to keep your end of this bargain lately.'
"What 'bargain'?" he looked up, eyes narrowing in irritation.
'I've been stuck in your idiot head for weeks!' he snarled, the reflection in the mirror turning to a hideous scowl. 'I want out, Henry.'
"I never made that deal, Hyde." He said coldly, sitting up straight.
'You made that deal when you created me.' Hyde growled, gritting his teeth. 'I have right!'
"You have no right. This is my life, do you understand that? Damned if I'll let you come in here and tear it down."
'So that's it, is it?' Hyde fumed, holding up a hand that was twisted in anger. 'Use me when you want and then lock me away like some caged animal? Is that what kind of man you are?'
Jekyll paused, looking away. "…You know that's not what it is. The league needed our help, was that not reason enough for you to just once do something selfless?"
'The league needed my help.' He clarified stubbornly.
"Yes, well we thought we needed Mr. Gray as well, and you're well aware of what happened then." Jekyll retorted, shocking himself by the demeanor in his voice. It wasn't like him to say such things…
He could sense Hyde's impending anger, but it instead turned into a strange satisfaction. 'Oh, not yourself tonight, Henry?' he chuckled.
"It has been years since I have 'been myself'." He reminded, putting his face in his hands. "And it seems so much longer."
'Well boo-hoo.' He mocked carelessly. 'How do you think I feel? Do you think I like watching you live on the other side while I'm stuck up here?' the reflection pointed to his head.
"Every time I let you out, you do something terrible." Jekyll defended.
'Oh yes, terrible.' He snorted back sarcastically. 'Like saving the lives of hundreds. What a damn shame.'
"Don't pretend that heroism had anything to do with it." Jekyll stood and poured himself a drink with a disgusted expression. "You knew that this ship would sink with you in it, that's why you did it."
'At least I had a purpose!' he said, shifting subjects again. 'What good are you? It's just like that twitty little cowboy said.'
"Shut up, you leave Agent Sawyer out of this." Jekyll took a heavy gulp of his scotch.
'And you had the nerve to accuse him of being useless? Of course, I wouldn't doubt that he is. But not as useless as you, 'doctor', not as useless as you. Such a paradox, Henry. Ha!'
"Don't drag others into this, you know damn well this is between you and I!" he slammed the cup down, sending a stream splashing over the side.
'No it isn't.' Hyde insisted. 'You only wish that were the case. Trying to pawn off your troubles onto me. Why is it that whenever you have a problem, I'm the one who gets blamed for it?… How pathetic you are…you sit idly by and watched the little squirt flirt with Mina without so much as batting an eye.'
Jekyll clenched his fist and growled under his breath. "Stop it. He's doing no such thing. You won't make me jealous again, Hyde!"
'And the way she looks at him. Oh that's the kicker, isn't it? It's love. I can see it.'
"You're a fool!" he snarled back. "As if you would know what love looks like. It isn't love. No more than it's love when Skinner flirts with her."
'Maybe it is. Maybe she's in it with the boy and taking that invisible chap on the side.' Hyde said, apparently amused with himself.
"Shut up!" Jekyll ordered again, the same insidious rage flaring up in his throat. "Don't you ever talk about her that way!"
'She's a heartless killer, Henry!' he yelled with a grin. 'What makes you think she's any more considerate when it comes to love?'
"You want me to smash those elixers, Hyde? Is that what you want? To never be free?" he screamed, glancing towards the said box.
'Don't make me laugh.'
"I'll do it if it would mean I would be rid of you!" he threatened, pointing to the table upon which it rested.
'I'm only trying to help you!' he snarled back, baring his teeth in the mirror. 'I see you falling into a void, Henry! I see the people around you attacking you, betraying you, laughing behind your back, laughing at you! At me! At us! And you don't even see it, you pathetic toad! And you have the audacity to call me a fool? You're the fool, Henry!'
"You're dillusional!"
'Am I? I saw the look you had on when Mina touched that welp's face! I saw the rage in your eyes when you confronted him! That wasn't me, Henry, it was you! It was you who thought that he was making his move on her, not me! It was you who hated him, not me! It was you who threatened to kill him, not me! It was all you, what did I have to do with it?'
"I didn't mean any of it!"
'Then why did you say it?'
"I-I was-"
'You knew that he was stabbing you in the back! You were angry that he was denying it!'
"No!"
'I'm your only friend, Henry! The only one you can trust! If you want her, you have to make it happen! Push the other morons aside and take her! Or are you too weak?'
"You don't know what you're talking about!"
'Of course you're too weak! You've always been too weak! You've always needed me! Just like before, and just like now! You need me to take over! You need me to take her for you! For us!'
"AHHH!" Jekyll shrieked, gripping his glass and heaving it at the mirror with all the force me had. Glass hit glass with a deafening shatter, spraying a mist of crumbled shards onto the soft carpet and disappearing like melted snowflakes. Jekyll collapsed on his bed with a shudder, left alone and silent in his dark room.