A/N: Thank you to all my reviewers. I'm glad to see you're enjoying the long-awaited angst that I promised you from Chapter One :S Sorry it took me time to come up with what I owed. Anyway, enjoy! Thank to MJ for your positive comments about Anise, and to all others who are accepting her as well. :)
Henry sat with Mina Harker aboard the Nautilus and watched her study the chemical, her glasses reflecting the light partially so he couldn't see her blue eyes properly. They had been silent for some time now, and it was starting to gnaw at him.
"I thought as much," Mina mumbled from over her results, her brow knitting delicately. "I should have known from the smell."
Henry cocked his head, smiling inwardly at the animalistic look it gave him, and inquired, "What is it? You know the substance?"
Mina nodded slowly, to herself mostly, and continued by replying, "I have come across it before. I don't know why I didn't recognise it when I smelt it in that room. It has a very distinctive sweet odour to it."
"Yes, I noticed that as well," Henry agreed. He felt as though he was missing something here, and then his mind seemed to click. He looked to Mina suddenly, and narrowed his eyes. "Are you suggesting what I think you are?"
"That all depends, Doctor," Mina said to him lightly, "what is it that you think I am suggesting?"
Henry swallowed dryly, a lingering suspicion in him now, and offered, "Chloroform."
"Well in that case," Mina began, "you are correct in thinking so. It is chloroform."
"Used for anaesthetics in surgery."
"And as a drug to induce unconsciousness in victims it seems," Mina agreed. "They must have known that Tom would not go quietly."
"And Miss Delacroix," Henry supplemented as an afterthought, giving Mina a curious gaze. He could tell the vampire did not like the young woman. It was no secret... far from it in fact. The tension had been clear from the moment they had met in Paris.
"Yes," Mina mumbled in affirmation, looking down at her results again and removing her glasses. "Why didn't I see this before?"
Henry saw the anger in her gaze now that her eyes were visible, and he touched her arm lightly from his seat, and said, "Do not blame yourself. Clearly this is taking its toll on you."
"Clearly," she muttered, sitting herself down. "We should inform the others of this development. I just hope the attacker knew how much of the substance to use."
"I've heard of accidents too." Henry knew her train of thought. It was his as well. "Too much would have put them into comas... an overdose would kill them."
Mina nodded, lost in her thoughts.
Henry joined her.
There was something that didn't sit right in the very pit of her stomach as she sat in her room at her desk, writing delicately in an open book. She looked out of the window into the lingering darkness that was slowly giving in to the light of the dawn, and she frowned. Something was wrong. She could sense it.
Standing, leaving her pen and book on the desk, she exited her room, and moved down the hallway, letting her feet guide her, her brain working in overdrive to identify the smells she was tracking.
Jacques. Not alone though... Alessandro... Paulo... and one more, Friedrich. They had come this way not long ago. She realised where her feet were taking her, and her eyes widened in horror as Jacques' threat floated back into her mind.
'Who said it were you I would strike back at?'
Anise started running then, and her heart raced; even as she slammed open the door to the room with the cell. She approached the bars, seeing the still form lying near the wall at the very rear of the cage, and she cursed in French, fumbling in her pocket for the key.
Locating it, she dug it out, and unlocked the door, leaving it open as she walked immediately to Tom's unconscious form and knelt next to him. She gently used her fingers to stroke back the loose locks of hair that covered his eyes, and saw they were closed, as she had expected. A deep sigh escaped her as she inwardly cursed Jacques and his 'friends' for their pathetic behaviour.
She saw the blood on the floor then, and looked carefully at Tom, seeing his nose had bled again. She was consumed with guilt and concern. Anise moved to pick up the discarded blanket, shortly before she heard the footsteps behind her.
Expecting Jacques or one of the others, she whirled in a crouch, her gaze finding Charles Evans instead. She was less than pleased with this encounter, and tried to pretend as though he were not there, picking up the rag of cloth, noticing Tom had used it before to stop blood flow.
"I assume you know who it was," Evans said very calmly.
Without looking back, she moved to roll Tom over, but paused, replying, "Yes I do. Why? Do you care?"
"Of course I care," came his abrupt response. There was anger in his tone. She knew better than to play with him when he was like this. "I'm not about to watch someone ruin what I have planned for, Anise, and despite your... feelings, you know this as well. Now who was it?"
Anise debated whether to tell Evans this or not, and then as she looked down at Tom again, she sighed, determined, and said, "It was Beauvais. He was not alone."
"You're certain?"
"Teeth and claws are not all I gained from the change, Evans," Anise informed him, looking him in the eye now. "I can smell him... them."
"Who else?" His voice was so calm now as he looked down upon the unconscious body. Anise wanted to block Tom from his view, as if that would protect him.
"Alessandro," she began, knowing in her heart she was doing the right thing by revealing what she knew to be true. "Paulo, and Friedrich too."
"Ah, of course," Evans mumbled, sighing. "Where Beauvais goes, they follow. How very feral of them."
Anise closed her eyes at the feeble insult, listening to Evans' light chuckle as she rolled Tom onto his back. She let out a loud sigh, lowering her head at the sight of the faint bruising on the left side of his face. A small amount of blood had trickled from the corner of his mouth too.
"Damn you, Jacques," she grumbled angrily, even as Tom stirred. He did not awaken however, simply moved slightly, his head shifting, and one of his hands clenching and relaxing.
"Well," Evans began, sounding bored now, "I suppose I should see to the problem. I can't very well have Beauvais and his 'pack' ruining my plans now, can I?"
With that he was gone, and Anise growled despite her best attempts to control it and suppress it. It happened to her sometimes, like before in this very cell when Tom had insulted her. She hadn't been able to hold back the animal within, and had attacked him. At least she hadn't scratched him... or bitten him. She would never have been able to forgive herself for that.
As she stared out the door after Evans, a low groan dragged her back to reality, and she turned her head at once to see Tom regaining consciousness, clearly in pain. He winced against the light, and took a couple of deep audible breaths before opening his eyes halfway.
Seeing who was crouched over him took only a matter of moments, and he sat up at once to get away from her, too quickly it seemed. He gasped, closed his eyes, and held a hand to his side, panting.
Anise could not stop the concern from flowing into her voice as she asked, "Are you all right?"
"Just perfect thanks to your friends," Tom retorted, looking to her and taking the cloth out of her hands briskly. "Why do you care?"
His question hurt her inside, and she took a moment, before saying, "You are surprised I do?"
Tom wiped the blood from his face with the cloth, at least the blood he knew about anyway, and replied, "You could say that. You did betray me after all."
"I did not betray you."
"Then what would you call it?" Tom's eyes bore into her, and the pain in them made her ache all over with guilt and compassion. She had betrayed him, she knew, but didn't want to admit it, even to herself. She was afraid to.
"I..." She sighed heavily, taking the cloth from him gently, noticing he let her. She hesitated before using her hand to touch his face, wiping away the blood from the corner of his mouth. "We've been through this."
He closed his eyes against her touch, and then seemed to realise what he was letting her do, how close he was letting her, and he pulled away. The movement pained him visibly, and she swelled with guilt again.
"Damn him," she mumbled angrily, and edged closer, trying to look in his eyes. He closed them to stop her from doing so, and breathed heavily, holding a hand to his ribs again. She remembered the bruising he had sustained before, and frowned deeply. "I am sorry. This is my fault."
He didn't speak, just looked to her briefly. She thought she saw doubt in his soulful green eyes. She became lost in them in that moment, and took in his handsome features as he winced. "How is this your fault?"
"Because I lost my temper with that bastard, and he thought he would strike back at me through you," Anise informed him, wishing he would let her see to his injuries. "He is an animal."
Tom laughed quietly, obviously regretting it at once, and he groaned lightly, his head thudding back against the solid wall behind him. He let out a slow breath.
She understood the humour he found in her comment, and smiled, still concerned, and touched a hand to his face. He didn't pull away this time.
"I am sorry, Tom... you have to know that." She paused, getting her emotions under control before she persisted, "I was afraid."
His eyes opened and met hers, and they locked there firmly for what felt like an eternity. It was, in reality, only a few seconds, before he sighed, and said, "I know."
She reeled internally. Did he forgive her? No... that was impossible. How could he have forgiven her?
"But I still don't understand why you didn't just tell me," Tom added after a moment, "I could have tried to help you... we could have helped you. We could have protected you. I said I wouldn't let anything happen to you... I meant that."
She hung her head in shame, and felt a tear break through her defences, tumbling freely down her cheek. "I wish..." she paused to gather herself, let her voice become steady, stop shaking. "I wish I could go back, and make this all right."
His fingers stroked through her hair affectionately, and she felt another tear escape. Then another. She couldn't stop it. She felt dead inside, like she had destroyed the only good thing she had ever truly had.
Skinner paced outside on the promenade of the Nautilus, taking in the early morning air, sucking in deep breaths, and trying to contemplate everything that was going on. It made his head ache. He hadn't even had his usual glass of scotch this morning... maybe he should.
No, he thought at once, I need to keep my head clear, just like Mina said. One of those-
And that was when he saw it. He had to lean over the railing to get a clearer view of it, and eventually settled for removing his pince-nez from his face and peering out unobstructed to see the darting figure. They seemed to be fleeing the area, a certain shuffling movement to them that was oddly sinister.
"Well that's a bit suspicious," Skinner mumbled to himself, replaced his glasses, and darted into the submarine. His feet carried him the distance quickly, years of stealth as a thief making his journey silent, and he took the easiest route he knew to the dining room. He had decided to skip on breakfast that morning... it didn't seem right with the empty spaces.
He burst through the doors, and he noticed Jekyll almost spilt his tea all down himself with shock. His wide eyes turned on Skinner at once, and he blurted, "What's the matter?"
Skinner took a deep breath to settle his racing heart, and replied, "I think I just spotted one of those ly... lyc... werewolf things racing away from here. Looked in a hurry to me."
Mina stood at once, her breakfast forgotten, and she strode around to Skinner with purpose and determination, asking, "Which way did they go? Can you show me?"
There was a distinct intent in her eyes that Skinner just could not ignore. He nodded his head to the door, took a step towards it and noticed Mina shadowed directly behind him. Normally, something like this would have excited him, but not this day. Perhaps it was due to the fact that a friend's life could be at stake.
That was, if Tom Sawyer was still alive.