A/N: And this, my dear readers, is what we authors like to call 'The End'. This is the last chapter of Silver Bullet. *sigh* Can't believe it's over! I'd like to thank you for faithfully returning time and time again, and special thanks go out to MJ Rosemary, Graymoon74, Blueberrie, Sethoz, LotRseer3350, Mellaithwen-ElvenMaiden, Wolf-of-Black-Dawn, Silent Bob 546, and drowchild. Thank you to everyone else I haven't mentioned, and I hope you enjoy the last chapter. Thank you for bearing with me for these past couple of months, you've all been great, and helped me reach a brand new review record; over 200 reviews! *cries* WOW! :D
The air of the Atlantic sea was naturally very refreshing, waves splashing against the side of the gigantic vessel as it sat stationary, its conning tower and topmost bulkheads exposed to the dazzling sunlight of the late afternoon. There were very few clouds in the sky, but those that lingered wisped and floated along steadily in the slight breeze that served only to whip Tom Sawyer's blonde hair about his eyes, ears and forehead. His waistcoat billowed slightly at his waist, his hands buried deep in his pockets, keeping the item of clothing from blowing about too freely.
He was staring out with pensive green eyes at the soothing waters of the Atlantic, his thoughts running away with him, the events of late playing over and over in his mind, and he tried to figure out if there was anything he could have done differently to change the end result.
So far, he hadn't thought of much. His memory seemed intent on confusing him, and when images replayed in his head, small details kept changing. He was already starting to forget the scent of Anise's perfume... not that it really mattered.
She hadn't loved him. She had said she had, but... he knew it to be a lie. Something deep down inside of him seemed certain of this, and no matter how much he tried to think otherwise, he failed miserably.
Though he ached all over still from his injuries, he had managed to make his way up here some two hours ago, and had barely shifted from his position in that time, most of his weight rested on his unscathed right leg. The left wasn't so painful now, but Jekyll had insisted he try to keep it rested as much as possible.
Tom knew very well that he should be in his room, sleeping or taking it easy, but something about him made him just want to keep in motion, or at least keep his mind busy if nothing else. He hated just... sitting there, being useless.
The only alert he had to company was the slight creaking as the hatch opened to permit exit onto the tower of the Nautilus, and without turning, he knew who had come.
"Is something wrong, Mrs Harker?" he asked lightly, and when he listened to the sound of his own voice, he realised how hollow and dull it seemed. He kept his gaze firmly fixed on the ripples in the water as the sunlight gleamed off of it.
"Nothing," came her gentle reply as she paced up to stand beside him, her arms behind her back, her long red scarf wrapped delicately around her neck and collar. It fluttered around her shoulders and back in the breeze, but still Tom's eyes did not waver from their stare out into the waves.
The two of them stood silently in one another's company for many minutes, simply taking in the salty smell of the ocean around them, enjoying the warmth the rays of the sun provided, and it seemed the content of being in each other's presence.
It wasn't long until Mina said, "Tom... you need to talk."
"I've talked," he said calmly, closing his eyes and took a deep breath, raising his head slightly to let the sun shine on his face.
He knew Mina was watching him without opening his eyes to confirm it. He heard her voice as she persisted, "You know what I mean. I'm here to listen if you want to talk."
Still at ease with the sun on his face, Tom did not move as he replied, "And what is it you want to hear about?" He knew very well what she did mean, but was trying to avoid it. Why was she so insistent?
But despite his apparent annoyance at this persistence, he did not move to stop as she reached up and tilted his face to hers. She eyed him quizzically, and he noticed then that there was a look of deep sorrow on her face.
Why was she so sad? He was alive after all, wasn't he? What had depressed her so? It seemed to be contagious, as he felt a great swell of melancholy fill him, and he frowned.
"Tom..." she began carefully, "you forget I've gotten to know you in our time spent together on this vessel." She seemed to be taking in every detail of his face, as he was with hers. "And despite all of this, you act as though I do not care for you... you try to push me away when I offer my help."
"I-"
She touched her fingertips to his lips gently to stop him from interrupting, as she continued, "I may not understand it, but until now, I have respected it. At first, as you said to me not long ago, I was cold and kept to myself. I stayed within my own quarters, talking to no one except Dorian Gray..." She growled his name as though it were dangerous before pressing on, "I realise now this was a mistake, and that if I had... 'socialised' more with you and the others, I may have been better equipped to speak this matter over with you before now."
What was she getting at? Mina never spoke of anything without having a point, and Tom wondered what it was in this case, so he remained completely silent, simply listening to her as his hair flurried about his face.
"What I'm trying to say is that I'm here for you, when no one else is, but if you want me to leave... I won't resist."
Tom looked into her blue eyes for a long time, just waiting for her to continue, and when she didn't, he wasn't sure what to do. He couldn't stop staring, straight-faced and serious, and Mina turned to leave.
She had almost reached the hatch when he called after her, eyes closed, "Wait..."
Her body half-turned back to him, and her eyes met his face. She waited for him to persist.
"I don't want you to leave," he said quietly, and opened his eyes to meet her gaze. He sighed deeply. "You're right." His hands came out of his pockets, and he turned back to face the rail, saying, "I pushed you away, and all you're trying to do is help me. It's not healthy for me to let it all build up inside."
"It might help to talk about it," Mina offered and came up beside him again, and his hands rested on the railing in front of him. He knew she was right... she usually was. "You don't have to tell me everything, just the things you would like to discuss."
Tom looked to her sidelong, and sighed again. Amazingly, the first thing that came out of his mouth when he opened it and spoke was, "I know she didn't really love me."
"And who said she didn't?"
Tom stared at her in amazement. He would have thought that she more than anyone would have appreciated him saying this out loud, admitting it to himself. She seemed to want to persuade him otherwise.
"Just look at what she did... that wasn't love, that was outright betrayal. I trusted her, and she turned me over to Evans for..." he trailed off, exhaling loudly, and leaning against the rail, turning his back on it now.
Mina tilted her head slightly, only a fraction, and urged him to explain with a simple look in her eyes that he couldn't resist.
"All of those people... they had been changed, most of them against their will, like Anise," he began, and as he spoke he became lost in his own words. "They were from different governments, different countries... and they all served their purpose, like I was supposed to. Evans wanted them for their information so he could use it against the countries he had learned about. Anise gave him the secrets of France, and he protected her and kept her alive in return. Apparently, that was how it happened with all of them."
Mina was still watching him, that same expression on her face. She was listening intently, taking in every detail.
"He said I was the last one," Tom continued with a heavy sigh as he closed his eyes again for a short time, "he told me that once I'd been changed into one of them, that I would have to tell him all the secrets I knew, or else he would turn me over to the authorities and reveal what I was. He'd let them do with me what they wanted."
His companion did not seem very impressed with this, and she frowned.
"Anise told me she had been the first, that Jacques had attacked her brutally, and left her to die. When they realised who and what she was, they decided they could use her knowledge. I suppose he planned to start some sort of inevitable war with all of the information he'd accumulated."
"All information that died along with him," Mina reminded him with a certain sense of relief.
"Maybe," Tom countered, turning to her slightly. "But how do we know he didn't keep it all somewhere? How do we know he didn't have any accomplices? He can't have been the only human in that place..."
"He wasn't," Mina informed him, "his guards at the gates when we ambushed, and the men in the corridors... they were human. Needless to say, they did not last long when we arrived."
Tom took little comfort in this revelation, and sighed heavily again. He twisted his body to look at her once more, but the action pained him, and he must have winced, for Mina had a hand on his shoulder at once, asking, "Are you all right? Do you need to sit down?"
"I'm fine," he told her, and tried to smile. He shook his head. "I just need to be more careful how I move for a while."
She smiled at him, and nodded, satisfied when he stood up straight again, looking out at the water once more. They descended into silence, the breeze whipping at them gently as they stood next to each other, mere inches apart, staring out at the sea.
"She did love you," Mina said at last, and there was a distant edge to her voice that made Tom furrow his brow. "Her eyes..." She smiled. "Eyes never lie, Tom. I have learned over the years how to detect deceit and dishonesty, and I saw none in her eyes in those last few moments."
Tom stared at her, and he felt a great swell of sorrow in him again. As he had told himself before, Mina knew what she was talking about... and she usually did. How could this be an exception?
"Did you love her?"
The question threw him for a moment, and he looked down at his feet, trying to think. "I don't know. I thought I did, but I'm not so certain anymore."
"You said she saved your life when she could have easily taken it."
"But that doesn't mean I loved her for it," Tom said quietly, "it just meant that I felt she'd tried to redeem herself." He paused, sighing angrily more than anything. "I've never been in love... how am I supposed to know?"
"Usually one realises too late that they are in love." Mina was staring out at the horizon as she said this, and there was a longing in her words that made him feel worse.
"When I was with her, I felt happy... safe for a while," Tom told her, knowing she was dwelling on thoughts of Dorian Gray. He wanted to distract her from the treachery and hurt. He wasn't so sure that reminding her of his own pain was such a good remedy, but he tried nevertheless. "She made me feel important, like Huck had, and Allan."
"Tom, what gave you the impression that you weren't important?"
He shrugged lightly. It was just how he'd always felt. "Certain people make me feel differently. I'm usually an optimist... at least I was when I joined the League, but now I'm not so sure of that either."
She touched his arm, a gentle brush of affection that warmed him slightly.
"All that seems to happen lately is..." he trailed off, not knowing how to end without it sounding like the most depressing thing he had ever heard. At a loss, he simply said, "People keep dying."
Mina took in a deep, long breath, and let it out slowly in pensive mourning. It was clear she knew what he was talking about. Huckleberry Finn; Allan Quatermain; Anise, and in her case, Dorian Gray... though Tom wasn't sure they had ever been that close. She always seemed angered and saddened by it though.
"I guess I just need time to let it all sink in, to realise that the world isn't going to end," he said finally with a smile aimed at her. He was putting on his all-American brave face again, and this time, it came a little easier.
Mina nodded, touching a hand this time to his faintly bruised face softly, smiling at him. "I'll be here to help you. Don't hesitate to ask."
It was Tom's turn to nod, and he thought he saw something in her expression that told him she might have embraced him then, were it not for his injuries. He was almost regretful that she didn't. He didn't want sympathy or compassion as such... he just wanted guidance and understanding. He had lost that when Quatermain had died. It seemed now that Mina wished to take this role, although she brought it something else... something that no man could provide.
Tom wasn't sure what it was, and he didn't dare dwell on it lest he ruin the moment they were sharing. He had never been this close to someone seriously before, when there wasn't imminent threat of betrayal, hurt or anguish.
Even as the waves lapped against the Nautilus again, and all seemed said and done, Tom finally managed, "I think I may have loved Anise... not as much as I could have, but I think I did."
Mina said nothing, but simply stood beside him. Everything fell quiet and still, and there was something in the air now that relaxed. Whether or not it was the fact that Tom had managed to get a lot off his chest, or whether he just felt at ease in Mina's soothing presence, he supposed he might never know. But still, he did not argue that he felt better for saying all that he had, that Mina had been right in saying she was here for him when no one else had been. That was a huge comfort and relief in itself.
How the sun set without either noticing was a mystery on its own, but somehow the hours just seemed to melt away as the two stood there comforting one another with their mere presence, not saying a word, nothing else to say.
For the first time since the death of Allan Quatermain, all those months ago in that dreary Mongolian fortress, both Mina Harker and Tom Sawyer were at ease.
They knew it would not be long before something else troubled, and they were called upon to help, but amazingly neither was ailed by this fact. They knew they would be able to face it head on. They would get through it, as they had other problems before now, like the one that had most recently threatened.
Special Agent Tom Sawyer planned on being around to help for a long time to come. And he planned to have the rest of the League right behind him.