A man moved through the shadowed alleys and streets to avoid being seen by less than forgiving eyes. Everything felt heavy inside him, hunger and exhaustion sapping every ounce of his being from him and making the wanderer dizzy as thunder clouds overhead threatened to downpour any second.
I must keep moving...
So weak...
Wait...laughter...children...must go..no...must..keep..going...to ...wHerE...
Rodney Skinner laughed as he kicked a can with some local children, fond memories of a time long gone filling him with nostalgia and joy, the little ones undisturbed by the self-proclaimed gentleman thief's pallor and need for dark glasses over his eyes, only caring for a more oversized playmate with the same energy as them.
He would need to get back to the League Germanic HQ before it started to rain and wash away his makeup, but he was having so much fun he hardly put much thought into this action.
Somehow their benefactor had managed to set up several HQs on land for the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen to use all across the globe at their leisure, a fact Nemo had very nearly taken as a severe insult when the man had first presented one to them back in Scotland.
The fact that Mycroft Holmes had stained one of the Captain's handwoven carpets earlier that same day from a bout of seasickness might have helped with Nemo's disagreeable mood towards him. However, the Captain thankfully did not do more than glare and try to defend his beloved ship.
Skinner saw something out of the corner of his eye that made his skin chill over and forced him to look.
Hey, what is that? A woman? She looked sick.
Rodney walked over and saw that the person was very ill-looking indeed, clothing pretty much rags and about five sizes too large,hair long, matted and to make matters direr, sported a rather large stomach which seemed far too much for their petite frame.
"Hey mate, are you alright?" Skinner asked before lunging forward with a cry of surprise to catch the figure when they nearly collapsed in the street.
"Ba...ba..." The figure, which the voice appointed now as male rasped out before fainting completely in the gentleman thief's arms.
"Hang on, I got some friends who may be able to help," Skinner said, obviously more to himself than to the man who was in the realm of dreams now.
Managing to scoop them into his arms, careful of not jostling the frail man too much and wishing the children a quick goodbye, he jogged back to the HQ where Mina was trying to take some plants inside as the weather was turning off colder than a witch's heart.
The vampiress's eyes widened almost comically as she saw this display and ran over, gently running her fingers through black, with shockingly white streaks through its hair, her sensitive nose picking up on several things about the person in Skinner's arms.
two hearts beating at once
severe exposure
strange energy
"What happened?" Mina asked, already moving to take the man from Skinner, but the invisible man held tight to his cargo.
"No idea luv, but he's in a bad way," Rodney said, knowing he should just hand the other over but was too stiff to do so correctly and feared he would wind up dropping his delicate load entirely.
The two league members went inside just as it started to piss rain outside and ran to the infirmary, which was, mercifully, fully stocked with medical supplies and beds, one of which was quickly filled with the impromptu guest.
Roshan, the ship's regular doctor, rushed over to tend to the new arrival, mildly waving Skinner away from the bed, who glared, not that the other could see it, at being so callously dismissed.
Assistants helped Roshan to strip their patient from his torn clothing and shoes, all of which almost fell to pieces in the crew members hands, nothing holding the materials together but threads and a prayer.
Skinner watched off to the side as Mina joined the group in preparing IVs and wrappings for the poor man's feet and examined the bump, which was now even more prominent that it was not hidden by inadequate fitting clothing.
"Blisters on soles of feet, severely malnourished, dehydrated and fetal weight is small for estimated gestation time of the second trimester," one of the crew listed off from their notepad. "Body shows signs of multiple surgeries of both gentle area and stomach, unknown if this will allow for a safe vaginal birth or if cesarean will be required."
"Thank you, Shivani, we will make the preparations for a C-section unless the parent wishes to try otherwise and will monitor for further complications," Roshan said as he gently covered the still unconscious man with a blanket after he had redressed him in a clean nightgown.
"What do you think happened to him?" Skinner asked Mina as she made her way back over to the invisible man, who had settled himself next to one of the sinks.
"I have no clues, it seems his body has been through a lot, though; best to get some food in him and help him strengthen up before we start asking any invasive questions," Mina said as she washed her hands.
"Guess this means I'll be letting the others know we have a dinner guest tonight," Skinner tried to joke, but it held no actual amusement behind it, only pity.
"Good, I'll stay with him, and perhaps we could bring dinner in here, he can meet all of us, and perhaps one of the others will be able to pick up on more from him," Mina said, not even looking up from her task, though the look on her face showed she was deeply in thought.
With a nod and spin of his trenchcoat, Skinner went down the hall to collect his other friends.
Based on an RP with a very awesome friend of mine, well, mostly, I did take some liberties later down the line...