There was something comforting about the way the sunlight streamed in through the window. It lit up the carpeting on the floor just right, just so that Marie and Gordie could see that the floor was intact. There were no openings, no tunnels or pitfalls, no way they could be reached and pulled down into the dank, dark hell they had once lived. It was comforting, and helped when they were curled up on the floor with their arms about each other, clinging to each other for support.
"How many...?" Marie asked after one of the long silences that had peppered their conversation.
"Many..."
Gordie had been the next oldest, after her and Percy. He had been only a year younger than Percy, in point of fact, which was a bit of a good thing. It put him on something like an equal footing with her, meant that she could talk to him almost as an adult... albeit an adult who knew exactly what her terrors and fears were, having experienced them himself. If it had been one of the others she would have been put in the position of protector once again, and that would have been very hard.
"Who?"
"Katherine Stoker and him... uh... the baby. Jules. Herb and his parents..."
Marie shuddered. She had been present for the birth of the baby, whose name she was also ashamed not to remember. It had been just before the League had rescued them all...
"How..." she didn't ask the next question, but Gordie knew it nonetheless.
"They had their heads up... on pikes. On..." The image was conveyed with the words, and both of them shuddered violently and hugged each other tighter.
"What are we going to do?" Gordie asked after a little while. Marie took a deep breath and began to stroke his hair, as Henry had done for her, as Mina had done those first few, strange years.
"They'll protect us," she said, not bothering to put a brave face on it since Gordie would know anyway if she did. "If we all stay close, they'll protect us. They're good at that." She thought of Henry, and the secret power he held in the form of Edward Hyde. She thought of Nemo's quiet
intensity, his ferocity when it came to defending that which he loved. She thought of Mina's own inner beast, the power that she was too responsible to unleash recklessly. She thought of Tom, and his new friend Huck, and their easy-going steadfastness. She thought of Skinner and his quiet, protective presence, how she always felt safer when he was there, whether she could see him or not. She thought of all of them, wrapped herself and Gordie in the reassuring warm feelings they gave her, and hoped it would help. It seemed to. Gordie stopped shaking, anyway, and started to calm down.
Now she could calm down, as well. Now that he wasn't telling her horrible things about their friends, she could pretend it was all going to go away, and that her League would come and protect them both.
"Will they really?" Gordie asked. He didn't remember much about the League, having been hospitalized immediately after they had been rescued from the catacombs and then placed not long after.
Marie nodded. "They will." Her perfect love and perfect trust in them translated through her words, settling around Gordie like a warm blanket. For a little while, everything was all right again.
"Do you think they can?"
Marie's mind frowned even as she tried to think of the right words for this particular question. Her mouth moved without her consent. "They're all very powerful in their own right. They all have their own gifts, like the Monsters, but they use them for better purposes. And they don't try to..." Her mouth balked at the phrase, but her mind conveyed it anyway. Both of them shuddered.
"What powers?"
Marie tried to explain. "Henry is very strong, but he doesn't want to be. He doesn't want to be mean either, or nasty, or not care about people. So he has someone else inside him do all that stuff for him, a man called Ned Hyde. He's very big and very mean, but he's never mean to me. Henry won't let him." As she spoke her words painted pictures in both of their minds, and Gordie shivered at the image of Hyde.
"What else?"
"Nemo's very smart. He's the most intelligent man in the world. He builds things, wonderful things. He built many of the things in this building. And he's very practical, but he loves everything very much. He doesn't want to hurt people and he doesn't want people to get hurt, but he isn't
afraid of protecting the people he really loves."
Gordie was quiet for a second. "And Percy?"
Marie just smiled. After a bit, Gordie smiled too, sharing the secret.
"Mina... she knows what it's like to be scared, and she knows what it's like not to want to be scared. She loves us all, and she'll fight for all of us. Tom... he has a new friend Huck..." her mind painted the picture for Gordie, so that he would know they weren't just friends. "Or I think it's
an old friend, but he's new to me... they're just ordinary people. With guns. They know what's right and what's wrong and they'll help us because they love us and they want to make us happy. They want everyone to be happy."
"Rodney..." she frowned. "Rodney is complicated. He's invisible, which means he can go anywhere without Above-people seeing him. It won't help with the Monsters. But... he's a good person. He'll do anything to make sure we're all safe... Me and the League and you and everyone. But he's very sad... because he's very lonely. People up here put a lot of store by what they can see, and since they can't see him, they don't care about him."
Gordie frowned. "But what about ..." touching and smelling and hearing and tasting and thinking? Marie could hear it in his voice.
It was oddly nice to be with someone from her childhood, one of her old clutch. But it also reminded her of what she was, things she almost would rather have forgotten. The League... humans all, except perhaps for Mina... they were so limited. So dependent on certain senses, if blinded and deafened they would be helpless.
And yet she had almost forgotten that, living with them as she had. First with Mina and then, when the demands put upon her from the League had grown too great and Henry had expressed increasing desire to settle down, with Henry. Marie herself had never been permitted to accompany them on missions, or even indeed to know much about what the League did. Even now, when the mission primarily concerned her clutch and their captors, they had left her behind. They didn't know the half of what she could do, and were always surprised when she seemed to know things, like when Skinner was in the room, or whether or not Tom was armed.
Bred to be the strongest, the most talented, Gordie and Percy and Marie saw the world in very different ways than their surrogate families. Bred of non-humans, or preter-humans, there was always that faint reminder that they were different from everyone else around them. Marie had almost been able to forget, even with the occasional visits from Percy. It was both a blessing and a curse that Gordie's now-constant presence reminded her.
She sighed. "They haven't yet learned how to... be aware of their other senses. They're still..." she trailed off, her voice down to almost a whisper. "It makes life for Rodney very hard..."
Gordie's eyes narrowed at her, as though he saw something in her face or heard something in her tone that she had missed. But all he asked was. "So, how does he smell?"
She giggled. "Spicy... like cinnamon and nutmeg." Gordie giggled too. .
"Marie..." his face grew serious again. "If they don't understand... if they haven't even noticed you... how can they help? How can they..." he winced, and avoided the subject.
"They're collecting people to help them understand. They're really quite clever, in their own way. And they have powers, too. They're not without their own resources. Ned..." she made a face. "Edward. Henry prefers me not to be too familiar... he can see things, smell things, hear things like we do. It'll be enough."
"But... what if it's not enough? We're going to have to tell them, eventually."
Marie shook her head, violently, denying it. "We can't. We can't tell them. Telling them will make it real, it'll make them find us. They can't find us."
"But Marie..." Gordie took a deep breath. "They've already found us."
"I know..." she murmured, trying not to think about it, although the memory started to choke her and overwhelm her. "I know."
She shuddered, and this time he hugged her, tightly, rocking them both back and forth in the sun until the shaking passed. Gordie stroked her hair, trying not to think about it, trying not to remind her of those days they all hoped were long past them. Marie sat, huddled, and stared out the window at the impossibly bright day. They weren't being forced back underground. Not yet, anyway.
"So... who's this Edward person?" Gordie said finally. "I don't remember any Edward ..."
Marie sat up a little, smiling slightly. "Henry tries to keep him from me," she started, "He thinks I'll get hurt. Really, Edward's quite nice. He doesn't like to bother with any of the fancy manners ... that's what he calls them, fancy manners... or polite ways that Henry likes. And he can be very mean. But he's just angry a lot... and he's very big, bigger than any of ... any of them. If it comes down to a fight, he'll be the one to hide behind."
"Because he can see and smell and hear them?"
She nodded. "And because he's the only one out of all of them... even Mina... who knows what has to be done."
Marie was still thinking about Gordie's words long after fallen asleep on her bed and she'd been summoned down to a late night conference with Mina, Mycroft, and Orlando. There was a copious amount of brandy, most of which seemed to have been consumed by Mycroft, and someone had laid out sandwiches. Not, Marie was thankful to see, the lady-like cucumber or cress or something equally light sandwiches Henry insisted on making for her, but good and
hearty sandwiches with meat, cheese, and other forms of solid, non leafy food. Mina's influence, most likely. Marie had never eaten like a lady when under her auspices and roof, but she had always eaten well.
"How is Gordie?" was the first thing that Mina asked, although her face was completely impassive and registered no emotion of any kind. Marie still could feel the waves of concern coming off of her.
"Sleeping..." she said, curling up on a stool next to the woman and wolfing down a sandwich as though she hadn't eaten in weeks.
"Is he all right?" Mycroft rumbled. Marie delicately wiped her fingers and face with a napkin and replaced it on the tray in place of the sandwich.
"He's terrified," she said simply, and not for the first time she wished they were as receptive to the pictures in her mind as the rest of her friends and family. "Our brothers and sisters are dying, and the creatures we thought would never find us again, have. But it's all right. I told him we would protect him."
Orlando looked a little confused. Mina must not have told them about Marie and the others. Then again, even Marie hadn't really told the League every little thing about her and the others. "We?" Mycroft asked sharply, probably wondering if the new people were included.
"Mina, and Henry, and everyone..." Marie tucked her feet under her skirts and assumed a more ladylike pose, even though Henry wasn't there, because she knew he would appreciate it.
"Oh." He was silent for a second and then, leaning forward and putting on what Marie suspected was a patronizing expression, he patted her hand. "Marie, are you sure you wouldn't like to tell us what happened? We can help you a lot better... all of you... if we know exactly..."
She shook her head. The words were in his mind before he spoke them, and she knew what he was going to say. "Don't!" she yelped, more sharply than she meant to. "Don't ask me. You can't ask me, and I can't tell you. If I tell you..."
Everyone was staring at her. She swallowed, hard.
"They'll hear me... If I talk about them, they'll hear me. They..." she took a deep breath. "They're not like you. They're more like... like Rodney. Or Mina. Or Ned..."
"Ned?" Mycroft frowned. Mina threw him a glance that had a good deal of significance behind it, and although his eyes widened he didn't ask further.
""Edward..." Marie corrected herself. They liked it when she called him Edward, she reminded herself. She'd told Gordie not a few hours ago. "They have... specialties. Powers... it doesn't do to talk about them, because they can hear you from miles away. Especially the fear. When you're scared, you're... louder." Her hands sketched frustrated pictures in the air, as though she could put the thoughts into their heads through making designs with her hands. Orlando and Mycroft frowned, but Mina...
"Marie... are you saying they can read your thoughts?"
She shook her head slowly. They were all so caught up in seeing... it wasn't a good way to describe it. "They ... not read. Not exactly. But they know thoughts, and feelings. More feelings than thoughts, really. And if we think about them too much..." she shuddered, and tried to put any other thoughts into her head besides the memories of Underground. Thoughts of the League. She would protect herself with thoughts of her new family. She felt Mina's arms slide around her, pulling her close, then Orlando knelt beside them both.
"Well, that's a fine mess," Mycroft hemmed, clearly uncomfortable with the display of emotion. "So ... what are we to do then? Marie, are you sure you won't..."
"I understand something about this sort of thing, Mycroft," Mina said calmly. "It would likely be better for her.. for all of us... not to say anything."
Mycroft grumbled, but eventually he did subside. Marie took advantage of the moment to look up at Mina. "Is there any word from the Nautilus?"
Mina chuckled indulgently. "Nothing beyond the regular reports. They've collected their scientists without mishap so far, which means they should be home in another ten days. Then you'll have Percy all to yourself for a little while."
Marie nodded. It wasn't as reassuring as it should have been, though.
Orlando stroked her hair. "You've survived this long, cherie," she said in perfect but antiquated French, which made Marie stare, "You'll survive worse. That which does not kill you makes you stronger. Trust me... I know."
Mina frowned thoughtfully, and something seemed to pass from one woman to the other, but Marie didn't catch it.
"Do you think we can expect more children to show up at our doorstep?" Mina asked, returning to her chair, business like once again.
"I don't know. Possibly, if the others can get away. Gordie said at least three others were dead..." she shook her head, swallowing hard, thinking of what would become of them. No... she couldn't think about that. "It's very likely that ... we're the only survivors."
Silence met that statement, and for a long moment the only movement in the room was the slow puffing of smoke from Mycroft's pipe.
"But..." he said finally, and his voice sounded more gravely than usual. "There were dozens of children. Thirty, forty at least."
"And there are hundreds of them!" Marie slapped her hand on the arm of Mina's chair, making the other three jump. "They've spread out from the catacombs... they've gone beyond Paris. They've made it across the Atlantic. They're everywhere. They've spread everywhere, and they can find each one of us and hunt us down and kill us..." her voice choked off as her mind rebelled, shutting itself down in self-defense so they wouldn't hear her panic and find her. More importantly, so they wouldn't find Mina, or Orlando. Or any... god... Any of the children sleeping peacefully upstairs. Orlando's arms closed about her sympathetically; she permitted the embrace, although she suddenly wished for one of her clutch to be with her, someone who would have understood.
"But... why are they after you?" Mina frowned, trying to be gentle. "What is it about you and Percy that is so special?"
Marie could only shake her head, holding the memories of Skinner and Hyde in the front of her mind like a shield.
Orlando sighed. "Marie, why don't you go to bed... we'll discuss what's to be done and see what you think in the morning, all right?" Marie started to shake her head, but the older woman was surprisingly firm. "Come on... it'll all look better in the morning. It always does."
Under protest, the girl allowed them to lead her upstairs and to one of the guest rooms. She allowed Mina and Orlando to help her into her nightgown, tuck her in, and kiss her goodnight. Mina hovered in the doorway, watching Marie go through her usual evening routine: a hundred strokes of the brush through her hair, a brief splash of water over the face, the prayer Henry had taught her. Finally Mina returned downstairs to the others. Marie waited until she was sure they wouldn't hear her, then took the candle and crept into her own room, where Gordie was sleeping.
Sleepily, he moved over in the bed and made room for her. They slept, huddled in each other's arms, as they had done so many years ago.
Charlotte Pitt sighed as she wended her way through the corridors and desk clerks at Special Branch. Years of marriage to a skilled and rapidly rising policeman had taught her, over time, how to deal with the bureaucracy of the London police force. But when he had finally been permanently moved over to Special Branch...
She sighed. She'd never really gotten the hang of dealing with the insular silence of the unit.
Gracie, on the other hand, seemed almost in her element. She asked no questions except the very specific, very blunt ones she wanted answers. And she would not stop until she got those answers, no matter who she had to yell at to do it. With her tiny figure and gentle appearance, no one expected her to push herself forward with any amount of ferocity. Charlotte privately thought that they were admitted more due to the sheer surprise of the desk clerk rather than any real right to be there.
The same trick wouldn't work with Narraway. He had been dealing with Pitt, Tellman, and their wives for over ten years now. In fact, when he didn't look up at their entrance, Charlotte got the distinct impression that he had been waiting for them.
"What is it this time?" he asked, in a perfectly blunt and almost bored tone of voice.
"It's about the orphanage." Gracie, a little relieved by the man's bluntness, saw no reason to bandy words about herself. "We think it needs more protection than it's got."
Narraway did look up at that, and blinked. "The orphanage has the protection of the League, and all their... singular talents. I'm sure that your husbands have told you all about it, even though they weren't supposed to."
Charlotte and Gracie exchanged a guilty look.
"All of the abductions have been occurring far from the district... really, far from the city. There's been no suspicious activity for miles. What could the orphanage need more protection from?"
"There was... an incident the other night." Charlotte wasn't sure, really, what to call it. But when she had stopped by early yesterday morning with the increased need to do something, anything to help... "One of the children..."
Narraway pulled chairs out from along the wall, his face registering the sinking feeling that it was going to be a long story. "Here... have a seat, why don't you..."
"Thank you..." They all sat down, and Charlotte took a breath. "Are you familiar with the facts of the case that brought Marie Harker to her foster mother's doorstep...?"
Narraway nodded. "The abductions in Paris, yes, and the subsequent rescue of thirty seven children from the catacombs. I'm familiar."
"One of those children arrived at the orphanage the other evening. He was in considerable distress... although he himself was not wounded, he told Mrs. Harker and the rest of the folk at the orphanage that several of the other children were dead. That they, in fact, were the most likely target once ... all of the other children were killed."
Narraway's expression didn't change.
"So..." Gracie said when no one responded for several minutes. "We come to find out what you mean to do about it."
Narraway sighed. "Frankly, Mrs. Pitt, Mrs. Tellman... Special Branch feels there isn't much we can do."
"What?" Gracie, in her outrage, shot straight to her feet.
"Calm down, Mrs. Tellman. It's got nothing to do with me, for one thing. Or, really, anyone in Special Branch."
Now Charlotte was just confused. "Excuse me?"
Narraway sighed and seemed to slump in his chair in a posture of defeat. It made Charlotte very nervous, especially since they hadn't asked him for anything more than he could give. "The initial investigation alone uncovered reports of a widespread organization, coherent enough to carry out abductions and hold children in as many as ten cities. Worse, some reports that will never see the light of day outside this room..." He glared at each of the women in turn as if to intimidate them into compliance. "Have indicated that these abductors are... well. Something outside the natural realm of what we are prepared to deal with."
Charlotte thought back to what she knew of the League, what Mina had told her of the most recent group of enemies. Her mind conjured up hideous pictures for her, of what could be lurking under the streets, in the Thames, just out of sight, waiting to snatch her, or Jemima, or Daniel up at the least likely moment...
"It's not likely," Narraway said, more gently, as if he knew what they were thinking. "But it's also not likely that increased patrols will be able to do anything. We're keepers of the peace, protectors of the public good. We're not the sorts of people that the League is."
"There's got to be something you can do," Gracie insisted. "More men on the streets. The army?"
Narraway chuckled wryly. "We don't control the army, Mrs. Tellman. If we did, there might be a great deal less trouble from the Fenians, for one." He sighed heavily. "I'll see what I can do, but I make no promises. The Nautilus is supposed to return to port in one week. They'll have the protection of the entire League, then."
Charlotte nodded and stood, sensing that the interview was at an end. "You will at least increase the patrols?" she pressed. "Put more men on the streets." Something to keep the children from ... she couldn't even think it.
Narraway nodded slowly. "I'll see what I can do. Really, you might want to think about speaking to Mrs. Harker about moving the children in the orphanage to a different facility, at least for the time being. They'd be a lot safer away from ..." he didn't finish, but both women knew what he was talking about. Gracie nodded slowly, looking determined. Charlotte suddenly didn't look forward to that argument.
"We'll speak with them," Gracie promised, although it sounded a little more like a threat.
"Thank you for your time," Charlotte said, smiling.
"Of course" Narraway's tone was ironic, knowing full well that if he hadn't told the two women what they wanted to know they would have found out some other, possibly less careful way. He sighed again, and slumped back into his chair as they left.
"How many...?" Marie asked after one of the long silences that had peppered their conversation.
"Many..."
Gordie had been the next oldest, after her and Percy. He had been only a year younger than Percy, in point of fact, which was a bit of a good thing. It put him on something like an equal footing with her, meant that she could talk to him almost as an adult... albeit an adult who knew exactly what her terrors and fears were, having experienced them himself. If it had been one of the others she would have been put in the position of protector once again, and that would have been very hard.
"Who?"
"Katherine Stoker and him... uh... the baby. Jules. Herb and his parents..."
Marie shuddered. She had been present for the birth of the baby, whose name she was also ashamed not to remember. It had been just before the League had rescued them all...
"How..." she didn't ask the next question, but Gordie knew it nonetheless.
"They had their heads up... on pikes. On..." The image was conveyed with the words, and both of them shuddered violently and hugged each other tighter.
"What are we going to do?" Gordie asked after a little while. Marie took a deep breath and began to stroke his hair, as Henry had done for her, as Mina had done those first few, strange years.
"They'll protect us," she said, not bothering to put a brave face on it since Gordie would know anyway if she did. "If we all stay close, they'll protect us. They're good at that." She thought of Henry, and the secret power he held in the form of Edward Hyde. She thought of Nemo's quiet
intensity, his ferocity when it came to defending that which he loved. She thought of Mina's own inner beast, the power that she was too responsible to unleash recklessly. She thought of Tom, and his new friend Huck, and their easy-going steadfastness. She thought of Skinner and his quiet, protective presence, how she always felt safer when he was there, whether she could see him or not. She thought of all of them, wrapped herself and Gordie in the reassuring warm feelings they gave her, and hoped it would help. It seemed to. Gordie stopped shaking, anyway, and started to calm down.
Now she could calm down, as well. Now that he wasn't telling her horrible things about their friends, she could pretend it was all going to go away, and that her League would come and protect them both.
"Will they really?" Gordie asked. He didn't remember much about the League, having been hospitalized immediately after they had been rescued from the catacombs and then placed not long after.
Marie nodded. "They will." Her perfect love and perfect trust in them translated through her words, settling around Gordie like a warm blanket. For a little while, everything was all right again.
"Do you think they can?"
Marie's mind frowned even as she tried to think of the right words for this particular question. Her mouth moved without her consent. "They're all very powerful in their own right. They all have their own gifts, like the Monsters, but they use them for better purposes. And they don't try to..." Her mouth balked at the phrase, but her mind conveyed it anyway. Both of them shuddered.
"What powers?"
Marie tried to explain. "Henry is very strong, but he doesn't want to be. He doesn't want to be mean either, or nasty, or not care about people. So he has someone else inside him do all that stuff for him, a man called Ned Hyde. He's very big and very mean, but he's never mean to me. Henry won't let him." As she spoke her words painted pictures in both of their minds, and Gordie shivered at the image of Hyde.
"What else?"
"Nemo's very smart. He's the most intelligent man in the world. He builds things, wonderful things. He built many of the things in this building. And he's very practical, but he loves everything very much. He doesn't want to hurt people and he doesn't want people to get hurt, but he isn't
afraid of protecting the people he really loves."
Gordie was quiet for a second. "And Percy?"
Marie just smiled. After a bit, Gordie smiled too, sharing the secret.
"Mina... she knows what it's like to be scared, and she knows what it's like not to want to be scared. She loves us all, and she'll fight for all of us. Tom... he has a new friend Huck..." her mind painted the picture for Gordie, so that he would know they weren't just friends. "Or I think it's
an old friend, but he's new to me... they're just ordinary people. With guns. They know what's right and what's wrong and they'll help us because they love us and they want to make us happy. They want everyone to be happy."
"Rodney..." she frowned. "Rodney is complicated. He's invisible, which means he can go anywhere without Above-people seeing him. It won't help with the Monsters. But... he's a good person. He'll do anything to make sure we're all safe... Me and the League and you and everyone. But he's very sad... because he's very lonely. People up here put a lot of store by what they can see, and since they can't see him, they don't care about him."
Gordie frowned. "But what about ..." touching and smelling and hearing and tasting and thinking? Marie could hear it in his voice.
It was oddly nice to be with someone from her childhood, one of her old clutch. But it also reminded her of what she was, things she almost would rather have forgotten. The League... humans all, except perhaps for Mina... they were so limited. So dependent on certain senses, if blinded and deafened they would be helpless.
And yet she had almost forgotten that, living with them as she had. First with Mina and then, when the demands put upon her from the League had grown too great and Henry had expressed increasing desire to settle down, with Henry. Marie herself had never been permitted to accompany them on missions, or even indeed to know much about what the League did. Even now, when the mission primarily concerned her clutch and their captors, they had left her behind. They didn't know the half of what she could do, and were always surprised when she seemed to know things, like when Skinner was in the room, or whether or not Tom was armed.
Bred to be the strongest, the most talented, Gordie and Percy and Marie saw the world in very different ways than their surrogate families. Bred of non-humans, or preter-humans, there was always that faint reminder that they were different from everyone else around them. Marie had almost been able to forget, even with the occasional visits from Percy. It was both a blessing and a curse that Gordie's now-constant presence reminded her.
She sighed. "They haven't yet learned how to... be aware of their other senses. They're still..." she trailed off, her voice down to almost a whisper. "It makes life for Rodney very hard..."
Gordie's eyes narrowed at her, as though he saw something in her face or heard something in her tone that she had missed. But all he asked was. "So, how does he smell?"
She giggled. "Spicy... like cinnamon and nutmeg." Gordie giggled too. .
"Marie..." his face grew serious again. "If they don't understand... if they haven't even noticed you... how can they help? How can they..." he winced, and avoided the subject.
"They're collecting people to help them understand. They're really quite clever, in their own way. And they have powers, too. They're not without their own resources. Ned..." she made a face. "Edward. Henry prefers me not to be too familiar... he can see things, smell things, hear things like we do. It'll be enough."
"But... what if it's not enough? We're going to have to tell them, eventually."
Marie shook her head, violently, denying it. "We can't. We can't tell them. Telling them will make it real, it'll make them find us. They can't find us."
"But Marie..." Gordie took a deep breath. "They've already found us."
"I know..." she murmured, trying not to think about it, although the memory started to choke her and overwhelm her. "I know."
She shuddered, and this time he hugged her, tightly, rocking them both back and forth in the sun until the shaking passed. Gordie stroked her hair, trying not to think about it, trying not to remind her of those days they all hoped were long past them. Marie sat, huddled, and stared out the window at the impossibly bright day. They weren't being forced back underground. Not yet, anyway.
"So... who's this Edward person?" Gordie said finally. "I don't remember any Edward ..."
Marie sat up a little, smiling slightly. "Henry tries to keep him from me," she started, "He thinks I'll get hurt. Really, Edward's quite nice. He doesn't like to bother with any of the fancy manners ... that's what he calls them, fancy manners... or polite ways that Henry likes. And he can be very mean. But he's just angry a lot... and he's very big, bigger than any of ... any of them. If it comes down to a fight, he'll be the one to hide behind."
"Because he can see and smell and hear them?"
She nodded. "And because he's the only one out of all of them... even Mina... who knows what has to be done."
Marie was still thinking about Gordie's words long after fallen asleep on her bed and she'd been summoned down to a late night conference with Mina, Mycroft, and Orlando. There was a copious amount of brandy, most of which seemed to have been consumed by Mycroft, and someone had laid out sandwiches. Not, Marie was thankful to see, the lady-like cucumber or cress or something equally light sandwiches Henry insisted on making for her, but good and
hearty sandwiches with meat, cheese, and other forms of solid, non leafy food. Mina's influence, most likely. Marie had never eaten like a lady when under her auspices and roof, but she had always eaten well.
"How is Gordie?" was the first thing that Mina asked, although her face was completely impassive and registered no emotion of any kind. Marie still could feel the waves of concern coming off of her.
"Sleeping..." she said, curling up on a stool next to the woman and wolfing down a sandwich as though she hadn't eaten in weeks.
"Is he all right?" Mycroft rumbled. Marie delicately wiped her fingers and face with a napkin and replaced it on the tray in place of the sandwich.
"He's terrified," she said simply, and not for the first time she wished they were as receptive to the pictures in her mind as the rest of her friends and family. "Our brothers and sisters are dying, and the creatures we thought would never find us again, have. But it's all right. I told him we would protect him."
Orlando looked a little confused. Mina must not have told them about Marie and the others. Then again, even Marie hadn't really told the League every little thing about her and the others. "We?" Mycroft asked sharply, probably wondering if the new people were included.
"Mina, and Henry, and everyone..." Marie tucked her feet under her skirts and assumed a more ladylike pose, even though Henry wasn't there, because she knew he would appreciate it.
"Oh." He was silent for a second and then, leaning forward and putting on what Marie suspected was a patronizing expression, he patted her hand. "Marie, are you sure you wouldn't like to tell us what happened? We can help you a lot better... all of you... if we know exactly..."
She shook her head. The words were in his mind before he spoke them, and she knew what he was going to say. "Don't!" she yelped, more sharply than she meant to. "Don't ask me. You can't ask me, and I can't tell you. If I tell you..."
Everyone was staring at her. She swallowed, hard.
"They'll hear me... If I talk about them, they'll hear me. They..." she took a deep breath. "They're not like you. They're more like... like Rodney. Or Mina. Or Ned..."
"Ned?" Mycroft frowned. Mina threw him a glance that had a good deal of significance behind it, and although his eyes widened he didn't ask further.
""Edward..." Marie corrected herself. They liked it when she called him Edward, she reminded herself. She'd told Gordie not a few hours ago. "They have... specialties. Powers... it doesn't do to talk about them, because they can hear you from miles away. Especially the fear. When you're scared, you're... louder." Her hands sketched frustrated pictures in the air, as though she could put the thoughts into their heads through making designs with her hands. Orlando and Mycroft frowned, but Mina...
"Marie... are you saying they can read your thoughts?"
She shook her head slowly. They were all so caught up in seeing... it wasn't a good way to describe it. "They ... not read. Not exactly. But they know thoughts, and feelings. More feelings than thoughts, really. And if we think about them too much..." she shuddered, and tried to put any other thoughts into her head besides the memories of Underground. Thoughts of the League. She would protect herself with thoughts of her new family. She felt Mina's arms slide around her, pulling her close, then Orlando knelt beside them both.
"Well, that's a fine mess," Mycroft hemmed, clearly uncomfortable with the display of emotion. "So ... what are we to do then? Marie, are you sure you won't..."
"I understand something about this sort of thing, Mycroft," Mina said calmly. "It would likely be better for her.. for all of us... not to say anything."
Mycroft grumbled, but eventually he did subside. Marie took advantage of the moment to look up at Mina. "Is there any word from the Nautilus?"
Mina chuckled indulgently. "Nothing beyond the regular reports. They've collected their scientists without mishap so far, which means they should be home in another ten days. Then you'll have Percy all to yourself for a little while."
Marie nodded. It wasn't as reassuring as it should have been, though.
Orlando stroked her hair. "You've survived this long, cherie," she said in perfect but antiquated French, which made Marie stare, "You'll survive worse. That which does not kill you makes you stronger. Trust me... I know."
Mina frowned thoughtfully, and something seemed to pass from one woman to the other, but Marie didn't catch it.
"Do you think we can expect more children to show up at our doorstep?" Mina asked, returning to her chair, business like once again.
"I don't know. Possibly, if the others can get away. Gordie said at least three others were dead..." she shook her head, swallowing hard, thinking of what would become of them. No... she couldn't think about that. "It's very likely that ... we're the only survivors."
Silence met that statement, and for a long moment the only movement in the room was the slow puffing of smoke from Mycroft's pipe.
"But..." he said finally, and his voice sounded more gravely than usual. "There were dozens of children. Thirty, forty at least."
"And there are hundreds of them!" Marie slapped her hand on the arm of Mina's chair, making the other three jump. "They've spread out from the catacombs... they've gone beyond Paris. They've made it across the Atlantic. They're everywhere. They've spread everywhere, and they can find each one of us and hunt us down and kill us..." her voice choked off as her mind rebelled, shutting itself down in self-defense so they wouldn't hear her panic and find her. More importantly, so they wouldn't find Mina, or Orlando. Or any... god... Any of the children sleeping peacefully upstairs. Orlando's arms closed about her sympathetically; she permitted the embrace, although she suddenly wished for one of her clutch to be with her, someone who would have understood.
"But... why are they after you?" Mina frowned, trying to be gentle. "What is it about you and Percy that is so special?"
Marie could only shake her head, holding the memories of Skinner and Hyde in the front of her mind like a shield.
Orlando sighed. "Marie, why don't you go to bed... we'll discuss what's to be done and see what you think in the morning, all right?" Marie started to shake her head, but the older woman was surprisingly firm. "Come on... it'll all look better in the morning. It always does."
Under protest, the girl allowed them to lead her upstairs and to one of the guest rooms. She allowed Mina and Orlando to help her into her nightgown, tuck her in, and kiss her goodnight. Mina hovered in the doorway, watching Marie go through her usual evening routine: a hundred strokes of the brush through her hair, a brief splash of water over the face, the prayer Henry had taught her. Finally Mina returned downstairs to the others. Marie waited until she was sure they wouldn't hear her, then took the candle and crept into her own room, where Gordie was sleeping.
Sleepily, he moved over in the bed and made room for her. They slept, huddled in each other's arms, as they had done so many years ago.
Charlotte Pitt sighed as she wended her way through the corridors and desk clerks at Special Branch. Years of marriage to a skilled and rapidly rising policeman had taught her, over time, how to deal with the bureaucracy of the London police force. But when he had finally been permanently moved over to Special Branch...
She sighed. She'd never really gotten the hang of dealing with the insular silence of the unit.
Gracie, on the other hand, seemed almost in her element. She asked no questions except the very specific, very blunt ones she wanted answers. And she would not stop until she got those answers, no matter who she had to yell at to do it. With her tiny figure and gentle appearance, no one expected her to push herself forward with any amount of ferocity. Charlotte privately thought that they were admitted more due to the sheer surprise of the desk clerk rather than any real right to be there.
The same trick wouldn't work with Narraway. He had been dealing with Pitt, Tellman, and their wives for over ten years now. In fact, when he didn't look up at their entrance, Charlotte got the distinct impression that he had been waiting for them.
"What is it this time?" he asked, in a perfectly blunt and almost bored tone of voice.
"It's about the orphanage." Gracie, a little relieved by the man's bluntness, saw no reason to bandy words about herself. "We think it needs more protection than it's got."
Narraway did look up at that, and blinked. "The orphanage has the protection of the League, and all their... singular talents. I'm sure that your husbands have told you all about it, even though they weren't supposed to."
Charlotte and Gracie exchanged a guilty look.
"All of the abductions have been occurring far from the district... really, far from the city. There's been no suspicious activity for miles. What could the orphanage need more protection from?"
"There was... an incident the other night." Charlotte wasn't sure, really, what to call it. But when she had stopped by early yesterday morning with the increased need to do something, anything to help... "One of the children..."
Narraway pulled chairs out from along the wall, his face registering the sinking feeling that it was going to be a long story. "Here... have a seat, why don't you..."
"Thank you..." They all sat down, and Charlotte took a breath. "Are you familiar with the facts of the case that brought Marie Harker to her foster mother's doorstep...?"
Narraway nodded. "The abductions in Paris, yes, and the subsequent rescue of thirty seven children from the catacombs. I'm familiar."
"One of those children arrived at the orphanage the other evening. He was in considerable distress... although he himself was not wounded, he told Mrs. Harker and the rest of the folk at the orphanage that several of the other children were dead. That they, in fact, were the most likely target once ... all of the other children were killed."
Narraway's expression didn't change.
"So..." Gracie said when no one responded for several minutes. "We come to find out what you mean to do about it."
Narraway sighed. "Frankly, Mrs. Pitt, Mrs. Tellman... Special Branch feels there isn't much we can do."
"What?" Gracie, in her outrage, shot straight to her feet.
"Calm down, Mrs. Tellman. It's got nothing to do with me, for one thing. Or, really, anyone in Special Branch."
Now Charlotte was just confused. "Excuse me?"
Narraway sighed and seemed to slump in his chair in a posture of defeat. It made Charlotte very nervous, especially since they hadn't asked him for anything more than he could give. "The initial investigation alone uncovered reports of a widespread organization, coherent enough to carry out abductions and hold children in as many as ten cities. Worse, some reports that will never see the light of day outside this room..." He glared at each of the women in turn as if to intimidate them into compliance. "Have indicated that these abductors are... well. Something outside the natural realm of what we are prepared to deal with."
Charlotte thought back to what she knew of the League, what Mina had told her of the most recent group of enemies. Her mind conjured up hideous pictures for her, of what could be lurking under the streets, in the Thames, just out of sight, waiting to snatch her, or Jemima, or Daniel up at the least likely moment...
"It's not likely," Narraway said, more gently, as if he knew what they were thinking. "But it's also not likely that increased patrols will be able to do anything. We're keepers of the peace, protectors of the public good. We're not the sorts of people that the League is."
"There's got to be something you can do," Gracie insisted. "More men on the streets. The army?"
Narraway chuckled wryly. "We don't control the army, Mrs. Tellman. If we did, there might be a great deal less trouble from the Fenians, for one." He sighed heavily. "I'll see what I can do, but I make no promises. The Nautilus is supposed to return to port in one week. They'll have the protection of the entire League, then."
Charlotte nodded and stood, sensing that the interview was at an end. "You will at least increase the patrols?" she pressed. "Put more men on the streets." Something to keep the children from ... she couldn't even think it.
Narraway nodded slowly. "I'll see what I can do. Really, you might want to think about speaking to Mrs. Harker about moving the children in the orphanage to a different facility, at least for the time being. They'd be a lot safer away from ..." he didn't finish, but both women knew what he was talking about. Gracie nodded slowly, looking determined. Charlotte suddenly didn't look forward to that argument.
"We'll speak with them," Gracie promised, although it sounded a little more like a threat.
"Thank you for your time," Charlotte said, smiling.
"Of course" Narraway's tone was ironic, knowing full well that if he hadn't told the two women what they wanted to know they would have found out some other, possibly less careful way. He sighed again, and slumped back into his chair as they left.