Author's note: Thanks for all the reviews! This is kind of like my favourite chapter so far, but I am really interested as to what you all think of it. If there are any criticisms, please do not hesitate to tell me as I can use them to improve my writing. Thanks a lot! P.S it seems that there's something wrong with ff.net as this chapter did not turn up for some reason. So I am sorry for the delay as I went to Thailand.

Chapter 6

She turned her gaze to Tom, who was rapidly pressing all the buttons on the remote control. The quick changing of scenes as screen after screen of different coloured backgrounds flashed by made Mina feel slightly giddy. Closing her eyes, she sat down on one of the soft sofas and leaned back slightly. Her hand went into her pocket and instinctively grasped the note from the villain tightly. She wondered what to do. Mina knew that they were lucky to get help from Joan, but there was something about her that she just could not trust. It was probably due to her odd mannerisms and unlady-like manner.

Or perhaps she was just being overly paranoid. After being betrayed by Dorian, the man whom she trusted and even loved, Mina refused to admit new members the moment she became leader of the group. Going through thick and thin together, the League had bonded to become a rather close knit group and she did not want to see the bond destroyed by an inexperienced newcomer who could very well be a traitor too.

Her head was throbbing pretty badly, but she had no intention of letting anyone, especially that Joan girl, know. She was not as weak as Jekyll, who seemed to permanently have a look that screamed, "Please hug me!"

Mina knew that she was not treating Jekyll very fairly. It must be hard to hang on to your sanity with two very different personalities warring within you. The doctor was not a bad person, but it was that look of vulnerability about him that made her secretly hold him in contempt. He could at least try to act like a man. Although he was usually a perfect gentleman, he always looked sickly and whimpered quite a lot. However, Mina did not rebut the fact that despite these faults, Jekyll was also a rather brave man as he had risked his life countless of times to save the League before.

But she acknowledged that Hyde was a much more useful and effective member of the League. His brute force and thick skin were usually critical in winning hand-to-hand combat against the villains. Jekyll seemed to serve only two purposes, housing that immense and destructive alter-ego which is Hyde, and to continue making the elixir that enables him to come out. Even though he was intelligent and somewhat a genius at chemistry, the League also has Mina to do these things and she believed that she was no less capable than the doctor.

Out of the whole League, Mina personally believed that Jekyll, by himself, was the most useless.

***

They walked in silence for a while, going through the long passages of the house. The floor was carpeted in blue, with little flower patterns. Their feet made no sound at all as they walked. The walls was bare, with only vertical lines of red and orange to decorate them. Joan suddenly spoke, breaking the monotonous silence. "Pretty boring and huge place, isn't it? Well, I guess you're probably thinking where my parents are, right?"

Without waiting for an answer from Jekyll, she continued, "My mum and dad have both passed away in a car accident just a few months ago. As a result, this house was given to us kids. I'm the eldest, and since I'm old enough, I get to become my siblings' legal guardians. My other sister is the same age as me but I was first. My brother is the youngest and is now fifteen. My parents were very rich, that's why we own such a big house. But they had the blinking misconception that money and wealth were the only things worthwhile in this world. How superficial. It seems odd that people try to store up treasures in this world when they can't take any of it when they die. As a result, my parents were always working, and left me, my sis and bro to our own devices. They thought that giving us whatever we wanted was the right way to bring us up. Luckily we had each other to support and guide us, although there were occasionally some lapses in good judgement. I think without my siblings, I would have turned out to be a delinquent."

The doctor did not know what to say. It seemed odd to him that a woman whom he had barely known for a day was telling him all this. Of course, he WAS wondering where her parents were, but not in detail about how they treated her and what their philosophies were about. What Joan had said was the kind of answer he would have expected her to tell a very close friend, not a casual acquaintance.

She turned her head to look at him, pushing away a few stray wisps of brown hair that had fallen over her eyes. "Could you tell me which timeline you all came from?"

Jekyll thought through his answer. It seemed like a harmless question and so he answered, "Oh, a-around the early twentieth century."

Joan nodded.

There was a slight pause, in which Jekyll could tell that Joan was deliberating her next question. "I see. Erm… well, I don't really know you at all. Since I've told you something about myself, why don't you tell me a little about yourself?"  

Jekyll sincerely hoped that Joan was not trying to pump information from him. "M-myself?"

"Yeah, I mean… did you really exist a century ago?"

Confusion was etched all over Jekyll's face. "But…Miss Joan, if I did not exist, I would not be here at all."

"Oh, I refer to the fact that all of you came from fictional books, except for, what's his name again, oh yeah, Rodney. But he stole the formula from Hawley Griffin, who is also a storybook character."

Jekyll thought for a while. "Yes, we all did exist b-back then. I have no idea how we ended up as storybook c-characters though." He shuddered at the thought of Joan knowing that he once enjoyed being Hyde, and that he wanted to be evil and free when he was tired of the confines of Jekyll. It was really lucky that Joan had not read the book about him though. He could just imagine her disgust towards him if she read it. Her knowledge of the rest of the League seemed very accurate.

"Hmmm… Anyway, could you tell me how did you become a member of this…this interesting group of characters?"

The doctor started, and then quickly contemplated what to tell her.

Careful now, Jekyll… you wouldn't want the girl to find out more about you than necessary, right?

Oh be quiet, Hyde! I am not stupid and won't tell her anything vital.

Hyde snorted. That's what you think.

Jekyll gritted his teeth forcefully before composing himself.  "I a-am but a doctor, or a chemist if you will. I am not as special as the rest. My specialities do not go beyond the scope of chemistry and the sciences."

Joan laughed disbelievingly. "Hey, don't try to kid me. I-"

Jekyll interrupted her suddenly. "I beg your pardon, Miss Joan, but could you kindly please explain what you mean by 'kid'? From your manner of speaking, I do not think you mean children, right?"

"What? Oh…erm… 'kid' in my context means… uh… 'bluff'. Yeah, something like that. Do you understand?"

"Bluff?" The doctor was still hopelessly muddled.

"Gah!!! I hate English! It means…umm… darn it, I can't remember. Wait, I get it, it's deceive. Yeah, 'kid' in my context mean deceive! Do you get it now?"

"Oh, I see," Jekyll said, finally realising what she meant. He seriously doubted that he would be able to understand what people in this century were talking about if they all spoke like that. They may be speaking in English, but their words and sentences were so hopelessly twisted and changed that it was impossible to fully comprehend their speech. It was a stroke of luck that the language had not changed so much to the extent that it was TOTALLY impossible for people from the past to understand it.

"Anyway, going back to the topic, I'm not that stupid. There are surely plenty of chemists or doctors or whatever back in YOUR era. Why did they choose you? Surely you must have some superhuman abilities or something right?"

"Uh… Well, I was considered to be a genius or a prodigy…"

"Really? Like Einstein?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Ummm…Never mind, let's carry on, shall we? I would like to ask you, if you're a genius, then why are you not the main chemist? Shouldn't it be Mina helping you and not the other way around? She may be a certified chemist, but surely that can't beat the brilliance of a genius right?"

Jekyll coughed. "W-well… she is brilliant too, in her own right."

Suddenly, he became aware of a distinct dry chuckle coming from the back. He whipped around instinctively, one hand still holding up his tattered trousers, the other gripping his last remaining elixir concealed in his pocket. But there was no one in the deserted corridor behind him. The chuckle ended abruptly. Jekyll was confused. He knew that he really HAD heard the chuckle, and that it sounded very familiar, but then… if someone was following them, how come he could not see whoever it was? Unless…  Oh god…

"What is it, Henry?"

With a great effort, Jekyll turned back to face Joan. "Oh, forgive me. I thought I heard someone behind us. C-Clearly I was wrong. Please, continue."

Joan squinted at the space behind them for a while, but then she shrugged and carried on walking. She continued chatting, but Jekyll was no longer listening. He lagged slightly behind, head bowed and feeling very preoccupied.

Skinner…he must be following us. There is no other explanation. It was his chuckle I heard… no wonder it sounded so familiar.

Hyde sneered in his head. It took you long enough to realise that, you dumbbell. I knew he was coming along ever since we started walking with Joan. His footsteps may be soft, but I can still hear them.

Jekyll sighed in frustration. Then why did you not tell me??

I just wanted to see how long it was going to take for you to smell out the pungent odour of distrust.

What do you mean by that, Hyde? Jekyll shot back angrily, although in his heart he knew and dreaded the answer.

Isn't it painfully obvious? Must I explain everything that is going on in detail to you, you pathetic little creature? The League, or should I say Mina, does not trust you to look after yourself and to keep important secrets. I bet she is scared that poor, gentlemanly and wimpy Jekyll is going to spill the beans on them.

Jekyll flushed. You have no proof on this matter. Take that back!

Why do you think Skinner is following you around like a bloodhound after its prey? Do you really think that he's the sort of person to personally care about where you are going with Joan? Mina must have ordered him to do so. He would not follow you unless being ordered and you know it! Do not try to deny it.

Silence.

So… after all this time…they still do not trust me at all. He felt cheated, angry and hurt. He did not want to believe it, but what other excuses are there?

But why? I can be trusted.  I am a good man, a good man!

A good man? I laugh… you are still as pathetic as you were when you first said those lines. Do you remember? It was on our first trip aboard the Nautilus…A good man indeed… ha, you are nothing without me, your so-called evil side. Are you so deluded as to believe that being 'good' is worthwhile and important? Not in this League. Sure, we fight for "good", we fight for the "righteous", but are all of us truly angelic on the inside? We all have our demons and evil within us…what the League only cares about is our capabilities, not our 'goodness'. This is why I am so much more valuable than you. You, by yourself, are so worthless. 

I AM capable. I am not weak…

That is what you so like to perceive yourself as, dear doctor. But do the others think so? Darling Mina must be thinking you are teetering on the brink of insanity, what with all your sudden outbursts of anger. You want her… but do you really think she wants you? When she looks at you, her eyes are always cold and hard, lips pursed in a disapproving line…

You lie. Beads of sweat were breaking out again all over his forehead. She has smiled at me before.

Once.

Not only once. It was more than that.

You are such a fool. All those other times that she smiled was actually at me, not you. She smiles at what I do, after I had done some big heroic thing to save all our lives. It is me, not you that she notices. The one time that Mina ever smiled at YOU was only because it was polite to do so. You were being ever so gentlemanly to her, it would be rude of her not to return it with at least a tiny bit of warmth. That is all she gave, and you are happy with that?

Liar!

She does not want you, she does not need you. You are nothing compared to the traitor Dorian. He has done all those things which you so long to do to Mina… kissing her passionately, running his fingers through her long silky hair, perhaps even going to bed…

Stop it!!

Is the truth too much for you? She has experienced more demons than you can imagine. Why would she like someone like you? She needs a real man, someone whom she can relate to, someone whom she can depend on… someone like me!

Liar. Jekyll repeated it feverishly, shaking his head, refusing to believe what Hyde had just told him.

Let me out…let me out now. I can make it all go away. I can make all your inner turmoil and anger disappear like a puff of smoke… go on, drink the potion…

The doctor's free hand went slowly into his pocket again.

Control yourself, Jekyll! Do not expose yourself needlessly!

His fingers slid over the smooth surface of the vial.

Go on…let me out. I can give you what you desire and you know it.

The fingers tightened around the tube.

NO! Joan cannot see this monstrosity of mine!

The movement of his hand stopped.

You will do it! It is my will, not yours that count! Who cares about that silly little wretch anyway? If anything happens to her, it serves her right for poking her nose into our business!

Why are all of you so cruel and inhuman? She is a person too, not some kind of soulless helper that can be tossed aside the moment she has served her purpose!

Your big heart has always gotten you into trouble, you stupid piece of shit! Can't you ever realise that? Enough of this useless talk, I want to get out, NOW!!

Against his will, Jekyll felt his hand pulling the sparkling vial out of the confines of his pocket.

I cannot do this!

Do it! Now!

His eyes gazed hungrily at the brilliant blood red colour of the elixir in his hand.

I can't…

Do it, or I will MAKE you!