A/N: Sorry again about the shortness of chapter 5, couldn't be helped... especially not since writer's block keeps giving me a poke with that horrible stick. *glares at writers' block* Grrr... stupid thing. Anyway, this part isn't as suspenseful as I would like, but it does further the plot. Bear with me :D Ah yes, character information is now up on my website (check out my bio), in the Fanfiction & OC section, towards the bottom. It has character biographies, and some photographs. Feel free to take a look, and don't forget to let me know what you think ;)
crystal: Younger daughter you say? Ah, yes, good Elizabeth... don't worry, she's coming...
Sethoz: Thanks for the -perhaps- unintentional idea, buddy!
Graymoon74: You are perfectly welcome. Where would I be without your feedback? I'll tell you... in a hole, frowning with a blanket wrapped around me, with a pen and paper, struggling for ideas... perhaps an extreme image, but... ah well. I'm glad you really like it, and as always, THANKS SO MUCH for your kind and generous words.
* * *
Mina sat with the men in the room they used frequently for gatherings and meals, and listened to Skinner prattle on about what Tom had missed in his short absence. The American himself simply listened, keeping very quiet, but smiling at Mina sporadically. She returned the gesture, and sipped the tea she had requested from Nemo, who shared a pot with her.
Jekyll had politely declined to drink, and he was looking rather pale and lethargic. Then again, it was closing on two in the morning now, and she was not entirely surprised that he soon stood, announcing he was going to retire to bed. He apologised, without need, and exited the room quietly.
Tom and Skinner sat opposite one another; both with a glass of scotch each, though the former had barely touched his. He seemed to have accepted it merely to be polite, which wasn't needed in the presence of Rodney Skinner, Mina knew. Skinner took odd gaps in his talking to sip at his alcoholic beverage, and before long -after many refills- he was slurring a little.
"Perhaps it's time you went to bed," Tom said to him eventually when Skinner successfully lost his train of thought four times in a row and restarted his story... that he had already told.
That man needs to try a cup of tea once in a while... he needs to realise that he doesn't have to burn the midnight oil with alcohol. Mina sighed, rolling her eyes discreetly behind full lashes, a slight turn of the head revealing the notion to Tom Sawyer only.
He did not react, and soon was watching Captain Nemo escort the invisible man mumbling from the room.
"Nah, I'm all right, honest! I jus' need a drink, that's all-"
"Now, now, Mr. Skinner, we've been over this several times before..." Nemo's voice faded away as they disappeared down the long corridor, and vanished around a bend.
Tom turned his attention back on Mina after observing his untouched measure of scotch, and said, "May I walk you to your room?"
Not like Tom to be so... prim and proper, she thought with a lifting of a delicate brow. She smiled nevertheless. Perhaps it is just the time away, back in service. He reminds me of the Tom Sawyer I met in Dorian's library all those months ago. Her smile grew, and she nodded. "Thank you. That's very kind."
He stood from the table, and waited for her to join him. She walked around to meet him, and they strode side by side from the room. He looked his usual self, dressed exactly how she remembered him, although without his Winchester close by he seemed slightly different somehow. She was just used to the rifle, she supposed. At least his revolvers were still present and visible, a reassuring sign.
Do I need reassurance? Mina cocked her head as she walked, ever so slightly so as not to alert Tom to her musings. There is something different about him... perhaps it is just the way he smells. For a moment it seemed like...
Was that the perfume of a woman she could smell? Mina turned her head to him, and subtlely closed the distance a fraction, taking a slight breath in to try and confirm her suspicions.
That is a woman... what has he been doing? She realised then it was none of her business, and tried to busy her mind with other things, failing rather spectacularly. Tom didn't seem the kind to go running off with women, not that she had ever suspected anything other than... now she was losing track. Where were they?
"Oh," she muttered, realising they were at her cabin, where she had left her door open ajar, carelessly, in her hurry to go out with the others and meet Tom. He stood before her now, green eyes searching her posture, as if trying to ascertain her thoughts.
She cleared her throat, and laughed lightly, embarrassed for her distraction on Tom and his proximity to another perfumed woman. "I hadn't even realised where we are. I was in a world of my own."
"I noticed," he replied with a nod, shaking his hair out of his face afterwards, for a moment looking annoyed with it. It had never bothered him before. "It's quite all right. I know the feeling sometimes, not quite sure who I am or even what I'm doing." He laughed.
Mina smiled and gave a light laugh as well, nodding again. "Well, if you will excuse me, Tom, it is quite late, and I should get some sleep. I expect I shall see you at the breakfast table?"
He didn't nod, simply said, "I should expect so, Mrs. Harker. Goodnight." Then he gave her a half-smile and walked away quietly, his footfalls soft and almost stealthy.
Mina watched him without realising, and when she noticed what she was doing, she shook her head, slipped into her room, and firmly closed and locked the door behind her before retiring to bed and peaceful welcoming slumber.
* * *
Gregory Wright, cynical though he was, watched Amelia Kendrick with a sense of bizarre optimism. He had faith in her abilities, and saw slow rhythmic breathing, the movement of her eyes behind their lids, and the slow smile that crept across her lined but beautiful face.
Gregory shared in the apparent pleasure; a slight grin forming on his own features, shortly before the thick door opened behind him, slowly, swinging closed almost silently. It was Juliana and Elizabeth Kendrick. The latter was almost always in her room honing her own abilities, which Gregory actually found quite formidable for a girl of her age. The young woman was just turned twenty-one, and what an attractive little being she was turning out to be. But Gregory knew better than to try and take advantage of the young lady... she was not to be underestimated.
Amelia spoke to them without opening her eyes, her voice distant and dreamy, "It is done... I am bringing him back now. He will be here shortly." She turned her head slightly in his direction. "Gregory... meet him at the door."
Gregory sighed loudly, and noted that Juliana and Elizabeth regarded with some measure of contempt. He knew very well they only kept him around so they could further their 'goals'. With a subtle roll of his eyes, he strode from the room, thinking to himself how easy it would be to simply leave and let them do what they liked with the American brat.
* * *
Elizabeth Kendrick sighed scornfully as Gregory left the room, and she glared after him icily, beyond irritated that she had to tolerate his presence. She was no great fan of men... in that she hated every single one of them on this godforsaken planet. If it were up to her, and if she had the right power and resources, she would exterminate every single one of them.
Perhaps her mother would allow her to take out some of her contempt on the American, whom she had only met once, briefly. Her mother had kept her concealed... apparently to save her talents for later, though Elizabeth could not comprehend why. Why was she such a secret? What was all the mask and mystery about in regards to her identity and abilities? All she wanted was a bit of fun... why wouldn't her mother let her have fun?
But as she stood there with her own thoughts, beside Juliana, her mind wandered back to her father, and she withheld the urge to scream, and the woman next to her noticed that the glass shades covering the lamps rattled and trembled, as if frightened.
* * *
He felt himself slowly returned to his own consciousness, and started to feel his own limbs responding to his mind once again, grateful for the small release at least. It was only then that he realised he had been chained as before, and that four people stood in front of him, not three. He recognised the newcomer, and was immediately wary. She stood between Juliana Shaw and Amelia Kendrick, the same black hair and ice blue eyes as the latter. This was her daughter, Elizabeth.
Her eyes did not waver from his face, and Tom suppressed a shudder.
Amelia held up an object with a sly smile, and chuckled lightly. It was a book, one he recognised... but how had she... then he realised how she had acquired it, and his heart sank.
You did it... you stole it. You let her control you, and she stole that from the Nautilus... from Mina.
"I suppose you recognise this, don't you, Agent Sawyer?" Amelia began quietly, and Tom had to strain to hear her. "You would be correct if you were just thinking that, whilst in control of your body and mind, I used you to collect this from Mina Harker's room... whilst she slept, I might add."
Tom glared. He hadn't even noticed... had she submerged him that much? He struggled against his chains futilely, and was surprised when the internal agony did not come.
Amelia tossed the book aside, having lost interest in it now. "A satisfactory test, I might add. I have no doubt further endeavours will succeed likewise."
"What do you want?" Tom asked immediately, and Juliana narrowed her eyes warningly. He ignored her, understanding what it might bring. Gregory cocked his head, and raised an eyebrow with intrigue. Elizabeth never changed her cold expression.
"Ah," Amelia breathed, seating herself in a wooden chair he could not remember seeing beforehand. "You still have not figured it out?"
"What is there to figure out?" he demanded, his patience far from lost. He was in pain, and he had just stolen something from Mina Harker, a dear friend of his. Tom had had enough of being used, and being ignorant as to why. He wanted answers, and he wanted them now. "What do you want with me? I won't betray the League."
"Oh, but you will," Amelia snapped, standing and walking over to him so quickly it startled him. Their gazes locked firmly as she continued; "There is little you can do to stop me from taking what is mine."
Elizabeth shifted slightly in the background, but remained silent.
"There are many things beyond your comprehension, Agent Sawyer," Amelia pressed on, the pain and rage in her own voice frightening enough in itself now. "There is much you do not know about your precious League... about your dear friends." She paused, staring at him with hatred and anger.
"Many years ago, I was married, and not happily. My husband, though I had once fallen in love with him, was a monster of a human being, and took great pleasure in beating the one thing I held dear in this world..." Her eyes floated to Elizabeth, who had visibly tensed. "He abused my daughter, though I tried to distract his attention and his fists onto myself as much as possible. Of course, this was not very often... luckily though, Elizabeth miraculously discovered her own talents."
She stopped, and when she spoke again after a moment, her tone was lower, more threatening. "My daughter is no great fan of men such as yourself, Mr. Sawyer, and she has killed many, in more horrific ways than you can comprehend." Another pause, this one -he knew- for affect more than anything. "Her first victim was my husband... her father. She was nine at the time. Many more have followed, Agent Sawyer, and she holds no remorse for her deeds."
Juliana lifted a brow this time, and it looked as though she was amused. Elizabeth had released some of the tension in her limbs, and she appeared more at ease, if only slightly. Still, she glared. Tom avoided her gaze.
"Not long after this, I met another man, one whom I loved deeply, with all my heart. He was a kind, caring man, who protected my daughter and I with every ounce of strength in his body. Even Elizabeth cared for him to some degree, and that is an achievement, let me tell you. My lover and I, we even bore a son, a child we intended to keep from all the evils of the world..."
Tom knew that her trailing off wasn't due to happy memories, and he tensed, waiting for the conclusion.
"We failed... it was one night, six months after my son's birth, that it came. My lover and I were out for a stroll under the moonlight, our son too, and then... I have never seen so much malice and evil in so short a time."
When their eyes met anew, there were angry, pained tears shining in them. She gripped his lower jaw and held it in a vice-like grip.
"You, see, until that night I had never considered vampires to be more than a myth... a legend. Of course, I was wrong. When I returned home that night, shaken and scarred, my lover and son did not return with me... they had been slaughtered by your friend."
Oh my god...
"Your... she killed them, drank their blood as if they were nothing more than a meal to her, and left them lying in the street like they were nothing!" Her grip tightened, and he winced. "She murdered my child... the man I loved, and showed no remorse. You ask why I am doing this, Agent Sawyer?"
She waited until he looked her in the eye again, and she was practically shaking with unrivalled rage.
"Perhaps you should ask your friend, Wilhelmina Harker..."