Raven: *is baking brownies in the kitchen, before there's the smell of something burning* Oh, no, the brownies! Gah… sorry, all of you, but you'll have to wait to redeem those brownie points for a bit, until I figure out just how to bake 'em. *kicks the oven, which explodes* Eeep!
Sethoz: you get three brownie points of that. I wanted to give you sixteen, then you said Laire was creepy…! That has successfully earned you fifteen more points, though, since that was the intended effect. And once you get enough, I swear, I'll bake those brownies even if that oven blows up on me again! *kicks the said oven, and it does blow up*
Vaudevillian: You see, Clez? What did I tell you? Even she says we're a good pair! Thanks for that, Vaudevillian. Brownie points to you! As for the more Dorian part…I think we'll be able to grant you that. No LXG fic is complete without Dorian oozing sexiness all over the place!
Clez: Thought I'd just slip my notes on the end here. Okay, this one goes to Raven again. I just added a couple of snippets, and beta-d basically. So, I pretty much had an easy job on this one… though I get the feeling I won't be so lucky next time… only kidding, Raven… and don't worry, Vaudevillian, the chapters will be longer as we get into the swing of things… I'm sure of that. :D
CHAPTER 4
Lizzy frowned. She studied what was in front of her, and her frown deepened. She tried to re-do her work once more, but a hand stopped her.
"Don't do that, Liz," Lucy Gray said, pushing her hand down from her auburn tresses. The 18-year-old was helping Lizzy with her hair. "You'll ruin it."
Lizzy gave a moan of protest as her friend, the one who knew — and could actually afford — the latest fashions. This time, though, the raven-haired girl was helping her friend with a coiffure that was defying the laws of physics.
"There you go, Liz," Lucy declared, freeing her hands. "Isn't it nice?"
"How am I supposed to wash my hair?" was all that Lizzy asked, examining her hair at different angles in the mirror. There came the sound of the door opening downstairs, and then it closing, before a yell of the two's names told them that Alice Finn was finally here. After a few moments, the young woman entered the room, beaming as she saw the two, blue eyes alight with enthusiasm, blond locks of delicately curled hair tumbling around her face, strands of the honey tresses free from the restraints of the pins.
"Alice!" Lucy embraced her American friend. "It's been so long!"
The blond grinned as she hugged her two friends. All three were eighteen, and beauties: Lucy, the dark haired one, with keen eyes that looked into the soul; Alice, the typical American girl-next-door with her fair hair and blue eyes; and Lizzy, the one with green eyes that laughed, and the mahogany hair.
"I've missed you," Lizzy told Alice, holding her by the shoulders. "And look at you! You've grown your hair!"
"Talking about hair…?" Alice pointed, amused, at what passed for the height of fashion on top of Lizzy's head. With a sound of frustration, Lizzy pulled out the pin that held her hair in place, and it came tumbling down onto her shoulders. Alice was visiting Britain with her mother, Becky Thatcher; Huck Finn, her father, was on another mission for the American government. Alice and Becky were going to be in London for about two weeks more, and Alice was using this chance to catch up with her friends.
"That's what's supposed to be fashionable," Vicky explained from the doorway, grinning, her son's head resting on one shoulder. She had just returned from another walk with the sick child, while Skinner senior was at the League meeting. " 'Ello, Alice."
"Hey, Mrs. Skinner," Alice grinned. James heard her and raised his head, with a big grin and an enthusiastic wave of his little hand. Alice waved back to the toddler, before Vicky took her leave.
"Any idea why you guys are staying here?" Alice asked the two.
Lucy shrugged, saying, "The League's off on another mission, and my parents want me to stay 'somewhere safe'. Which, it turns out, is League HQ."
"My place, in short," Lizzy piped up. "I'm not sure if Ajit and Will are coming, but I doubt that. Those two are old enough to take care of themselves."
Will Quatermain, grandson of Allan, was twenty-three this year, and becoming quite the thrill seeker. He would be departing for Africa in a few months, and Lizzy was sad to see her 'big brother' go. Ajit was Nemo's nephew, currently serving as a sailor on his uncle's grand Nautilus. The young man was twenty-one, the age that Laire probably was.
"And Noah and Mrs. Jekyll? What about them?" Lucy asked Lizzy.
"They're coming, yeah," Lizzy nodded. "And since Noah's eight, my brother will have someone to play with, for once. I don't need to chase him out of the piano room anymore. Considering he spilt juice all over my work once, I think that's a good thing."
Alice gave a small laugh. James, the newest addition to the League children, was a charmer with his infectious grin and funny antics, not to mention him being accident-prone. All of them loved him in some way or another. Liz's blessed to have such a sweet boy for a brother, she thought. Although the two siblings were like every pair she knew — fighting half the time — she believed Lizzy loved her brother.
The League children — 'little Leaguers', as Skinner had said when James was born — had their fair share of talents, and were not overshadowed by the original League in any way. Alice had fostered a love for guns, due in part to her father and Tom; Lucy, immortal, was not someone you'd want to anger, especially if she had her sword in hand; Elizabeth, who knew some magicks and was hell with her fists; Ajit, trained in martial arts; Will, who also had a talent for guns. Noah Jekyll was only eight, but that kid was a genius with improvising. And James, well… Alice supposed being able to distract the baddies with that grin of his was a talent, wasn't it?
Skinner's scowl was deep. He didn't like the plan that Laire had proposed; a reconnaissance mission was risky, he knew.
"It's better than all-out war," Laire was shooting back at Dorian, who had raised the point. "And that way we – you – may be able to give us some hope for survival."
"Understand this, Mr. Di'markiir," Jekyll said, "what we did was not due to our… prowess. The death of the Dark Lord should be credited to the spirits who came to the rescue at the last minute. It was them who destroyed his source of power."
"But it was one of you who drove a sword through his skull."
Tom noticed that Laire didn't look at his father when he said that, although he more than likely knew it had been Skinner who did the 'driving'. He had missed out on most of the action where the killing of the Dark Lord was concerned, since he had been busy with a horde of demons, but from what Sloane and the others had told him, it was Skinner. He felt that he should speak up for his friend. "Seems to me you know an awful lot about what happened. How'd you find out?"
"If one thing, Mr. Sawyer," Laire said, his cobalt eyes locking onto Tom's green ones, "my people have come to the habit of checking our facts. When the vampire, Sloane, told us the great news, a team was sent to investigate. I was a part of that team. I saw his body myself. I saw the sword that killed him."
"But you didn't see the man who did the task, did you?" Allan said, glancing at Skinner. Laire stiffened and kept silent; he was not on good terms with his long-lost father, that much was obvious. Skinner rubbed his eyes in frustration, and weariness; the night before had been spent thinking while his beloved wife slept beside him. He reckoned he had only caught an hour or so of sleep himself.
"Gentlemen, Mrs. Gray," Mycroft finally spoke up. Skinner started, suddenly reminded that he was there at all. The look on Mina's face suggested she had forgotten about him, too. "I agree with Mr. Gray that this plan of his is risky, but I cannot deny the implications a war would have on the world, not to mention the Empire."
"It would spill out into this world," Laire said by way of agreement, pulling his gaze from the large Holmes. "And then even your children, your families, even those in faraway places would be affected. And if the new Dark Lord attacks this world, as well as my own, then all will be lost."
There was silence as the League digested the facts, and it's implications. Skinner frowned, as Dorian and Mina discreetly held each other's hands. Tom's head was bowed, blond hair a curtain that hid his face.
"Let's see," Allan finally said. "From what I've heard, we stand not much in the way of success, and more than likely we'll die before this endeavor is over. Am I right?"
Grim nods answered him.
Allan nodded. "What are we waiting for?"
