Disclaimer: 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' movie is copyright of 20th Century Fox. No infringement is intended.
PICKING UP THE PIECES
By Etcetera Kit
Chapter Eight: Bachelor Parties
Henry leaned over the railing of the Nautilus, the cool night breeze ruffling his hair and cooling his skin. As sad as he was to leave Egypt, it was time. And he was beginning to understand what Allan had meant by 'they would all split up.' He and Mina had talked to Nemo about going to Transylvania. The captain had agreed to let them off at the nearest port for their destination and he would meet them back there in two weeks. He only hoped they could get to Transylvania and, more specifically, to the Count's castle and at least attempt to do something in the two weeks. He had seen the questioning look in the back of Nemo's eyes. Were they going to survive this latest adventure? It was obvious that Nemo thought it a fool's errand.
So much had happened in the past three days- more than he ever thought possible to happen in so short a time. He had told himself that he would find the real Wilhelmina Harker and love her… and he had found her, scared of what she was, underneath all the mask and mystery. Sawyer seemed to have gotten over any disappointment- it was obvious how glad he was that Allan was back- or obvious to everyone else. And Allan- he had always said that Africa would never let him die. Henry supposed he was right although he was no inclined to believe the witch doctors. He was the same, yet different. And Henry had no clue he knew French. He smiled over what Allan told him in the library- Sawyer seemed to have regressed and developed a bad case of hero worship. Well, it would pass.
Tomorrow, he and Mina would be on their way to the land-locked castle of Count Dracula in an uncomfortable carriage. He might as well enjoy the sea breeze while he still could. He put his hand in his pocket and felt the rosary there. He had been born and raised a devout Catholic, but had fallen away from religion in later years. The rosary, however, always managed to make its way into his bags when he went places, not as a religious symbol but as a comfort object and reminder of better days. Perhaps, if they survived, the days to come would be the better days of his life.
And he knew he should have been terrified and unwilling to do this. But, as he told Mina, he was a man in love and there was no reasoning with him. He would do anything for her, even die for her if that was what was required. All the same things he felt with Emmaline… He wanted to help her do this. She was scared of what she was, afraid of her own power, as he was afraid of Hyde. Maybe this was a sign that Hyde was starting to reintegrate into Jekyll, because he was not anywhere near as jumpy as he would have been a month ago about this.
The door to the hatch opened and closed. Henry inclined his head towards whoever was coming onto the deck. Allan walked to the railing and stood next to him.
"Nemo tells me you and Mrs. Harker are going to Transylvania."
Henry nodded. "That's right."
Allan paused. "I am sorry, if during the meeting, I made either of you uncomfortable."
"It's all right. It was something was would have needed to be said eventually. Perhaps it is best that it came out sooner than later."
"And Sawyer will get over it quickly."
Henry smiled. "I hope so. I value his friendship."
Allan gave him a sidelong glance. "You know what you're facing out there?"
"The most powerful vampire in existence who will most probably kill anyone who attempts to harm him? I've heard that already from Nemo." He paused. "Look, Allan, unlike Sawyer, I am not an irrational young man. I know what I'm getting into."
"I never said you didn't."
"I'm sorry. It's-"
Allan shook his head. "No apologies. You know what you have to do?"
"Reintegrate Hyde into myself? That I know."
The older hunter smiled and sighed. "In helping Mina, you will find that you help yourself." He paused. "I'll not be with you much longer."
"Why?"
"My purpose was to push all of you in the right direction."
Henry turned to face Allan fully. "And have you pushed everyone in the right direction yet?"
Allan smiled. "Not yet. But soon."
"How do you know we wouldn't have gone the right direction anyways?"
"You are all scared of your pasts, scared of what you are. The lights were a way to get Nemo to recall his past through those journals. The scare on the ship brought you and Mina together- something that would never have happened otherwise. And Nemo would never have dreamed of changing the course or allowing an intruder to go uncaught if he did not have an inkling that it might have been me."
Henry shook his head. "How do you know all this? How did you do it?"
Allan smiled again, but this time it was much more mysterious. "That is something you will not find out until you die." He went back into the ship.
Henry leaned against the railing again. He had not thought about some sort an afterlife in many years. But when he first recalled Hyde's actions, he had been certain he was going to burn in hell. Now he was not even sure there was such places as heaven or hell. Perhaps life itself could be made into heaven or hell, an Eden or a fiery pit. He looked up at the stars as they winked their jeweled eyes at him.
"Good night, Emmaline," he whispered before going back inside the ship.
Sawyer squinted at the page of the book he was reading. He normally did not have trouble reading but a combination of emotional exhaustion and physical exhaustion were making it hard for him to even read the words, let alone concentrate on them. He did not know how long it had been since Allan and Jekyll left, all he knew was that he had stared off into space for some time and then got up and found this book. He still couldn't remember what books he had originally wanted from the library.
"What are you reading?"
He snapped his head up to see Allan coming in the room yet again. Tom quickly sat up instead of draping himself over the chair. Allan sat on the couch across from him.
"Journey to the Center of the Earth," he replied to Allan's question.
"Jules Verne?"
Sawyer nodded, placing one of the ribbons that served as bookmarks between the pages of the book to mark his place.
"You know Jekyll and Mina are going to Transylvania?"
"I heard through the grapevine. Skinner was eavesdropping."
"What was Skinner doing not dressed?"
Tom shrugged. "Probably going to the kitchen to nick food."
Allan smiled and shook his head. "The rest of you are staying with Nemo?"
"I can't think of anything else to do."
"Good. If you all- you and Skinner and Nemo- stay together, the consequences will not be as great. Lives will be able to be rebuilt."
Sawyer sat up straighter. "Consequences for what?"
"You will see. Just stay together." He paused. "I'll not be here much longer."
"You've barely got back!"
Allan just looked at him. "My task was to push all of you in the right direction. That is almost done."
"But how? How did you know?"
"As I told Jekyll, that is something you will not find out until you die."
"Hopefully that's later rather than sooner."
Allan smiled. "I should hope so. The new century is yours."
"You've told me that before."
"I know. And it is." He stood up and left the library. Sawyer sat still clutching the book to his chest. Strange things always did happen around this particular group of people, but that still did not explain how Quartermain got back to them and how he planned on leaving. He had said that a witch doctor blessed him and said that Africa would never let him die. Sawyer didn't believe in those kinds of superstitions… but maybe, it was time to.
Henry smiled to himself as he walked down the hallway towards one of the lounges on the ship. Skinner had told him to meet him there at ten o'clock and he had not planned on going because anything involving Skinner usually meant something else slightly illegal was going on. But Sawyer had said that Skinner told him the same thing and there was safety in numbers. Skinner couldn't get away with too much.
Skinner and Sawyer were already in the lounge when he got there.
"Ah! Jekyll! Have a seat!" Skinner indicated the chair next to Sawyer. Henry gave him a withering look and sat down.
Skinner then produced three glasses and a large bottle of Scotch.
"What's all this about?" Henry asked.
"Well," Skinner started, opening the bottle. "Since you face almost certain death during the next two weeks, I thought we'd throw you a bit of a party. It's not every man that's willing to die for a dame." The invisible man poured each glass to the brim full of the Scotch. Skinner then passed the glasses out amongst the three of them.
Sawyer lifted his glass in a toast. "To Henry Jekyll."
Skinner followed suit. "Yes, to Henry Jekyll, who faces almost certain death!"
Henry gave them a bemused smile and the three of them clinked glasses. After taking a sip of his Scotch, Henry asked, "How much of this do you plan on us drinking?"
The invisible man produced another bottle of Scotch, a decanter of brandy, a bottle of whiskey and a bottle of sherry. Sawyer nearly choked on his drink.
"You want us to die?" Tom asked.
Skinner shrugged. "No. I just thought I'd keep our options open."
"Is that what you've been doing every night? Nicking stuff from the wine cellar?" Sawyer looked incredulous.
"It's not only wine in there," Skinner corrected him. "There's a wide variety of alcohol and I want to know why Nemo only offers us wine and not any other cocktails."
"I can think of several reasons," Henry muttered, taking another drink of the Scotch.
"Oh aye?" Skinner asked, already refilling everyone's glass.
"One, it would be an excuse for you to get drunk. And two, it would be an excuse for you to get other people drunk."
"Like I'm doing right now?" Skinner asked cheerfully.
Henry just shook his head. Skinner certainly got some very strange ideas, but he decided to indulge him. How long had it been since he was last drunk? He couldn't remember, although he had a suspicion he would remember why he stopped getting drunk tomorrow morning.
"So are you facing certain death in England?" Henry asked the pair of them.
Skinner scratched his head. "Good question. We might be since M wasn't a part of the British government and Nemo and I no longer have amnesty." He paused. "Then again, you no longer have amnesty."
"No. Hyde doesn't have amnesty. I was never thrown out."
"Oh well! All you have to do is get rid of Hyde!"
"Easier said than done," Henry scoffed.
"Ah!" Sawyer slapped him on the back. "Maybe Mina can help you."
"Perhaps," Henry replied.
"How's she going to help him?" Skinner asked. "He's beyond help."
"Oh I don't know," Sawyer said, already beginning to slur his words. "At night when they're alone together and he can feel the voyeuristic Hyde side coming back-"
"Sawyer, shut-up!" Henry said, shoving him in the arm.
"How much of this have we had already?" Sawyer asked Skinner, looking at his glass curiously.
Skinner began to count on his fingers, looking confused. Then he threw his hands up in the air. "I don't know."
Mina looked at the stack of books sitting on the desk in her room. She should read them or at least glance through but it was impossible to forget how to kill a vampire, especially after her best friend had become one and her suitors had to kill her. One must put a stake through the vampire's heart and leave it there, then cut off the vampire's head and stuff the mouth with garlic. That had been Dorian's mistake when he tried to kill her- he didn't leave the stake through her heart, so she came back. And the result was his demise.
She might as well take all of these back to the library, since Henry had everything he needed from them. Why she had asked him to leave them was beyond her? She knew where the castle was and knew what needed to be done. Henry knew as well. There would be no surprises except for perhaps the pure strength that the Count may use against them.
Taking in a deep breath, she piled the books in her arms and made her way to the library. Halfway there, she ran into Hasaan.
"Hello Mrs. Harker," the butler said politely. "Need some help with the books?"
Mina smiled and nodded. Hasaan took half the books, bowing slightly to her like he did to Nemo and his superiors on the crew.
"Have you seen any of the gentlemen?" Hasaan asked as they walked down the hall. Mina smiled in spite of herself. She would have never called Henry, Sawyer, Nemo and especially Skinner 'gentlemen'. Or at least not all of them.
"I haven't lately. Although they're probably up to no good."
"They do seem to get into trouble often."
"Let's put it this way, putting Skinner with any group of people is deadly. By himself, he knows how to cause enough mayhem to drive people to drink."
Hasaan snorted. "I think I know this." He paused. "Perhaps he already did."
"What?"
With his free hand, Hasaan pointed to the doorway of the lounge they had just passed. Mina looked inside. Henry, Skinner and Sawyer were sitting around the table with several empty bottles and glasses full of some kind of drink. They laughed about something and then abruptly noticed they had company.
"Uh oh," Sawyer said, slurring the phrase together badly.
"Iz alright," Skinner replied, slurring as badly as Tom. "At least we can still stand up." To prove his point, Skinner tried to stand up and ended up falling on the floor next to the table. Henry squinted down on the floor at him.
"You all right?" he asked slowly.
"I told him not to finish the drinks!" Tom said loudly, pointing at Skinner.
Mina and Hasaan exchanged a glance. "Think you can handle Tom?" she asked the diminutive butler. Hasaan grinned.
"Of course."
"Someone can come collect Skinner later."
Hasaan put his books on the table and took Tom's arm, helping him stand up. "Hey, how come he gets help?" Skinner called from under the table.
"Mr. Skinner, shut-up!" Hasaan said, guiding Tom around the table and planting a kick to Skinner's side as he passed him.
Mina put the remaining books on the table and hauled Henry to his feet. Luckily enough for her, he was a complacent enough drunk to allow himself to be led back to his room, stripped and put in bed.To Be Continued...
