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 Fourteen: Arrivals

Mina looked back at Bukovina, which was growing smaller and smaller. She pulled her horse to a stop. Henry reined his horse in, looking at her. Pulling up her floor length skirt so that it was to her thighs, she urged the horse forward, glad to be able to fully control the horse and feel the ease of movement. Henry looked slightly amused but did not say anything. And she did not really care what he thought- he had seen more of her than her legs. It didn't matter. They had both obliterated society's rules and regulations well before they had been together.

She looked at the winding dirt road in front of them. If she recalled anything correctly from Jonathan's journals, it would take several hours to reach the castle and then they would have to leave enough time to make it back to Bukovina before sunset. Things had not been this complicated last time. Of course, last time they had a recent mental map and she had not been the sole navigator. Well, they should be able to pass through the mountains and then onto the castle and be there by perhaps noon.

Her blue eyes swept to Henry riding in front of her. His hair was windswept and his black jacket flew behind him as he kept his horse at a steady trot. He turned around and smiled at her. She grinned back, loving the way that she could see his feelings for her written plainly across his face. Just like Jonathan… she had never been able to tell what Dorian felt for her as he always kept his emotions carefully masked behind an air of aloofness and cynicism. It felt good to be back with someone who really and truly loved her. Dorian never held her after they made love because he always had to get up and do something. She wanted to get married and have children… but not as a vampire. She did not want to see her husband and children die.

One of the wooden stakes was sticking out of the saddlebag on Henry's horse. She swallowed and closed her eyes briefly. What had to be done was not a pleasant thought. It was as undesirable as being thought of as a scarlet woman or someone's mistress. Hopefully all that would settle down when they got back to London and got married… if they ever got back to London and got married. And she knew that she did not only have Henry's love on the ship, but several other men as well. It would break their hearts, but she could never marry them. Only Henry and if she could refrain from hurting him, then all would be well.

The sun rose over the horizon and was golden and glowing as the time approached noon. The winding mountains came closer and closer until they found themselves at the pass that would take them to Castle Dracula. The pass was narrow and winding and opened out into a large ravine where the castle was situated.

"It looks like a veritable labyrinth," Henry said softly, stopping his horse and pulling it up beside her, since she had taken over leading once Bukovina was out of sight.

Mina nodded. "It is. Jonathan found that out the hard way." She paused. "But if I remember correctly, the crypt is not in the house."

"In one of the other buildings?"

"In some sort of storage or shed."

Henry nodded and then urged his horse forward. "Well, let's go," he said over his should as the horse trotted down the slight slope and on the dirt road leading to the castle.

Mina took a deep breath and urged her horse down the road after him. She did not know what made him so fearless in this venture unless he was masking it extraordinarily well. She tried to survey the approaching castle as she road forward. They would probably have to jump the courtyard wall to get into any place that would lead them to the crypt.

He looked over his shoulder at her, as if to make sure she was coming. She found it almost laughable that the men on the ship thought she needed someone to take care of her after all that had happened. And when she thought about it… perhaps she still did need someone to take care of her… perhaps. She urged the horse to a gallop to catch up with Henry.


Sawyer stood on the deck and watched the distant lights of England coming closer and closer as the ship swept over the black waters. This was not home for him like it was for some of the others- Jekyll, Mina, Skinner and even Nemo called the place home. The captain maintained it was because the British were the most civilized culture he had come across in his travels. But this was not home for Tom and he doubted that it would ever be his home. He did not know how someone could love the rainy, grimy streets filled with every low-life imaginable.

He could picture his home in Missouri with the rolling fields beyond the little town and the wide roaring Mississippi river. The shops were all wooden and painted bright white or they were red brick and looked cheery. The town was small and everyone knew one another. A kid could not get away with anything, because if one's parents didn't see the deed, then someone else's did and would certainly rat one out. There was comfort and security there. It was a place where he and Huck could act out all their wild dreams and get into heaps of trouble while doing it. He thought of their childhood scrapes- their guardians thinking they had died and then they walked in on their own funeral, helping Jim escape the plantation when it was not necessary and generally raising hell. That was his home. It was not this dreary, dismal looking town.

And quite suddenly, he thought of Becky. She was the golden-haired daughter of Judge Thatcher and he had been infatuated with her since he was a boy. He remembered the church picnic when he had finally asked her to go with him for a soda. She had smiled and the look in her brown eyes had been clear- 'finally!' But that was a dream never to realize. Becky had never liked his imagination and used to listen to his tales with an amused smile. Then, when he joined the Secret Service, she finally broke everything off. And now that he thought about it, she had truly been the only girl for him. Of course, now she was probably married to some rich farmer and had the first few children of a brood of nine or ten. It almost made him sad.

"Ah, jolly old London!"

Tom turned to see Skinner coming out on the deck and then turned back to where his gaze had been previously focused on the lights. It was Skinner's home, not his. He had wanted Mina and lost her, just as he had wanted Becky and lost her- the latter because he followed his dreams and the former because he had waited too long.

But this city held memories for him, most of which were bad. Huck's death… he did not want to go near that alley and was glad that he did not have to once he found the League. All the memories of sitting in pubs with Huck, talking about where they might find the League and joking about what they might be like… He remembered the dingy room in an inn they had been forced to share and then arguing over who got the bed and who had to make do on the narrow sofa that looked rather moldy.

"You're awful quiet," Skinner remarked, standing next to him on the deck.

He shrugged. "I lost my best friend in that city."

The invisible man pulled in a deep breath. "Why didn't you tell us about that sooner?"

"Oh that would be a pleasant introduction- 'My name's Tom Sawyer and my best friend was just shot to death by the Fantom.' Not too nice."

Skinner shrugged. "I didn't know soon meant within two seconds of meeting."

Sawyer didn't reply, just continued staring. The black waters lapped gently against the side of the ship. Home… if it supposedly was where his heart was, then he did not know where home was. Was it in Washington DC? Or back home in Missouri with Aunt Polly and Becky and all those folks? Here, on the Nautilus? He didn't know and he did not suppose that he would ever really know. Maybe it really was all in vain. Maybe there was no one he was destined to love. And yet he kept going back to Becky.

"We will be in port in half an hour, gentlemen."

He twisted his head around to see Nemo coming on the deck as well. He nodded to show that he had heard and went back to staring.

"Are we staying on the ship, then?" Skinner asked.

Sawyer did not fully register Nemo's reply, other than to think that it must have been in the affirmative. Skinner asked a question about whether or not they were going to be able to use the automobile or walk. Nemo must have replied no. Skinner laughed and Tom heard the door to interior of the ship close.

"Do you ever dream, Nemo?" Sawyer asked softly.

The captain took the place that Skinner had previously occupied. "All the time. Although my dreams have changed over the years."

Sawyer turned to face Nemo. "How so?"

Nemo shrugged. "When I was a boy and a cabin boy on a pirate ship, I used to dream of having my own ship and becoming the most fearsome pirate in the ocean. Then, when I achieved that dream, I wanted to build a new ship that was better than all the others."

"Seems like you got your dreams."

"It seems like it. I like to think that I am completely happy. There was a time in my life when I wanted a wife and family." He paused. "I never achieved that. What kind of woman would want to marry a man whose home is a ship and is never in one place for very long?"

"Do you regret becoming a pirate?"

Nemo looked almost sad. "I really had no choice. My parents were poor rice farmers in India and I was one of a brood of children. My father, for lack of a better term, sold me to some English pirates who were looking for a cabin boy." He paused once more. "I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I had not been sold in that manner. Would I be a poor rice farmer like my family with a wife and too many children? Would I be as illiterate and uneducated as my family?"

"At least you vaguely remember your parents. My parents died when I was a baby and I grew up with my Aunt Polly."

"There is something to be said for having some kind of parent figure."

Tom nodded. "I suppose. My Aunt Polly used to tell me that I had silly dreams. I don't think it was the dreams as much as the imagination that went with them."

"We always have dreams of grandness, of achieving great things. There comes a time when we realize what is realistic for us to do, for us to be."

Sawyer nodded slowly. He understood that. He used to read every adventure novel he could get his hands on when he was a kid. Those adventures seemed like the only kind of living that anyone could really do. When he got older, he had wanted to become a spy and knew exactly how to achieve it. The original plan had been to work for the Secret Service to learn the trade and then open a detective agency. The detective agency did not seem like it was something he was ever going to get. Perhaps he should go back home to Missouri where he truly understood everything in the sleepy little village, spending the nights laying the fields just watching the stars and sitting on the banks of the river and watching the river boats.

Maybe Becky and Aunt Polly had been right… but then he thought about how much he loved his work. He and Huck had been the most enthusiastic new recruits and were given larger assignments much earlier than the others. It was why they had been sent to England when the job would normally have only been given to older, much more experienced agents. Then again, maybe he should just make a new home somewhere far away from Washington DC and Missouri.

"Do you think I could ever call London home?" he asked Nemo quietly.

The captain smiled. "Any place can be called home if that is where your heart truly dwells."

Sawyer returned the smile, watching the ship maneuver its way into a port and watching the crew get the ship ready to land. As the ramps were lowered onto a dock, Skinner came back out on the deck and clapped Sawyer on the back.

"Want to go to a pub with me?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Which one?"

"You know perfectly well which one. We can go see the love of my life!"

Sawyer stifled a laugh and followed Skinner back into the ship. This evening was probably going to be many things and dull was not one of them.


Henry caught Mina around the waist as she hauled herself over the wall he had just jumped and tried to land gracefully on the other side. One tall side of the castle bordered the wall and a fair-sized window looked over the small courtyard they found themselves in. He supposed it was probably the window to the guest room that Jonathan Harker had occupied. The walls around the courtyard were fairly low and one could see over them easily, they were just a bit too tall to jump over gracefully.

Mina smiled at him. "Thanks," she replied, stepping away from him. Henry could have almost slapped himself for forgetting that she did not really want any man to take care of her. That was probably the reason that she had rejected Sawyer's first advances. Not that he had even noticed Sawyer's advanced at the time because Hyde had been so omnipresent in his head. All he noticed was Gray and what a complete bastard the man was.

He watched as Mina strode over to the other wall adjoining the castle and peer over it. "Jonathan said something about the crypt being in a shed away from the house," she muttered to herself and then looked over the other walls. That fact had already been established earlier that day. She pointed to the first wall she looked over. "That is probably our best bet since it leads behind the castle.

"Let's hope you're right," Henry muttered. He picked up and shouldered the bag he had brought containing the host and holy water along with the stakes and other necessary paraphernalia. Mina jumped over the wall and paused, waiting for him. He pushed himself up and swung his legs to the other side, so he was sitting on the wall. He then slid down and adjusted the bag on his shoulder.

Mina began the walk behind the castle. He followed not particularly wanting to argue with her or say anything to the contrary. She was the one who had been here before, the one who had seen Count Dracula and the one who supposedly knew where she was going. He thought it would be in his best interest to keep quiet and be present with the bag if they found anything today (which was looking highly unlikely.)

The sun climbed higher and higher overhead. They would soon have to head back if they wanted to be back at the hotel before sunset. As they rounded a corner to the back of the castle, they came upon a wooden shed. Henry tried to mask the look of surprise on his face. Why would anyone built a shed so near to a castle like this? Mina tried the door and it was unlocked. She turned and her eyes met his. The interior of the shed was like any normal shed, except for the fact that it was completely empty save for the random bits of straw on the floor.

"This is strange," Mina whispered. "I remember this shed, but I think his coffin used to be up here. Why could he have moved it?"

"Because you know where it is," Henry replied. She looked as though this thought had never occurred to her. "He might have it underground somewhere where it would be harder to find." Looking up at the ramshackle roof on the shed, he walked towards the center of the small room, kicking at the dirt absently. And then he hit something solid.

Within seconds, the two of them were on the ground, dusting the dirt away from what was obviously a trapdoor. The large metal ring to lift the door was extraordinarily flat as if the person who built it did not want it to be found. But when they tried to open the trapdoor, it wouldn't give even an inch. It was locked from the inside.

"You have a hack saw, right?" Mina asked.

He sighed, knowing what they would have to do to seal the crypt. "Let's not try to open it right now. If he awakes and finds it tampered with we'll find him. We can file through it tomorrow when we get here."

Mina nodded and they kicked the dirt back over the trapdoor. After the obstacle course consisting of jumping two walls, they found the horses just as they had left them and began the long trek back to the hotel.

To Be Continued...