AN: And we have chapter two. Good god, for me this is a incredibly good rate. Anyway, enjoy.
Disclaimer: I own what I own, and I don't what I don't.
THE LAST CHANCE
Chapter two
The Albion Museum, London, M's underground meeting room.
To the casual observer only three men were currently contained with the vast library beneath London's Albion museum, a cruel looking, thin-faced man with oily black hair known only as M, a small, long bearded Indian, the legendary Captain Nemo, and a gruff looking, grey haired man, England's hero Allan Quatermain. There was, in actuality, a fourth man, the invisible thief Rodney Skinner, in the room with them, rapidly reappearing thanks to a black leather coat and a pot of white lead paste. It was with this man that Allan Quatermain was currently… discussing matters when Mina Harker burst in.
"Am I late?" she asked with feigned innocence, expertly hiding both her disgust at M's treachery and her breathlessness, having just raced from Dorian's home to make the meeting.
M turned to her with a highly condescending smile gracing his thin lips, "A woman's prerogative, Mrs. Harker," he assured her as both Skinner and Quatermain stared in something that settled between horror and awe, a reaction she was more than used to creating.
Watching her standing there in the doorway, Quatermain was more than a little unnerved by this strangely seductive woman, and for more reasons than her obvious femininity. On the outside she appeared to simply as a beautiful creature, tall, pale and slender with almost perfect features, a figure most women would kill for and rich auburn hair, and dressed simply in a fashionable black velvet coat -- floor-length and fully buttoned -- a long, scarlet scarf and black veiled hat. But her eyes, they told a different story.
Those sharp emerald orbs held an eerie, unnameable quality in their depths, something that seemed almost… feral. In short, she felt dangerous. But Allan Quatermain was nothing if not a hunter and he could deal with dangerous, no matter its form.
"Please tell me this is Harker's wife, with a sick note," the old man half pleaded in a vain attempt to cover up his irrational discomfort at her presence.
An expression that could almost be described as a mocking smirk crossed her full, red lips as Mina stalked across the vast room, "'Sick' would be an understatement," she told him in a low, sultry voice coloured by the faintest hint of an accent, "My husband's been dead for years."
Breaking in, much to the annoyance of both Mina and Quatermain, though probably for different reasons, M made his final introductions, "Gentlemen, Mrs. Wilhelmina Harker."
As his cool voice continued on in conversation with Quatermain, something about a 'prior acquaintance' of hers, Mina nodded to Nemo in greeting and glossed over Skinner's strange presence, she already knew that man after all, and didn't particularly want to remember him either.
Instead of wasting her, admittedly endless, time listening to M's traitorous lies, Mina's mind replayed the tale Dorian had regaled her with only a few days previously, still trying to make sense of all he'd told her. Of course, she'd known he was immortal, just as he'd known of her vampiric nature, some supernatural instinct between creatures of their ilk perhaps, but somehow she couldn't believe that a simple painting and a boy's foolish wish were the cause of it. And what of this strange, blonde girl-like creature he'd spoken of? Could Mina really believe that an unknown entity had, for unknown reasons, given Dorian his life back on the premise that he behave himself?
Perhaps she should just stick to safer trains of thought for now, like M's treachery. Now that was something she could quite easily believe, one only had to look at the man to know he was up to something. It was there in his cold, empty eyes, in the shape of his mouth, the set of his face, even in the way he carried himself broadcast his evil intentions. He had an air of callous cruelty, of cold indifference about him that made one decidedly uncomfortable.
Filtering through her silent contemplations came the rough, cockney voice of Rodney Skinner, "Kicking us out already? A moment ago it was sherry and giggles," and with that the invisible man flicked up his collar and walked out of the room, his flaring coat the only sign of his departing presence.
Only seconds later, and without M's blessing, the remaining League members turned on their heels, almost as one, and followed Skinner's example.
The Albion Museum, London, exterior.
As the four League members exited the grand, if stuffy, building and stepped into the damp London night a sleek, six-wheeled vehicle of unusual design came to a halt at the foot of the stairs.
A small crowd had already assembled around the strange device in the few moments it took for the League, with Mina in the rear beneath a plain black umbrella, took to descend towards it.
It was Quatermain who spoke first, something Mina realised he did a lot, perhaps too often, "What is that?"
Nemo turned to him, a look of immense pride in his dark, sombre eyes, "I call it an automobile," he told them seriously, as if that explained everything, though from the looks on the faces of the others said otherwise. Quatermain's was blank, confused, while Mina had a single raised eyebrow and Skinner remained unreadable beneath his lead paint mask.
"Yes, but what is it?" the invisible man asked as Nemo's first mate, Ishmael he'd introduced himself as, opened the elegant silver and white doors for them.
Unseen by her new team mates, Mina couldn't help but smile, it seemed Dorian had been telling the truth, partly at least. Nemo had brought them the future of transportation. Composing her attractive features into their usually serious mask, she nodded gratefully to the first mate as he held the automobile's door open for her to enter.
London, inside Nemo's automobile.
"So Mina," Skinner's lead painted face turned towards the green-eyed vampiress, a slight leer crossing the chalky features, "What's this old 'friend' of yours like then?"
A small smile flitted across the woman's face, undisguised this time, as she thought of the handsome man they were about to visit, "Dorian's…" she paused, wondering how best to describe her former lover, "He's… complicated," she finally answered, which was fully truthful.
"Complicated, Mrs. Harker?" Quatermain's strangely accented voice, an affection she was rapidly coming to hate, came from Skinner's other side as the old hunter leaned forwards to look her, somewhat fearlessly, in the eye, "How so?"
Leaning forward herself, Mina let her eyes flash red for a split second, secretly enjoying the mixed look of horror, confusion and fear on his lined face. "Complicated in ways you will never understand, Mr. Q." she told him coolly before returning her attention to the scenery passing by the window, leaving Skinner to question and tease Quatermain about his reasons for joining the League.
Throughout the rest of the short journey Mina alternated between joining Skinner in his teasing of the old man, though subtly of course, and staring out the window, anticipating the upcoming reunion with her complicated 'friend'. Nemo and Ishmael, however, contented themselves with silently listening to the three in the back, squabbling like children, though none would admit it.
Elsewhere.
In her peaceful grey room, seated on a velvet soft chair of pure snowy white, her bare feet curled in a carpet of downy grey and white feathers (all from willing donors of course), the blonde creature known simply as Ria gazed into what appeared to be a small, silver-backed mirror.
Truthfully, though, the device was actually a scrying glass, set for watching the progress of the League -- she had another one set aside exclusively for Dorian but at the moment all he was doing was sitting waiting for the League to show up and therefore of no interest to her. She found the very principle of the League quite fascinating in itself, they were the first of what would, in time, be known as superheroes. But the people in and of themselves were what interested her at the moment, or more exactly, Dorian's lady love.
"Bugger," she muttered as Mina's eyes blazed red for a short while and the spirit being felt the vampire's delight in her powers, "That bloody woman's gonna be more difficult that all the men put together." She contemplated her words for a moment, "I like her!"
Ending notes: I apologise for ending this here (didn't even meet my 1500 word target this time, *sobs*) but I'm knackered, must sleep. Will attempt to write new chappy at work tomorrow.
Review responses
Calliann: My biggest fan? Awwwwwww you're so sweet, I'm your biggest fan too (even if it does take forever for me to review, so sorry 'bout that hon). Also, glad you don't think they're out of character, and Dorian spilling his guts to Mina was great wasn't it, I didn't even plan that bit, it just… happened. I don't blame you for watching the movie again, I watch it almost daily (along with all my X-Men DVD's of course). Will review the next chapter of WS with the rest. Good luck with the test hon. I love Ria too, she's based on a whole bunch of people I know, family, friends and colleagues along with a little bit of me (that would be the insanity bit).
Graymoon74: The girl (Ria) is fantastic isn't she, and so unfazed by Dorian (though if you were an insane spirit creature with a job like hers you might be to, doubtful though, I'd be all over him if I was in her place). Don't kneel, the floor's dirty and I can't have my worship spoilt by dirty knees, oh god, look what you've done to my ego… run!! It's going to destroy us all!!!!!! Your first review made me giggle so thanks for that hon, now onto the second. Be grateful this isn't one of my X-Men fics, I think it's been over two months since I updated those. And don't you dare die, I need all the reviewers I can get.
Ares: 'They had scotch', not sure I understood that but hey, my mind works in strange way so perhaps it just a peculiarity to me. As for my writing style, it's always a case of fitting as many long words as possible into a chapter, assuming they fit of course cos I'm not gonna put 'antidisestablishmentarianism' in cos I'm not entirely sure what it means and it doesn't fit anywhere, and I realise I've gone off on a tangent. Sorry. And finally, I honestly can't remember if it was meant to be funny or not, I think it was but I've just done a ten hour shift in an NHS hospital and spent an hour and a half typing this so my brain's kinda fried.