A/N: I had this done a while ago, but the website was being stupid. *sigh* Computers – can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em… Anyway…

Chapter four: The Origin of Cabrilyn (j/k!) Well, as you will see, the story of Cabrilyn isn't from any book (at least not any book I've read) I made it all up. If it sounds like something from a novel, or anything else for that matter, then it's by pure, freakish coincidence. Anyway, movin' right along…

            Tom raised an eyebrow. He wasn't entirely sure if he trusted this newcomer, regardless of the fact she just saved all of their lives. After all, Dorian had been a willing participant in the last battle, and he turned out to be a spy. "Well then, tell me, which question should I be asking?"

            "What," Jekyll said. "What are you? It's a question I know all too well." He didn't notice, but Mina had started slightly at the question – it reminded her of Dorian, and the first time she learned he was an immortal… or, rather that he was "complicated."

            Cabrilyn chuckled and seated herself in another chair, also peppered with bullet holes. "I'm a bit of a mistake actually," she said. "An experiment gone wrong, you might say."

            That peaked Jekyll's interest – he was finding he had more in common with this newcomer than he first thought. He listened intently as he took to nursing Tom's wounds.

            Cabrilyn continued, "I was just a regular girl, of not more than eighteen when I lost my sight," she shrugged. "I still don't know how it happened. I just woke up one day and couldn't see. My parents were crushed, you see, I was well on my way to becoming an accomplished artist, and, well, you can't paint if you can't see. They invested everything they had into finding a cure. An eccentric scientist by the name of Doctor Owen said he'd help me… he nearly killed me is what he did," she paused, more for dramatic emphasis than anything. She could easily tell this story. After all, she'd been telling it for nearly twelve years now. The emotional points had dulled over the years and now it seemed as distant and surreal to her as a fairy story. "That man was a maniac – mad as hell.

            "Anyway, the day of the operation arrived. Owen succeeded in restoring my sight, but decided to try out his latest piece of technology on my brain in the meantime. Some sort of mind-control mechanism or other… like I said, mad as hell. Of course, it didn't work properly, fried me from the inside out. All I really remember is waking up in a hospital morgue." She shuddered. That still gave her the creeps. "Ever since then, I've never been… me… I can see things others can't, I can do things others can't. I'm not normal, that's for sure."

            "Ha," Skinner laughed. "Join the club." Cabrilyn shot him a glance. She was still peeved about the "guard my coat" remark.

            "Amazing," Jekyll breathed. "You came back from the dead?"

            "I not exactly sure I was dead," Cabrilyn replied. "Comatose probably… in some odd way that made it seem I was dead."

            "Very Romeo and Juliet," Mina commented. "I have a question, though. How is it you found us?"

            "I've been looking for you for nearly a year now. I lost your trail in Paris months ago and returned to London. I was able to track you down here because, well, no offense captain, but that ship of yours is fairly hard to miss." She shrugged, "I just happened to be in the right place at the right time I guess. You see – I want to join the League."

            "To want to ah…" Tom inhaled sharply. "Take it easy, would ya?"

            Jekyll blinked absentmindedly. "Huh? Oh, sorry Tom." He loosened the bandage on Tom's leg.

            "Anyway Cabrilyn, it is Cabrilyn isn't it?" Tom said. Cabrilyn nodded. "What makes you think we'll let you join?"

            Cabrilyn raised an eyebrow at this. "I figure you owe it to me. You'd all be dead right now if I hadn't shown up."

            "Maybe not all of us," Skinner said mockingly. "But the rest of you would be looking like Swiss cheese."

            "Do shut up Skinner," Mina sighed. She turned to Tom. "We do owe her our lives."

            Jekyll finished his work on Tom's leg and stood. "Mina, you of all people should remember…"

            "Don't say it," she said shortly. "I know what you're all getting at – Dorian."

            "Dorian?" Cabrilyn noticed the expression in Mina's eyes and decided not to inquire any further. This subject was a touchy one. Best leave it alone for now.

            "A spy," Tom said. He threw a mindful glance at Mina before continuing. Her face was hard and expressionless. "He um… sold the League, I guess you could say, for his own gain."

            "I see," Cabrilyn said, rising to her feet. "Let me put it this way. I do not work for evil, nor do I look to profit from it. I've been given a second chance at life and I want to use it to do what I can for good."

            "Well, that was inspiring," Skinner commented sarcastically. "I feel I should go do some good now."

            "Skinner…" Mina said warningly. She moved her gaze to Tom, still seated in Dorian's chair. "Well?"

            Tom's eyebrows shot up. "What are you all looking at me for? It's not like what I say goes – I'm not the leader here."

            "Really?" Cabrilyn said. "I rather thought you were. You have that air about you."

            Tom didn't seem entirely convinced. After all, on their last mission, he had just been the inexperienced boy. Then again, on their last mission, they also had Allan Quatermain. It all seemed so long ago…

            Nemo let out a soft chuckle. "You know, she's right. Whether you want to or not, you seem to take command." The others nodded in agreement.

            "I do?" There was a moment where no one, not even Skinner, said anything. A look of realization came over Tom's face. He had grown, and the others saw it and they all knew he was capable enough to lead them.

            After a while, Mina said softly. "She's earned a chance." Tom nodded. "All right, Cabrilyn, welcome to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen." Cabrilyn beamed. Tom held up a warning finger. "This is only a trial run. You'll be under tight surveillance."

            The moment was interrupted by a loud crash. Everyone jumped, half expecting a new fleet of invisible gunmen. Instead, they found Skinner on the floor beneath an overturned table. "Oh," he groaned, hauling himself up. He kicked at the flour-dusted body he'd just tripped over. Mina stifled her laughter. Skinner shot her a sideways glance. "Ha, ha," he said dryly. "Now, can we clean this up? It's dangerous."

*   *   *

            Nemo absentmindedly turned the record over in his hands. He was still baffled about what its purpose was. He sat down in a nearby chair. The bodies, and most of the flour and debris, had since been cleared from the room. The others were seeing about supper.

            "Captain?"

            Nemo looked up. It was Cabrilyn, closely followed by two of Nemo's crewmembers. They were part of the "tight surveillance" Tom had talked about. "What's that you've got?" she asked.

            "This is a message from Reed. I'm still not sure why he sent it to us." He flipped the record over again, as if he expected to find something that hadn't been there before.

            "I see. Mind if I have a listen?"

            Nemo shrugged. "If you want."

            Cabrilyn set the record on the gramophone, which suffered from only a few bullet holes, and set it going. "Ah, the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. You are a difficult bunch to track down but I've found you… I do wish I were there to see the look on your young American friend's face. Thought I was dead, didn't you…? Well, obviously I'm not, and now all that was M's is mine! You won't be able to stop me… stop me… stop me… stop me…" Nemo reached over to shut off the gramophone.

            "Hold on there," Cabrilyn said, giving the gramophone an annoyed look. "All it needs is a good whack." She smacked it sharply on the side. The record issued a scratching noise then continued on. "I have great plans for building my new empire… great plans, and as I see it, you won't be around ruin them, so I may as well tell you.

            "You see, as you are listening to this, a score of my best gunmen are making ready to end your miserable lives. Don't bother looking for them; you won't be able to see them anyway. You have your dear friend Dorian Gray to thank for that, and I suppose Mr. Skinner is deserving of a thank-you as well." Reed chuckled darkly. "I suggest you stay put and listen. One move and my men will waste no time on wasting you." Cabrilyn shot Nemo an 'is-this-new-to-you' look. Nemo was intent on the record and paid her no notice.

            "No arms race this time, oh no. I have the plans, and the technology to start a war of my own. I can create enough invisible soldiers to serve my purpose. We will move on America first. Washington D.C. It will be an easy target. Poor unsuspecting America… Now, you've all wasted your last minutes listening to me go on about something you can't stop." Reed chuckled again. "That must be torture…" the record cut promptly to static.

            At that moment, Tom came in. He walked with a slight limp due to the wound in his leg. "What was that?" He asked, claiming reign over Dorian's chair again. He glanced at the gramophone and stopped the record. "Discover anything new?"

            "Indeed," Nemo said. "Make ready, Mr. Sawyer. We are heading to America."

A/N: Ok, so here's the scoop. Obviously, I can pump out chapters pretty fast, but I have a math teacher whose purpose is to make my life miserable. Yay calculus. (Note the sarcasm.) Plus, I'm in a play that takes up most of my time. (If I only had a laptop!) But, as I said earlier, Spring Break is a mere week away, and I can probably do a chapter a day if my mother doesn't have me cleaning house, or if I'm not at rehearsal. So, it'll take a while, but the chapters will start pouring in! (And there was much rejoicing. *yay* Sorry, a little Monty Python there.)