A/N: Hey, I've hit double digits with my chapters! This calls for some triumphant background music… *trumpets begin playing the guitar solo for "We Will Rock You"* Hehehe, a little Knight's Tale humor there. Thanks for the suggestions! Some I'll use, some I won't. Don't feel bad if I don't use your suggestion – it may pop up somewhere else down the road! Also, I kinda stole a line from Pirates of the Caribbean, but it worked really, really well with what was going on…
Steffi-333 ~ Oh, what some people will do just to receive oh-so sexy glares from Dorian. :-P
WhIPpeD CrEaM 0 ~ You like it when people get hurt, do you? You sound like one of my OCs, goes by the name of Desonya, likes to maim people. :-P Cabby? *giggle* Cabrilyn has a nickname now!
schizomaniax ~ skinner o skinner! why the bloody hell do you have to be always invisible?! *uproarious laughter* Ok, I found that incredibly amusing!
elven-emma ~ Because it would be hard to keep Dorian in the boat if he kept going through the floor!
"I've done what I could…" the voice was distant, soft, as if she were hearing it from under water. "She's lost a lot of blood…" A group of shadowy figures came into her view. They peered down at her, and if they spoke, she didn't hear. Fatigue and fever were weighing down on her like a ton of bricks. She shut her eyes and slipped into blissful unconsciousness…
Cabrilyn was lying in one of the beds in the Nautilus' infirmary. What little color there had been in her face had gone, leaving her eerily white. Her blond hair was plastered to her forehead with sweat and she was running a fever. Jekyll was across the room, washing his hands. He'd removed the shard of glass and done what else he could for her, now it was a waiting game. The real test for her would be surviving through the night. If she did, then maybe, just maybe she'd pull through. Tom, Skinner, and Mina were standing around her, none of them sure what to say, and all guiltily wondering how they would find Reed and his invisible army if she died.
The wicked shard of glass lay on the edge of the skink where Jekyll was washing his hands. One end was still covered in Cabrilyn's brilliant, red blood. The doctor couldn't help but stare at it, and instead of seeing his own reflection in the glass, Hyde met his gaze. "She won't make it, Henry… You know as well as I do…" Hyde said in his deep growl. "Be quiet," Jekyll said shortly. He did not want to have to deal with fighting off his alter ego and the prospect of loosing another League member. He'd done all he could, the rest, was up to Cabrilyn. Jekyll dried his hands and issued a sigh. "Leave her be," he said. "We just have to wait and see what happens. In the meantime, we'd better see what we could do to help repair the ship."
"Right," Tom said. "Just standin' here isn't helping anybody." He thrust his hands into his pockets and threw a glance at Cabrilyn before he left. Mina sighed and followed him. Skinner lingered.
Jekyll unrolled his sleeves and looked curiously at the gentleman thief. "Coming?"
"Hm? Oh, um, yeah. Be there in a minute," he replied distractedly. Jekyll simply nodded and left – he did not feel he needed to know what was running through Skinner's mind right now. In reality, Skinner wasn't even sure what was running through his mind right now. His thoughts kept drifting back to that instant he saw Cabrilyn just lying there on the floor, near death, covered in her own blood… he'd been terrified. In fact, he was still terrified – terrified that she might not wake up from this incident, as she had from Dr. Owen's operation.
'She can't die,' he thought. 'We need her…' And he chided himself thoroughly for such a thought. She was a person, not some secret weapon. It was no better than worrying about Jekyll because they needed Hyde, or worrying about Nemo because they needed his ship. Skinner could understand those kinds of thoughts coming from the others, not that he condoned it, but he understood – none of the others really knew Cabrilyn. Skinner did. It was just by chance that he was passing by her room that night and heard her yelling in her sleep, and he only meant to see if she was okay, he didn't think she'd invite him in. He learned a lot more about Cabrilyn than he'd bargained for, but then, she probably learned a lot more about him than she'd bargained for too…
* * *
"Where is Skinner?"
"Calm down Tom," Jekyll replied, grabbing a seat at the grand table where the rest of the League was assembled. "He'll show up in a minute. He had… something to do."
Tom raised an eyebrow and was about to ask what on earth would Skinner have to do, when Dorian came sauntering in. "Dorian," Tom said, detest creeping into his voice. "What are you doing here?"
Dorian pulled out a chair and took a seat, reveling in being able to sit down again. "I'm part of the League, aren't I?" He replied.
"Not as I see it," Tom said shortly.
"Well, as I see it, I could've just sat back and waited for you all to join me in the afterlife courtesy of Mr. Reed's Nautilus."
Tom opened his mouth to make some sort of comeback, but nothing came to mind. Instead, it was Jekyll who spoke, not bothering to hide his dislike for Mina's former lover, "Do you think that puts you in the right?" He asked. "One good deed is not enough to redeem a man of a lifetime of wickedness, or in your case, several lifetimes of wickedness."
"Henry…" Mina said softly.
Jekyll stared at her. "You can't possibly tell me you're willing to give him another chance! You of all people!" Mina said nothing and her silence was enough reassurance for the doctor. "I don't believe this! Mina, he's a traitor!"
"Was a traitor, Henry," Mina said sharply. "Dorian isn't like that anymore…"
"And Dorian really appreciates the way you talk about him like he's not here," Dorian said sardonically. "Acknowledge my presence, if you please."
"Aw, what makes you think we'd want to do a thing like that?"
Dorian turned around in his chair and let out a slightly annoyed sigh. "Hello Skinner."
"Hello Dorian," Skinner replied, not bothering to hide his contempt either. He found an empty chair opposite the doctor and sat down. "Nice to see you back among the living," he stated, sarcasm dripping from his words.
"I am curious about that," Nemo said, trying very hard not to show his dislike for the immortal as the others so blatantly did. "How did you manage to come back?"
Dorian shrugged. "I had nothing to do with my coming back – that I'm certain of. I don't know how or why I'm here. Honest."
"Yeah, I'm so sure that's it," Skinner muttered.
"I heard that," Dorian said, shooting a glance down the table at Skinner.
"Would you two stop it?" Tom said. "Look, we have to stop Reed regardless of Dorian being here, or Cabrilyn being in the infirmary, so deal with it."
Dorian's eyebrows shot up. "Yes sir," he replied scathingly. Tom silenced him with a glance. He didn't like Dorian being back amongst them any more than the others did, but he had resigned to the fact that nothing short of an exorcist would get Dorian to leave. They would just have to deal with it.
Skinner couldn't help it – Tom was staring daggers at Dorian and he just had to make a joke. "Ooh, Dorian, if looks could kill…"
"Don't even attempt to finish that sentence, Skinner," Dorian said coldly.
Tom sighed. "This is getting us nowhere! Can we at least try and talk about something constructive? Like, Dorian, what did you do to that other ship?"
"I blew it up."
"No, really? I mean, how did you blow it up? And I don't wanna hear any of your high-and-mighty attitude."
Dorian shot Tom a look of extreme dislike. He never enjoyed being bossed around, and since when did this cocky young American inherit the right to give orders? "I went through the wall, into the ocean and onto the other ship," he said callously. "I knew what it would take to blow up the ship because, after all, I was the one responsible for capturing this vessel's secrets on our last little trip. It wasn't all that different once I got inside."
"Indeed," Nemo muttered.
"Captain…" Tom said warningly. He then turned to the business at hand. "So, we're dead in the water right now. We need to make repairs as fast as we can. Reed obviously knows we're on our way, and hopefully he hasn't got an entire navy waiting for us, but if he does," he eyed Dorian, who purposely looked away. Tom rolled his eyes – he would have to have a talk with Dorian later – and continued, "Nemo will give everyone jobs to do to help with repairs, and I mean everyone. That means you, too, Skinner. Captain?"
Nemo nodded. "Right…"
* * *
It was dark, and she didn't know where she was or what had happened. She only felt the pain, and the cold. The sound of the explosion rang in her ears for what seemed like a lifetime, and the flying glass haunted her dreams. She just lay there, cold and hurting for what felt like forever. Then… warmth… she felt warmth… only a little bit, on her hand. Somewhere in her subconscious, she realized, someone was holding her hand. She clung to that warmth with all her will. It beckoned her to life…
Cabrilyn's eyelids slowly fluttered open. It was nighttime, and the infirmary was dark. She could just make out someone standing beside her bed. She tried to shift her position. White-hot pain gripped her chest, and stole her breath. She winced, fighting the darkness closing in around her vision again and settled back into her bed. Moving would not be an option. She decided to chance talking instead. "Who's there?" She asked, managing to get her voice just above a whisper. That, too, was painful.
"Cabrilyn?"
"Skinner?" She couldn't believe it. Not only was Skinner watching over her, he'd been holding her hand too. She didn't expect anyone to be this concerned about her, let alone Skinner of all people.
"Yes, it's me," Skinner said – he sounded somewhat embarrassed.
Cabrilyn decided to change the subject. "How long have… I… I been…?" She couldn't bring herself to finish. Talking was just too painful.
Skinner grasped what she was trying to ask. "Couple of days," he replied. "We weren't sure you'd come out of it."
'Yes, well, I had a little help…' Cabrilyn thought. She didn't know why Skinner had been holding her hand, but she was glad he did. It had brought her back, and for that, she would be eternally grateful.
* * *
The repairs were underway. Both the Nautilus and Cabrilyn were getting to be much better. Cabrilyn was well enough to be sitting up in bed and she was bored out of her mind. She had managed to get her hands on some paper and a chunk of charcoal, and was resurrecting her artistic talents, though, there wasn't much to sketch in the infirmary. At least it gave her something to do. She hated being bedridden, she felt so useless, but Jekyll had adamantly refused to let her leave. He said she needed more time to heal.
"Hmm, you're quite the little artist."
Cabrilyn started slightly, and, ignoring the pain in her chest, reprimanded her visitor, "Dorian, don't do that! Haven't you ever heard of knocking?"
Dorian passed the remainder of the way through the wall. "So sorry," he said, not sounding sorry in the least. "You never told me you drew."
"You never asked," Cabrilyn replied, turning her attention back to her drawing.
Skinner came strolling in, a plate of food in hand. "Lunch is served…" He paused when he noticed Dorian standing there. "Dorian," he said shortly.
"Skinner," Dorian responded, and left. That was about the standard conversation between those two. Skinner hated Dorian with a passion. After all, it was Dorian who brought Skinner's invisible skin sample to M in the first place. He was convinced that if it hadn't been for Dorian, none of this would be happening.
Cabrilyn raised an eyebrow and set down her drawing utensils. "Ah, such tangled webs we weave."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Skinner asked. He handed her the plate. He'd volunteered for the job of looking after Cabrilyn when the doctor was unavailable – the others just assumed he took the job because it required minimum labor on his part. Cabrilyn didn't want to admit it, but she was beginning to enjoy the gentleman thief's company. He provided comic relief to her otherwise boring day.
"What I mean is, Dorian's part of the reason we're chasing Reed around, yet he's also the reason we're all not rotting at the bottom of the ocean right now," she shrugged.
"Humph," Skinner sat himself at the foot of her bed. "Right now, I'd rather be at the bottom of the ocean."
"Oh, stop your grousing," Cabrilyn said, poking idly at her lunch with her fork. "I know he doesn't have any right to be here, but he is."
Skinner didn't enjoy discussing Dorian, so he decided it was time for a subject change, "Are you going to eat that, or did I bring that incredibly heavy plate all the way down here for nothing?"
"Oh, I'm so sorry Skinner," Cabrilyn said in mock pity, "I didn't mean to have you do something so straining for no reason…" Suddenly, Jekyll came bursting into the room, followed by Tom and his Winchester rifle. Both had looks of urgency and concern on their faces. Cabrilyn had started at their arrival. "Does no one on this ship knock?" The she took note of the looks on their faces. Something wasn't right. "What is it?"
"Davis," Tom said. "He's loose."
A/N: *dramatic music* Dun-dun-dunnn! Ok, now, onward to Sweden! Why I picked Sweden is beyond me – maybe because there's a girl in my Youth Group who's from Sweden. I can ask her questions and be all accurate and stuff! Ooh! I is a genie-us! (Hehehe, me speak good, me is in speech!)