Ok here is the next chapter, sorry that it took me so long to get this one up again I had trouble on the ending but thanks to Clez and Gemini I got it up.

Oh and do I really need to tell you all that I don't own the League??

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Tom stood at the docks as the steamboat prepared to leave Turning around, he smiled at the rest of the League who had come to see him off.

"You sure that you don't want to come?" He had tried to talk them into coming with him but they had all declined saying that he needed this time with his family. Skinner had commented that they would all invade the town later.

"Yes Agent Sawyer we are," Mina smiled. Tom smirked at her and shrugged.

"So I guess this is it for now." The League nodded, each wore a different expression on his or her face, but Tom could tell they were all going to miss him as much as he would them. Walking over Tom offered his hand to the Captain, who shook it firmly.

"My Lady will always have a place for you Agent Sawyer." Nemo gave Tom one of his rare smiles.

"Thank you Nemo." He turned to Dr. Jekyll who was standing beside the captain.

"You will be greatly missed Tom." Jekyll said taking Tom's hand. His head cocked to the side for a moment before he smiled. "Edward even says that it will be too quiet without you." Tom smiled. He had barely let go of the doctor's hand before Skinner grabbed him in a bear hug. Laughing Tom returned it.

"Hurry up and come back Sawyer...it won't be much fun being stuck with them all the time," Skinner joked.

"Oh you mean you aren't going to enjoy bugging them on your own," Tom said as he pulled back from the thief playfully giving him a punch in the arm.

"Naw...though I guess that I can handle things for a while." Tom chuckled before turning to Mina. He found him self at a complete loss as to what to do; he supposed that out of all the League that he was the closest to Mina, so why was he having such a hard time saying goodbye? Finally he offered her his hand. Mina choose to ignore it as she moved over to him; looking up at him for a moment she did something rather out of character for her. She quickly put her arms around him in a hug. Surprised by her actions Tom hesitated a moment before returning the gesture.

"Please be careful Tom," Mina whispered before pulling back. Tom met her gaze, his mischievous eyes completely serious for once.

"Don't worry; I'll do my best to stay out of trouble." Just then the whistle of the steamboat cut through the morning air. "I guess I'd better get on board." Grabbing his bags he headed up the ramp. Coming to stand at the top deck he watched the League still standing on the dock till they faded into the distance.



Leaning on the rail of the steamboat Tom watched as St. Petersburg slowly came into view. He smiled as he thought of the first person the he was going to find; Becky Thatcher. The last time he had seen her had not been a happy one.

"Tom!" He turned to see Becky running towards him. She wore a black dress; her hastily pinned up hair was escaping from her bun and falling around her face. She stopped an arms length from him, tears streaming down her cheeks. She suddenly threw her arms around Tom,

"Oh Tom! I'm sorry; I'm so, so, sorry!"

Becky had stayed by his side during the entire funeral, slipping her small hand into his as they lowered the coffin into the ground. Joe had been right there too; he and Becky had been the last ones to leave but Tom found that he hadn't been able to follow them out.

Tom stood in front of the freshly turned earth, dimly aware that everyone else had left. Tom couldn't hold it in any longer; the flood of tears that had been held back for days broke loose. Tom dropped to his knees staring at the headstone: Huckleberry Finn, Beloved friend and American Agent. 1875-1899
Tom jumped when a hand rested on his shoulder and someone knelt beside him. Tom stood up; turning away he hastily wiped away his tears ashamed to be caught with his guard down. The hand reached up and stopped him.

"Tom," Becky said, turning him to face her "he was your best friend; its okay to cry." Tom nodded mutely, the tears starting to fall again. Becky slipped her arms around him, sobbing softly into his shoulder. Tom wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, but his grief had slowly been changing into determination. He would see the Fantom brought to justice; he would pay for killing Huck. Becky felt Tom tense; pulling away from him she looked into his eyes. Though still filled with tears they also had a different light to them that she couldn't place.

"Tom..." He put a finger to her lips.

"Becky, promise me that you will wait for me." "Tom I don't under stand what..."

"Just promise me. Please Becky!" He begged staring into her eyes. She gazed back, tears starting to form again.

"I promise Tom. I promise." Silence fell between them; Tom could feel the tension building "You're going after him." It was not a question.

"Yes." Tom couldn't bring him self to look her in the eye as he said this. A small sob escaped from Becky's lips ripping into his already wounded heart. She cradled his face with her hands, forcing him to look at her.

"Please Tom, don't go. He's already killed Huck, I...I don't know what I'd do if I lost you!"

"You won't Becky," he reached up, brushing the tears from her face. His hand lingered a moment, her soft cheek cupped in his calloused hand. "I'll come back, you'll see. I" he paused "I just can't sit here knowing that man is out there somewhere."

"But why you? There are other agents who could do this!" One look into Tom's eyes and Becky knew the answer. This was personal; the man had taken his best friend and Tom was not going to sit by and let someone else do the job.

"I have to do this Becky." She nodded in defeat Tom leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. Leaning up Becky placed a kiss on his lips before turning and running out of the church yard allowing Tom the chance to properly say goodbye to Huck. Tom watched her leave, hand on his lips before turning back to the grave.

"I'd never hear the end of that if you were still here would I?" He knelt down beside the grave again, though the tears didn't come this time. "I'll get him Huck...I promise. I won't let him get away with this."

"St. Petersburg!" A crewman yelled, jerking Tom out of his thoughts. Looking around he saw that they had just docked. Tom practically ran down the gangway, nearly knocking over on of the dock-hands. Shouting an apology over his shoulder, he set off at a fast pace toward a familiar house.

As he neared the white, picket fence that surrounded the Thatcher house Tom began to feel hesitant.

"Has she waited...What if she doesn't want to see me?"

He was just about to turn back when someone came around the corner of the house. It was a young woman in a light blue dress that fit her perfectly; the wind tugged at her golden hair as it fell around her shoulders. Tom's breath caught in his throat; was Becky. She was far more beautiful than he remembered. Looking up she saw him standing by the gate.

"Can I help you?" She asked walking toward him. "She doesn't know who I am!" he thought. Then he remembered that he was wearing his hat so she couldn't see his face. His heart quickened as she came closer.

"I got him." Tom finally said; Becky froze.

"Excuse me?" Tom moved closer to the fence

"I got him Becky." He raised his hat so she could see his face. His heart froze when she didn't react immediately.

"Tom? ...Tom!" Before he could even blink she had run around the fence and thrown her arms around his neck, knocking his hat off. Tom fiercely retuned the embrace; suddenly spinning her around making her giggle. When they finally pulled apart, Becky had tears running down her cheeks.

"Tom I've missed you so much! I was so afraid that you were never coming back...that I'd never see you again." Tom reached up cupping her face in his hands and gentility wiped her tears away with his thumbs.

"Oh Becky, that will never happen." He leaned his forehead against hers "I love you." He whispered. Becky stared at him for a moment, not sure if had really just said that. The look in his eyes told her that he had. Becky smiled, moving her hand to the back of his neck she pulled him into a kiss.

Becky was kissing him! Tom moved his hand to gently caress her cheek assuring himself that she was real; that this was no dream.

Becky's mind was racing, conflicting emotions and questions battled for control, but she pushed them down. They could wait all she cared about now what that he was back, he was safe and he still loved her.

Pulling apart they stared at each other, memorizing every detail of the other's face. Becky brushed the hair aside that had once again fallen in front of Tom's eyes.

"Tom I've missed you so much!" Tom felt a pang of guilt when she said this; he shouldn't have stayed away so long, but as he thought about it he really hadn't wanted to come back. He had had no desire to face the memories or people this place held. Though one look at Becky's face and he knew that he had been wrong.

"I shouldn't have stayed away so long...I'm not going to stay away that long ever again. I promise you that."

His statement caused all the questions in Becky's mind to resurface unable to hold them back any longer they came out in a rush.

"Where...where have you been? What took so long? Why didn't you come back sooner? How..." Tom laughed and put a finger over Becky's lips to stop the flow of questions.

"Whoa, whoa...one at a time." He grinned "Now what was the first one?" "Where have you been?" Becky repeated, returning his smile. Tom let out a breath of air; this was going to be a long answer. They started walking as he tried to think of how to tell her every thing that had happened to him without having to go into much detail.

"Well to tell you the truth, I've been just about everywhere." Becky raised her eyebrows "Really; after I left her I managed to trail the Fantom to London. After joining with the League we went to Paris, then to Venice, and from there all the way to Mongolia." Becky had no idea what he was talking about but she knew that she would get it in more detail later, she didn't want to interrupt him at this point knowing that if she did he might not ever tell her all of it. "Mongolia is where we finally caught up with the Fantom," Tom smiled humorlessly "I was the one that finally shot him." Becky was confused by the look on his face, after all that was what he had set out to do.

"That's a good thing isn't it Tom? I mean that is why you went after him....to stop him." Tom nodded and turned to face her.

"Yes it is, but it came at a higher price than I had hoped. Yet another of my friends gave their life for mine." Tom hung his head and started walking again; he felt her small hand slip into his.

"I know that's hard to lose someone Tom...but I'm glad that they saved you. I don't know what I would do if you had never come home." Becky continued before he could speak "So after you killed the Fantom where did you go?"

"Well we took Allen's body to Africa to be buried beside his son. And then Nemo said that some of the League had been hiding from the world for too long at that we should see it anew as the century turned. So I've been traveling the world with the League for the past five months or so." Becky stopped walking when he said this. Tom didn't notice till he felt her hand slide out of his. He turned around to face her. "What's wrong Becky?"

"You were just "seeing the world" for the past five months?" Her tone was straight, no emotion showed through.

"Well yes...that and..." Tom didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before Becky shoved him in the chest.

"You mean to tell me Tom Sawyer that while I was waiting here wondering if you were even still alive you were out joy riding?!" Tom had not been expecting that reaction and lost his balance landing in the dirt on his rear in front of her.

"No, no! We were doing things other than seeing the world..."

"I'm sure!" Becky turned on her heel and started to walk away. Tom shot forward and caught her arm.

"Please Becky!" Tom bit his lip "You're right...I should have come home sooner...it's just I wasn't sure that I could." Becky glared at him trying to pull her arm out of his grip.

"And just why was that?" Tom sighed, he knew the answer it was just so hard to say it.

"Because, when I went after the man that killed Huck I thought that it would make it better if I could kill him., that things wouldn't hurt as bad knowing that I'd avenged his death but after I shot the Fantom nothing changed and I...I didn't want to come home were all the memories where...I didn't think that I could take it." Becky had quit trying to pull her arm from his grip now, and her face had softened. "I know now that I was wrong to stay away for so long...I...I'm sorry Becky. I was being selfish, I should have thought about..." Becky put a finger to his lips.

"No Tom, I shouldn't have reacted like that. I know now how hard this has been for you; I should have known that coming home would be more difficult than anything else because it means that you really have to say goodbye to Huck." Tom looked down at the ground avoiding her eyes; he started to let his hand slip off her arm but she caught it in her own. There were tears in his eyes when he looked back up at her.

"Will you come with me...to say goodbye I mean."

"Oh Tom, of course I'll come." Tom shifted to his knees and started to stand up, his free hand finding its way to his pants pocket out of habit. He froze though as his hand closed around an object in his pocket. He pulled it out and looked at it, holding it so that Becky couldn't see it. He smiled; it was his mother's ring. He had stolen it from Aunt Polly's dresser years ago when he had been looking the key to the cabinet she had taken to locking the sweets in and had just kept it with him after he found out who's it had been. He had been gathering his bags his bags together on the steamboat when it had fallen out of a hole in the pocket he had been keeping it in; so he had just slipped it into his pocket, never giving it another thought. He looked back up at Becky who was watching him curiously.

"Say Becky." A cheeky grin crept onto his face "Was you ever engaged?" Becky laughed at the statement remembering the incident from their childhood.

"Only to you Tom Sawyer." Then it hit her as to what he was asking.

"Would you like to be?" Becky's breath caught in her throat

"Tom..." she couldn't say anything else.

"Becky...would you marry me?" the silence that lasted for the next few seconds was the longest time in Tom's entire life. His mind raced afraid that she would say no, telling him that he need to say more but his voice wouldn't come; he stared into her face. A tear slipped down her cheek before she spoke so softly that he almost didn't hear it.

"Yes." Tom let out the breath that he hadn't even realized that he was holding his face lighting up. "Oh Yes!" she said throwing her arms around his neck. Tom stood up holding her tightly to him. Becky had tears running down her cheeks as she held tightly onto Tom not really believing this had just happened. She pulled back a bit from him looking into his eyes; he leaned his forehead ageist hers.

"I love you." He said before leaning in and kissing her. Becky melted into him joy flowing over her as he held her close; she couldn't remember ever feeling as safe or as happy has she did now in Tom's arms. Ending the kiss Tom just held Becky close; suddenly he pulled back.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" He held up the ring, taking her hand Tom slipped it onto her finger; it fit perfectly. Becky gasped.

"Tom...where did you get this? It's...it's beautiful!" Tom took her hands in his

"It was my mothers." Becky looked up at him in shock

"You're giving it to me?" Tom smiled

"I can't think of any one else who I would want to have it." Becky started to say something else but Tom cut her off with another kiss, which she returned. For the first time in nearly a year Tom was truly happy.


Shout-outs

Clez: thanks a lot for your help... and yeah looks like you, me and Tom have the patience thing in common.

Duce-Gemini: yeah yeah I know more romance, but the action is comming I promise.

Raven-Slivers: Glad you like! There shall be a lot more on the way

LotRseer3350: Don't worry I will bring the League to St. Petersburg just not quite yet.

thanks to all for the reviews!!! Keep them comming!!!