A/n: Thanks for the reviews and sorry (so sorry) that this took so long to update! I do not own LXG or any of its characters (sobs). I just had to make Dorian a bit more self centered in this chapter.

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Venezuela was a welcome change from Canada, or at least that's what Skinner thought. Sure the weather was hot; the jungle was packed with wild animals that could kill anyone in a split second, and everyone was dressed in heavy clothing, but at least it wasn't cold. Skinner hated the cold, it ruined his skin, made him chap, then he'd have to yank off the skin and peel away the dead layers. He thought it was fun but his roommate, Tom, was not as fond of it as he. Downright revolted him, actually.

Dorian, however, was not adjusting to the warm temperatures as well as Skinner. It caused him to become irritable and even ruder. This in turn, caused everyone else to avoid him. Even though sometimes they were a boring group, they at least had their moments. It also made him sweat, and Dorian Gray did not sweat, it made him look shiny.

Alexandria wasn't favoring the weather either. It had caused her usually calm demeanor to take a leaping dive right out the window.

Galaxia was in absolute hysterics. Her hair was ruined! Damn this heat! How could she ever get that pretty orb from Tom if her hair was in such a terrible condition?! How could she even talk to Tom with hair like this?!

Quartermain just didn't care about the weather, he had lived in Africa most his life, and he was used to it. Mina was a bit annoyed but wouldn't let on that it bothered her. Jekyll had become accustomed but Hyde was stressing out, yelling to be released.

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Tom, becoming bored decided he would be the first to check for Catherine Rouge's layer. As he left the Nautilus, he heard the usual jungle noises and started to absorb in the atmosphere. Keeping his hands to his side, where his pistols lie in waiting, he walked into the think underbrush.

Seeing that the foliage was thick, he was about to turn back when he heard a gunshot ring out. 'Must be Quartermain' he thought and headed back towards the large lake where the Nautilus had docked. Again, another shot. But this time, he sensed it was closer. Another and another. That was when Tom realized, he was under attack! He pulled out his pistols, a bullet nearly missing his arm. Who was it? Where was he? Tom shot towards a patch of foliage and began to sidestep back to the Nautilus. It was only a few feet away when he felt something hot graze his shoulder. It hadn't hit directly, only a skin wound. Now, he saw the Nautilus door open and realized Andromeda was exiting. She was caught off guard as he yelled for her to get back in the ship when he saw her fall. He ran towards her, dodging more bullets, picked her up and flung himself inside. He quickly slammed the door but not before seeing a man walk out of the bush. He recognized the blonde hair and tipped hat. It was him.

Had it not been for Jekyll walking down the corridor at that precise moment, Tom might have fainted.

"Tom! Andromeda!" Jekyll yelled and raced towards them. Somewhat instinctively, he pulled out his orb and placed it next to Andromeda. Even though she didn't know it, her body went into stupor which caused her wound to stop bleeding. With Nemo's help, Jekyll managed to get Andromeda and Tom up to his room. Nemo could handle Tom who was incessantly babbling "Me, me, it was all me." Jekyll quickly ripped open the shoulder of Andromeda's shirt, making sure the orb was close by.

"Nemo, you might want to turn away," Jekyll instructed, holding up a pair of surgical tongs. Nemo nodded and put his back to Jekyll and the next thing he heard was the very audible scream of Andromeda. Even the daze of the orb couldn't stop the pain she felt when the tongs entered the bloody, fleshy wound and pulled out the bullet slowly. Jekyll felt sorry for her, but the bullet had to be removed. He gave one last tug and, seeing the blood, the bullet came loose. At that exact same moment, Andromeda fainted.

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Holding the bullet removed from Andromeda's shoulder, Quartermain's eyebrows furrowed in concentration. It was one of Sawyer's bullets (he knew this by the markings) but he also knew Tom would never shoot a member of the league. Tom had been given sedatives so he couldn't be expected to defend himself in a logical manner at the present time. What exactly had happened? All Jekyll knew was that he was going to Nemo's room when he walked past the exit and saw Andromeda and Tom both lying on the floor. He had, of course, alerted Nemo, and they both helped Tom and Andromeda. Something was missing. Who was the shooter? Was it Tom or could it have been one of Catherine Rogue's cronies who had just happened to get Tom's bullets? The rest of his time until supper was spent pondering questions like these.

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Nemo broke the news to the rest of the crew at supper. To Galaxia's double dismay though. As if it wasn't stressful enough having your own sister shot and having an orb holder thought the shooter, she had fixed her hair and now he wouldn't get to see it! Galaxia began to weep into her hands. Skinner, being the gentleman he was, placed his arms around Galaxia and whispered that everything would be alright.

Dorian and Alexandria glanced at each other. Where was Tom? What part did he play in this fiasco? Alexandria suddenly realized she was staring at Dorian. She quickly glared and looked back at her soup. She swirled her spoon around it for a second and dared to take another glance at him. What was he doing? She wondered as she watched him reach into his shirt. Her mind went blank again.

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"Could you please refrain from doing that at supper Dorian?" he heard someone ask. He turned to the voice and was surprised to see it was Jekyll.

"But she does look beautiful completely still like that, almost a human statue," he said and stared at her. She blinked, but very slowly and remained very still. Dorian placed the orb back to its original holding place and she came out of her daze, knowing nothing of Jekyll defending her and knowing nothing of Dorian's stares.

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