Disclaimer: Blah, Blah, Blah I don't own LXG, no matter how much I would love to. I don't own Tom Sawyer, Mina Hawker, Skinner, Captain Nemo, Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde. I do own the baddies, the other American Agents and the girls. Glad someone is still reading this and so sorry it took so long to up-date! Hope everyone likes this part. The title is from a Placebo song.
Clez:- Well, you could not leave a review by... ah, not leaving a review ;) Glad you liked it all and a slight homage to Jack Sparrow? How ever did you spot that? =) Anyway, hope you like this part.
Tannash:- Aww, thanks, you're so nice! Here's the next part, enjoy!
LotRseer3350:- Yes, I have a feeling that Tom's relationship with his mentor may become more important in later parts... *grins*
Angel32:- You've been to my website??? *Is now amazingly happy* Glad you enjoyed it, I've really got to start working on my 'Coming Soon' ones. [Everyone else, I have a LXG website! You can reach it via my bio.] Thanks for the review :D
devilburns:- And here's some more.
Silver_Eagle: Jessie_West:- I've updated as soon as I could. Here's hoping you like this part as much as the other chapters.
Mrs. Sawyer:- How about now? Is this soon enough to update?
And now, without any further ado...
Tainted View.
~~~
Part 4:- Passive Aggressive
~~~
The room was only dimly lit by the soft glow of two lamps. However, the person in the cabin had no need for brighter light when the muted light had the wanted effect. The young woman sat on a hard backed chair, her head bent over a wooden desk as she scribbled something with a thick black pen.
A low muttering could be heard coming out of the woman's mouth, thought the tone was so filled with rage and the voice twisted with so much anger, that it was impossible to even recognize the voice as one that belonged to a female. She kept up a continuos stream of hate filled words, as she savagely stabbed at the paper she was writing on with her black pen.
"... Seen the way he looks at her. The tart, trying to steal my Tom away from me. She's nothing more than a whore dressed up, what with her flaunting her body in front of him until he doesn't know where to turn. It's not his fault though, it's all hers. I guess I'll just have to teach her a lesson, show her what happens when she messes with my man..." A shrill hysterical laugh escaped from her mouth as she dropped the pen onto the desk and let it roll away from her.
Nodding in satisfaction at her work, the woman picked up the paper and turned it towards the nearest lamp, admiring her artwork. The paper was, in fact, a photo. A photo of Mina Harker, taken by the American government for their records and stolen by this woman for her own twisted reasons. The image, however, was hardly recognizable as the Immortal Vampire. Holes had been gouged in it, black pen scribbled all over it. It looked crude, something a child would do, but the underlining feeling was only too clear.
Hate.
There was a knock at the door and the young woman quickly hid the image at the back of one of her draws before slipping her mental mask of sanity over her her face, trying to change her face back to normal. With a sly smile, the young American stood up and headed towards the door where one of Nemo's sailors was waiting for her.
~~~
"There must be some reason why Roger Noir is after these girls." Mina insisted, Tom nodding his head in agreement with her. The League were standing in the conference room, trying to form some plan or discover the reasoning behind the attacks. Five hours had passed since the girls had first entered the Nautilus, each being taken to cabins for some rest. A few minutes ago, Nemo had sent out three of his sailors to each collect a girl and bring them here in the hope of getting some answers.
Gemma entered first, her brown clear eyes instantly fixing on Tom. She then scanned the rest of the room before returning her cool gaze on the other American.
"Be careful what you say to Dove, she's still hurting, and you would only make it worse." She said in her rich American accent. Tom nodded. Sighing slightly, Gemma raised a hand to her eyes and rubbed at them, still feeling very tired but unable to sleep, the confusion and fear still buzzing around her head.
It was at this moment, the Dove chose to enter, pausing at the doorway, her pale arms wrapped around her body, her red hair hanging limply from her head, the slight wave in it gone completely. Her eyes were still red from crying - though the look in them was distant and blank. She was clearly still in some kind of shock. Nemo and Jekyll exchanged glances before the latter moved forward and cautiously placed a hand on the young woman's arm. She flinched slightly but other than that, Dove gave no reaction.
"Dove? Dove, it Gemma, come on honey, talk to me." Gemma pleaded, moving towards her friend. Dove seemed to snap out of her daze slightly and she stared at Gemma before sighing slightly and lowering her eyes, stepping further into the room. Rachel entered a second later, her slumped shoulders and facial expression giving her the appearance of a defeated woman. She silently moved over to stand next to Gemma, Dove hovering on the other side of Gemma. It was clear to the watching League that Gemma was the oldest - in maturity if nothing else. The other two girls seemed to look to her for advice and stayed close to her for comfort. The three girls sat down in the chairs they were offered; Gemma again flanked by the other two. Dove started to twist at a ring on her finger while Rachel stared at the floor.
"Can you think of any reason why this Roger Noir is after you?" Tom asked at last, unable to stand the silence any longer. The girls looked at each other and shrugged before Gemma answered.
"We have no idea...?" She trailed off, clearly wanting to know the young American's name.
"It's Agent Sawyer Ma'am." Tom said. Gemma nodded, a slight frown on her face. Rachel's head snapped up, a spark of interest in her blue eye as her eyes swept Tom from head to foot. Then she turned to Gemma and whispered something in her ear. The dark haired woman listened with interest at what the younger woman was saying before glancing over at Tom.
"Rachel says that you are the Agent who stopped the Fantom?" Gemma said. The wording made it sound like a statement, but the lilt at the end made it clear it was a question. Tom tried to answer, but found himself unable to do so in words and so had to make do with a brisk nod of the head. He still found it hard to talk about the Fantom, even after eight months. Tom was starting to have a nagging feeling that he wasn't dealing with what happened in Mongolia - and before - as well as he could be. He quickly pushed that thought away, preferring to ignore his problems in the hope that they would then cease.
"We can't help you!" Dove suddenly screamed. "Don't you think we would if we could? We can't help you..."
"Because we don't know what Noir wants." Rachel said, finishing Dove's sentence. The pale skinned girl looked at Rachel for a few moments before giving a small nod, a tear escaping from her face.
"Yeah... we don't know..." Dove muttered, looking down at the table. The League looked at each other.
"I think we are all still a bit tied." Gemma announced, looking at the other two girls for support. "Could we go back to our cabins Captain?" she added. There was a tiny, almost un-noticeable pause, then Nemo nodded at the three sailors who had brought the girls.
"Of course, Miss. Gemma." He said politely. "My sailors will take you back to your cabins, it is very easy to get lost at first on the Nautilus." He said, managing to make it seem like getting lost on his vessel was some kind of honor. The three girls quietly stood up and left the room. When the door had closed behind the last girl Mina spoke up.
"Did anyone else get the feeling that those girls are being less than truthful to us?" She asked.
"There was something funny in the way they were acting." Skinner said, bobbing his hat up and down. Jekyll and Nemo both made noises to show they agreed. That only left Tom, who was sitting silently in his chair, a distant look in his eyes. It was with a great effort - or so it seemed to Mina and the rest - that Tom pulled himself back into the present.
"Pardon?" He asked, a blank look on his face as he looked at the other members of the League. Mina sighed lightly.
~~~
The Nautilus rose to the surface, braking through the water and resting gently against the dock. Captain Nemo had deemed it necessary to keep the submarine submerged while the girls were aboard for their own safely and was now only rising as Tom had insisted on reporting to Agent Caliban. Mina frowned at Tom's insistence but didn't say anything.
//Can we really trust Caliban? How did Noir know where to go for the girls... and why is he after them?\\ These and many other thoughts ran around Mina's head. True Agent Caliban's own daughter had died herself but who knew what drove men like the Fantom and Noir to do what they do? However, she didn't pursue the matter with any other League members, as she had no evidence. It could just be Mina herself was paranoid.
A hatch opened in the Nautilus and Tom strode down the ramp, the rest of the League trailing behind him. For now, it was best to stick together, at least, until they properly found out what they were up against.
~~~
"We have to tell them the truth!" Dove hissed, her eyes straying to the closed door where three sailors were standing, on the other side. Rachel looked uncertain and shrugged her shoulders, chewing at her bottom lip. Gemma stared at them both, a hard look in her eyes.
"We can't Dove. You know we can't. If we did... you know what will happen if any more people find out." She said calmly. Dove laughed bitterly.
"Yes, I know. They will die, just like everyone else dies!" She spat out, the words sounding ugly, when they came from her delicate mouth.
"Dove, calm down." Rachel pleaded. Dove glared at her friend but relaxed slightly. Gemma was still watching Dove, a curious expression on her face.
"Promise you won't tell them." She said suddenly. "This is more important than our own lives, you know that, otherwise you wouldn't have agreed to do what you are doing." Dove's mouth fell open and she began to twist at the ring on her finger before sighing and answering in a low, defeated tone.
"Fine. I promise I won't tell them."
~~~
Roughly five minutes away from the docks a young man was walking through the empty streets of New York. He strode through the darkness, his black clothes blending his whole body perfectly with the shadows that were attached to the buildings. The man turned sharply into an ally and placed a gloved black hand on his silk mask.
"Noir?" A voice said from the back of the ally. A long haired, greasy faced man materialized out of the darkness. "Oh, good, it is you. I have the information you wanted." The man said. Noir lifted a hand to the man and shook his head.
"You already know, don't you?" The newcomer said. Roger Noir nodded and if the mask wasn't covering his face, it would have been possible to see the cruel smile on his face.
~~~
The League were all standing in front of what had once been the New York HQ of the American Secret Service. But no longer. The building was now only a shell of what it had once been, burnt timbers lying on the ground and black ash sprinkled around the area in large clumps. The shock and disbelief on Tom's face as he stared at the burnt out building was mirrored on the faces of the rest. There was a sound behind them and both Tom and Jekyll turned, the former pulling out his twin Colt's as he moved and aiming at them where the sound had originated from. They peered into the darkness of the shadows as the sound came again, a sound of shuffling sound, accompanied by a harsh, wheezing sound.
Tom slowly took a step forward and his eyes widened slightly, blinking as he stared at the thing in front of him in horror. Behind him he heard Dr. Jekyll give a gasp.
"My God..." The Doctor whispered, his face drained of all color.
TBC...
Please leave a review and let me know what everyone thought of this part. Boring? Exciting? Good? Bad? Somewhere in between?
~Sethoz