Disclaimer:- I don't own Tom Sawyer, Mina Harker, Skinner, Captain Nemo, Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde or anything else used in the fic, except Smith and Mr. Big. So, I was slightly faster this time round, wasn't I.

Clez:- Aww.... *is now a very interesting shade of red as she blushes* Thanks for that. I'm really, really, really glad you liked the Allan/Tom scene, spent ages writing and re-writing that one part...

Silversnow:- Why thank you. You're a very good writer as well.

Silent Bob 546:- *Watches as Tom backs away from Bob* Don't think he's pregnant... *Tom goes a funny shade of green and shakes head wildly* Well, Tom's fate - to do with the whole internal thing - is reveled in this part!

Hoshii-chan:- Thank you kindly.

Steffi-333:- hehehehe *laughs, a bit nervously* See... uh... Tom's savior. well... yes... I save Tom in this part and they eat chocolate and dance in fields of pretty flowers... *clears throat* Glad you liked Tom's battle...

LotRseer3350:- I hurried! I hurried as fast as my ikle fingers would let me.

Niani:- Crazy Niani sounds interesting. *grins*

Capt.Cow:- Hopefully this will ease some confusion.

Lyn:- Carried on. Hope you enjoy this part.

Graymoon74:- You remember you said you can't wait to find out what happens next? Well, some people say ignorance is bliss... ;)

Crystal Nox:- The dream girl is- nah, I'm not telling you yet! But she does indeed have a name and will play a bigger part in chapters to come. *watches you kidnap Skinner* Hey! I need him for this part!

ScifiRouge:- I know... some people can be so nasty to Tom can't they! Honestly, making him fight people he cares about... *shifty look*

funyun:- Okay, you found me out. But I am nice to Tom in this part... I promise... Well, the whole thing being Tom's fault is explained in this part. And the whole 'clever' drug thing is explained as well.

Now...

The Bodyguard.

~~~

Part Twenty-Two:- Eyes Open Boy

~~~

Outside of the Maze, the sand was blowing over the grizzled remains of Smith. All signs of life had long since fled and now only a skeleton remained. At least, that was what it looked like. If Mina had still been standing there she would have seen something that would had horrified her. The skeleton remains' of Smith were moving. They weren't standing up or heading towards the Maze with clear purpose. Instead they were twitching pathetically on the sand.

//Why am I still alive?\\ The thought drifted into his conscious thoughts and the skull shifted slightly, using his rapidly fading energy to try and answer that thought. When he had been stabbed and dropped to the ground a welcomed darkness had surrounded him, a cold creeping into his body and freezing his mind. He had waited - waited for his consciousness to rejoin the ranks of the Well. He had waited and he was rewarded by a sudden pain and light.

Smith was slowly dying. Somehow when the blade had entered his body it had not killed him instantly and his soul still lingered, clinging onto the mortal life. Which meant until he died there could be no new guardian of the Well, no-one to make sure everything worked as it should be. And even when the new guardian was formed, he or she would attack Big. Unless Big beat them in combat, the new guardian would not accept Big as the Master of the Well. That was just the way it was. His bones twitched again and all thought slowly slid away as he just lay there, waiting for the welcome grasp of death and the joining with the rest of the Well.

~~~

The screams and cries of pain had stopped minutes ago. Even Tom's labored breathing had become quiet, a faint sound the only indication the American was still alive. Skinner groaned as another wave of pain shot up his nose and he winced, wishing yet again that his hands were free. He slowly dropped his head back down - he had raised it to try and stop the bleeding - and then looked over at Tom Sawyer. A lone tear had trickled down the Spy's face and it was simply resting on his cheek.

"Oh Sawyer..." Skinner said. He hated this, hated it. To be forced to be so close to Tom but not able to help, to be only able to stare at his blank friend. The dull gaze of Tom was fixed on the ceiling as he stared upwards and Skinner had a worrying thought that maybe, Tom wasn't in there anymore. Maybe there was nothing left of the Tom he knew. Maybe... Maybe there wasn't even anything left of the drugged Tom, maybe Skinner had pushed too hard. Maybe he was just... empty.

Maybe Skinner was looking at nothing more than a shell.

~~~

Big paced up and down, up and down, up and down, grumbling quietly to himself. From the other side of the platform his captives were forced to watch him, unable to even blink without Big's permission. The English Colonel sighed and spun on his heel, heading towards the League, stopping just a few feet from where Mina was sat, her eyes - the only expressive part she could still control - burning with hatred.

"I'm bored." Big said. He glanced over his captives with a critical eye. "You and you." He said, pointing at both Mina and Jekyll. "Stand up." Unwillingly, the two stood, feeling their body's being jerked to make them move faster. The two stood there, nothing more than spectators in their own bodies. Big frowned slightly, then smiled coldly.

"Dance together." He commanded. Stiffly the two League members moved closer together and began to dance, hands loosely holding each other. Mina's skirt billowed out gracefully behind her as Dr. Jekyll's body spun her. From a distance the dance was sensuous, beautiful. It was only when you looked closer that you could see the stiff way the limbs moved, as if the dancers were string puppets and someone was above them, pulling on the strings. Both Mina and Jekyll kept their eyes carefully blank, not wanting to let Big know what they were feeling. It was the only power they had left over their bodies and both were determined to use it.

"Stop." Big snapped, frowning as he caught sight of the blank eyes. He wanted to hurt these people, to wound them mentally while he was waiting for Sawyer to come back. He wanted to punish them for trying to stop him, for being responsible for the death of his older brother - admittedly, he had never really got on with any of his family but that was beside the point. The point was you didn't mess with family. Forcing them to watch as their precious American killed himself to save Big before Big then killed them himself would be something, but he still had to fill in the time between now and Sawyer's death.

//Sawyer's death... ah it feels so good to think and imagine that...\\

"Sit back down." He said as he sat on the floor as well, legs crossed and blandly stared at them.

"Well... what shall we do now?" He asked, mainly to himself, as the League were, of course, incapable of answering. Big snapped his fingers and a boyish grin graced his pale features, his black hair flopping down over his icy blue eyes.

"I know! Let me explain to you all about the drug I gave Sawyer. So when he comes back and kills himself, you can watch, knowing that he's a prisoner in his own head." Big said softly, drawing out the words and letting his tongue run along his teeth. For a split second Mina's eyes flashed a bloodthirsty red before returning to the more human shade of blue. Mr. Big however, had seen the tiny lapse in control and knew he had struck a nerve there. So he pressed home his advantage.

"You see, one of the many ingredients of the drug is a tiny scraping of the well. No bigger than a grain of sand, it is that which causes the most interesting reaction. You, Vampire, when the drug was given to you and you passed out, those few minutes before you woke, you had a very interesting dream did you not? I don't know just who you saw, but it would have been the person that would have hurt the most. That's how it works you see, it makes your mind create an image of people you care about and it uses that to control you." Big finished smugly. Inwardly Mina shouted and screamed in anger at his pompous filled words. She had seen Count Dracula when the drug had knocked her out - she had seen him and he had bitten her. When she woke, her bite marks were still faded, a clear indication that nothing had bitten her recently but the memory had hurt her, and she had found herself unable to fight the drug because she had given up, even if it was just for a second.

She didn't want to think who Tom must have seen.

~~~

Skinner looked at the flaming torch lying on the ground, where it had fallen from the robed man's grasp. He looked back at Tom - who was still staring up at the celling with a dazed, far away look in his eyes - then over again at the fire. An idea started to form in the back of his mind as he gave the ropes a wiggle. They were still tight - but they were rope. Rope burned. Skinner sat down and began to inch backwards, heading towards the fire. A slight move to the left, then another push backwards - the rope met the flames. Skinner gave a lop-sided grin then soon faded as he sniffed. The smell of burning leather came to his nostrils and he realized with horror that he had managed to set himself alight. Skinner tried to drop and roll, but found he couldn't properly. He whimpered and looked over to Tom.

"Sawyer! Please, wake up!" He shouted, the desperation in his voce only increasing as he realized the fire had also spread to the dead body and was burning away merrily. A second glance showed him the fire was also speeding onto the boxes scattered around the room. Skinner groaned. He had set the whole room a light.

Skinner really needed a drink - that or for Tom to wake up, before they both burned to death. Skinner couldn't move Tom until his hands were free. His hands would only be free when the fire had burned through the ropes. By the time the fire had burned through the ropes, they would be trapped. What on earth had driven him to go anywhere near fire? He despised the stuff, and with good reason. With a yelp, he realized the fire on his coat was starting to get very hot and began to try everything he could to put it out.

"Now would be a good time Tom..." He muttered.

~~~

Himself.

He was looking at himself.

The thing that was stopping him from waking up... from being Tom again. It was himself. He was the reason why Mr. Big could control him, why Smith had been able to drug him.

It was all his fault. His double seemed to be able to read his thoughts and nodded.

"That's right Thomas. You're weak... you should have been able to fight the drug, to stop yourself from hurting your friends. Now, you are just to ashamed to wake up and have to face the people you let down, the people you betrayed. So your mind created the images of Huck, Allan and even the dream girl in a bid to protect you, but no, you couldn't accept what your subconsciousness already knew and you had to fight. So I'm here to tell you... Give it up." The other Tom said, saying the last three words slowly and clearly, to make sure Tom understood them. Tom took a step backwards and stumbled over something, falling back onto his back. Leaning on his elbows, he looked up at himself, the fear and doubt written on his face.

"...All my fault?" He asked in a whisper. The double sighed and nodded and Tom drew himself into a ball, resting his arms on his knees and bowing his head. His Doppelganger crouched down and stared at the mop of blond hair, watching with interest as the shoulders began to shake.

"Give it up Thomas." The double said. Slowly, ever so slowly, Tom lifted his head so his eyes were level with himself. The doppelganger took a step backwards in shock as he saw Tom's eyes. Instead of broken, tear filled green eyes he was faced with eyes that burning with a cold fury.

"Get out of my head!" Tom yelled, springing up and grabbing the other him. "Maybe you are telling the truth, maybe not, but I have to wake up, because I will not leave my friends with Big!"

"You still think they are your friends?" Tom's doppleganger asked with amusement. "Come off it Thomas, they will be glad to see the back of you! They probably blame you for Allan's death, and only came after you to get their revenge for betraying them in Scotland." He finished. Tom glared at him, almost shaking in his rage. Suddenly a mixture of sound came to his ears and he let go of the 'dream' Tom, staggering to the side as if the sound had hit him in his body. He could hear a woman's voice whispering his name, Skinner shouting, pleading for him to wake up and past all that, as a sort of background noise, the low sound of crackling - the sound of fire. Tom gave a yelp the slammed sideways into the other Tom, sending them both into the ground. The two American's rolled about on the floor, each struggling to gain the upper hand, each unable to do so, as they were the same in skill and fighting ability, each knowing what the other was about to do and managing to block before trying to attack only to be blocked. And all the while the fire sound became louder and louder. One of the Tom's broke away from the other and sprang to his feet, panting slightly.

"That is enough. This is over." The Tom said. The other Tom also climbed to his feet and scowled, the expression transforming his face.

"What are you talking about?" He asked. The first Tom gave lazy smile and breathed deeply, then gave a little wave of the hand.

"It's simple. I can't beat you in a fight. After all you are me and vice versa. So I'm not going to fight you - and you are not going to fight me. You are going to leave me alone and I am going to wake up and face what I did." Tom said. The double sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"Fine. You want to wake up and face them... just don't say I didn't warn you." His double said, before simply fading away.

~~~

The ropes snapped and Skinner tore his arms free, instantly dropping to the ground and rolling about, trying to put his coat out. After a few frantic seconds he succeeded and looked around, coughing as did so, the smoke becoming thicker and thicker. He glanced over at Tom then back at the door before doing a double take. Tom was no longer lying on the floor. In fact... tom was no longer in sight at all.

"Tom?" Skinner called out, as loud as he dared. Some of the thick smoke entered his lungs and he began to cough wildly, dropping to his knees to try and get away from the smoke. His lungs burned with every breath he took and it seemed as if he would never stop coughing, he felt as if he was going to cough up his stomach. Then, out of nowhere, hands were pulling at him, dragging him towards the door. Skinner stumbled out into fresh - as in no smoke - air and gasped, taking in deep breaths of air. A panting could be heard to his side and Skinner risked a glance to his left. Tom Sawyer was standing there, hands on his knees, doubled over, panting hard, his Winchester on the ground. Skinner slowly took a step away from him as Tom raised his head, peering at the thief through his bangs.

"How the hell did you managed to set the room on fire Skinner?" Tom asked. The invisible man blinked a few times.

"That you Tom?" He finally asked. Tom smiled humorlessly at him, picking up his weapon as the coughing fit finally ended.

"Yep." He said shortly. "Come on, we better get moving." He added. Skinner nodded, before another wave of coughing attacked him and threatened to send him to the ground. At the same time he moved his head suddenly and gave a yelp of pain as he remembered his nose.

"Skinner? Skinner, what's wrong?" Tom asked, moving closer to his friend.

"My nose..." Skinner muttered, prodding at it gently. It didn't seem broken but that didn't mean it didn't hurt.

"... Thanks by the way..." Tom said quietly, refusing to met Skinner's gaze as he helped him. "I could hear you and well... thanks."

"Don't mention it mate. Now come on, Big has our friends." Skinner answered.

~~~

Big scowled. Sawyer should have returned by now, with either the dead body of that thief or with the man tied up.

"You two." He said pointing at two of the robed men. "Go and find Sawyer, I don't care if he has found Skinner or not, just get him back here." He snapped. The men nodded and took off, each holding a rifle, their hoods covering their faces. Big sighed and twisted his head, trying to ease the tension he could feel building up his neck. He was almost out of time - he could feel it, he had to get Sawyer down that well and down it quickly.

~~~

Tom and Skinner were nearing the cavern that housed the Well when they first heard the footsteps approaching them. The two ducked into the shadows as the robed men moved past them. Skinner nudged Tom, pointing at the American's weapon. Tom nodded and raised his gun, aiming at one of the men. But Tom found he couldn't pull the trigger... to shoot someone in the back... well, it just didn't seem right. And no matter how much Tom tried to tell himself the man would gladly shoot him in the back and was working for Big who had put him through hell, Tom still couldn't pull the trigger.

"Hey!" He shouted, the word echoing off the walls and bouncing around. The men turned to face Tom and in that second Tom found he could fire again. He pressed the trigger before ducking back into the side passage. The other man gave chase, Tom and Skinner only just managing to avoid being hit by the robed man's shooting. It also meant that Tom couldn't fire back.

The two sprinted around a corner and found themselves facing a dead end. Skinner muttered a curse while Tom glanced around in a mad frenzy, before looking down at the floor. There, where the floor met the wall was a crack, that opened into another passage.

"We might be able to move through here." Tom said, his back to Skinner, crouching down to stare at the hole. Skinner glanced over his shoulder, he could hear the man get closer and closer, moving a tiny bit slower in case they were going to launch an attack. Tom had dropped his Winchester as he bent by the crack.

"It might be a tight fit, but I think we ca-" Tom words were cut off as Skinner slammed the Winchester over Tom's head. The young Spy dropped without another sound. Without allowing himself time to think about what he had just done, Skinner pushed his still friend through the gap and turned to face where the robed man was about to appear from, the weapon held tightly in his hands.

TBC...

There you have it, part 23 should be up very, very soon! Please, please leave a review!

~Sethoz