Disclaimer: I don't own Tom Sawyer, Mina Harker, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Captain Nemo, Skinner or anything else I have used in this chapter, with the exception of things that belong to me. =) Thanks as always to my wonderful Beta; Silver Bow So sorry about taking so long to up-date this, I was hit with a rather nasty does of Real Life, otherwise known as coursework. At the moment, I'm in the middle of my Exam period, so up-dates may be rather sparse until they are over. Sorry, but that's just the way it is. Now, on with the Shout Outs!

Clez:- It was Twist-tastic, wasn't it. ::Grins Madly::Glad you thought it was cool!

Angharad:- What will I do next? Why, I'll be lovely to Tom and everyone will hug puppies... ::Can't keep a straight face and dissolves into laughter:: Or maybe not. You loved the last part? Aww, thanks!

Silent Bob 546:- Bob, my friend, you've summed it up perfectly. He is indeed something... else.

Hoshii-chan:- Yay! Someone else who didn't see that coming! Tom replacing Smith? You'll just have to read on to find out won't you...

Naitriab:- Are you glad that I got rid of Tom? Because, I honestly didn't expect a review to say that, what with the Tom Fan's around here... but this is me, so don't think it'll be as simple as it seems.

LotRseer3350:- Me? Let Tom die? ...Maybe... it's won't be easy, whatever happens, let's put it that way. As for the choice bit at the end, it was the Dream girl who said it. Hopefully this chapter will explain about that. It should, in theory, anyway.

Lyn:- No, thank you.

Silversnow:- A few people thought it was finished actually... it would have been a great place to leave it, but I have a feeling I would have been hunted down and ruthlessly killed if I left it like that, with no explanation.

Freedomfighter82:- ::Stutters and looks around in a scared manner:: Well... uh... you see... I... kinda... I was... oh, look! I've up-dated! Don't worry about Tommy's soul, it's around here somewhere and I agree his green eyes were one of his best features!

Roz:- I was starting to think you had vanished again ; ) Good to read a review from you! Glad you're enjoying it.

Funyun:- ::bounces:: Oh, but wouldn't that be too easy? Plus, Tom's torture would be over if I just killed him, and I'm not done with the boy yet... ::winks:: Dramatic was what I was going for, so I'm glad it worked!

Steffi-333:- ::Falls off her seat, laughing the whole time:: Yep, just when you think it's all over, I possess him with the dead. How fun! Don't worry it's not that sort of possession, so I he shouldn't start puking green slime... oh and I had a dream about the falling/not falling thing as well! That's why I wrote it in!

Niani:- Is it possible to enjoy something too much? Because if it is, then I probably enjoyed writing this too much...

Queerquail:- There is still time for Tom to be dead and for it all to be over, don't worry...

Graymoon74:- Um... it's not actually finished yet... little way to go still. ::Has turned a bright red due to all the compliments in the review:: Aw, Graymoon, you are too kind!

Stormyronin:- Well, in a story written by me, what is likely to happen to Tom, if we are being honest here... ::Tom plushie gives a distressed wail of fear and is then hugged::

Funyun:- ::blinks and looks back up her shout outs:: Didn't I already get a review from you? I'm soooo sorry about taking so long to up-date, blame the education system! But I'm right here! ::Waves:: And here is another part!

And now, here we have it,

The Bodyguard

Part Twenty-Five: Paying the Price.

For what seemed like an eternity, the League stared at Tom. Time seemed to slow and stop as each member of the League watched him, each unable to fully comprehend what they had been told. Tom stared calmly back at them all, an eyebrow slightly raised, a faint smile hovering on his lips. Yet, even like this, he seemed totally devoid of any emotion, as he watched them, waiting for someone to react to his statement. Mina didn't know how to react. For a few moments when Tom had leapt into action, to stop Big, there had been wild joy and hope in her heart. Normally, she kept her emotions firmly under wraps, not daring to let them loose, for fear they would get the better of her human side and allow the Vampire in her to roam free. Jekyll's mouth opened and closed as he tried to form some words but found himself unable to do so. In his head, Hyde was also silent, a most strange set of affairs.

"...What?" Skinner finally stuttered, somehow able to form a word, even through the pain. Tom – or rather, the thing shaped like Tom – obligingly repeated his last words.

"We are the new guardian of the Well." he said. The stunned silence returned as everyone tried to come to terms with this new information. While they stared in disbelief, Tom turned and moved back to the Well, sitting down on the sandy bottom step. Some of his hair had fallen over his left eye as he moved and without even seeming to think of it, he shook his head to brush it away. The movement – such a Tom-like movement – caused a lump to rise painfully in Mina's throat. The guardian of the Well cleared his throat and looked at them.

"Something puzzles us... Thomas Sawyer believed that you did not trust him any more. He believed that he had betrayed you – even if it was an unwilling form of betrayal – and that he was not worthy of your friendship. What we cannot understand is why he would then give up his own life to save yours without a moment's hesitation. It was the most powerful feeling and thought in his mind and the first thing we knew when we became one," The thing in Tom's body said. It was un-nerving to hear so many different types of voices coming from one solitary mouth, especially when some of the voices were very old and frail, some were young and some were female. Together the created a symphony of mingled sound, that – if you didn't know where they came from – they could be both soothing and at the same time disruptive.

"Sawyer thought that?" Jekyll said in horror, the guilt written on his face. Tom nodded, even as a low growl came from Mina.

"Tom would never think that. You lie," she snarled. The guardian shook his head, a sad smile – that was so faint it almost wasn't there – on his face. He hesitated and looked directly at Mina, before slowly saying.

"If it is any comfort to you... your friend died a proud death, free and strong. He knew who he was and he knew the results of his choice."

Flashback.

"Have you given your life willingly?" came the voices for a third time and again the words were repeated without anger or or any other emotion. Tom lifted his head to stare straight ahead, determination in his eyes.

"Yes." he answered them. A pale purple light appeared to the left of Tom. It looked rather like mist. Slowly a tentacle snaked out of this purple fog. It began to weave towards the young American and he found himself frozen in place. Even his vocal cords seemed paralyzed as he stared transfixed at the danger approaching him. It was impossible to really believe that such a pale, almost transparent vapour in the air could really take away his soul and Tom blinked, having trouble remembering what he was supposed to do now.

Wasn't he supposed to be saying something else? Wasn't it important that he do... something? People were counting on him, and he was meant to be stopping someone... someone big. He was meant to stop the big person from achieving what ever it was they wanted but Tom couldn't seem to pull the information from his brain.

There was a girl. It was something to do with a girl, Tom was almost sure of it. But what girl? And why? The tentacle moved closer and closer, emitting a pale purple light. It came closer and closer until it was only a hair breath away from him.

"...Wait..." The word sounded as if it came from a great distance away, the voice belonging to a male and it came as a great shock to Tom to realise that the voice was his and that his own mouth had moved. The light paused and it seemed as if something had taken a deep intake of breath. He thought this because of the sudden lack of sound, which was more noticeable now. Memory returned to him, creeping back to his mind as though ashamed that it had left in the first place.

"You need to know something first," Tom told the light.

"We will know all you have to tell us when you are part of us," the spirits answered. Tom's head moved in a negative fashion.

"By then it will be too late. You are all being tricked. Haven't you realised when the other souls sent by Big fully join with you? He's forcing people to jump down here, hurting them until they do willingly throw their lives away, just to escape him. As for your guardian, he's been helping Big do this! Not only that, but your so called protector enjoys inflicting pain on people," Tom told them, his face slightly flushed, his breath coming out in short gasps as his mind flashed back to pain Smith had caused him. The untold agony and despair as it seemed that he would never be able to escape from the twisted man's clutches. At the same time as Tom's short speech, Smith's soul was being blended back into the collection of spirits and they screamed with anger as Smith and Mr. Big's betrayal became clear to them. The sound was so high pitched that it wasn't even audible to the human ear. Even so, Tom found himself clutching at his ears and screwing up his face in pain.

"Stop it... stop it..." he muttered, his eyes tightly closed. Then as suddenly as it started, the noise stopped and Tom was able to open his eyes, blinking slightly at the spots of purple lights behind his eyelids. He was in darkness again and he knew somehow that the spirits had moved away from him.

"We will return you untouched to the surface. Big will die from his illness, for we will not help him any more," the spirits finally said.

"No!" Tom said urgently, the word slipping out before he could stop himself. Taking a deep breath, the spy knew he would have no choice but to carry on. He only hoped it was the right thing to do. "He has my friends. If... if you send me back up there he'll kill them."

"They are not our concern. Our only concern is to stop Big."

"Please!" Tom begged, unable to believe what he was hearing. "There has to be something you can do. I can't just let my friends die." The light reappeared and floated around Tom, surrounding him but at the same time staying far enough away so it didn't touch.

"Your friends are lost," they said at last. "A new guardian must be formed, a new body must be made. That can only happen when the Well is empty. By the time we return you and create a new guardian they will be dead. We are sorry." Tom blinked a few times, shaking his head in disbelief. It couldn't happen like this. The price for stopping Big shouldn't be the lives of his friends. An idea grew in his mind, a ridiculous idea, an insane idea that would certainly result in his death.

"What about my body?" he asked softly.

"Your body?"

"If I give up my soul, my body to you, if I give my life willingly, for my friends, will you save them?" Tom asked dully. The light swirled around him faster and becoming slightly darker.

"Yes. You for your friends. It can be done. If you agree," they said. Tom nodded in agreement, giving his consent without a word or pause. Tom closed his eyes, even as the purple light rammed into him, cutting into his chest. His mouth dropped open as if to scream but his voice was stolen from him as the spirits of the Well greedily entered his body, the fragments of souls joining together and overwhelming him. Tom could feel himself falling away, sinking, sound draining away until he was just... gone.

End Flashback.

"Let him go." Mina growled, glaring at Tom's body, the glowing red bleeding into her icy blue eyes and remaining there. The Guardian of the Well looked at her, an offended look on his face.

"We cannot 'let him go' as you put it. Your friend is part of us now. We will help you leave the spell, but then you must leave this place. For 'the Dead can not leave here, the living can not stay.'" He seemed to be about to say something else but paused then stopped completely.

"We will not leave without Agent Sawyer," Mina answered. Tom stared at her without fear, black orbs boring into the blue and red ones.

"He is dead! Yet at the same time, a part of him will live forever. Go. Mourn for your friend by all means, but let him pass, because you must not come back to this place," Tom replied.

"You lie! There must be someway for him to be saved!" Mina snapped, her eyes now a full red. The guardian sighed loudly and shook his new head, making a tutting sound.

"Stand. All of you," he said simply. The League found their limbs moving and they all stood. Tom gave a crooked smile.

"This body will last us for many years to come. When it dies, we will simply use the magic taught to us by Smith to create an illusion and keep this body intact. We are getting bored with trying to explain to you that this is not a changeable situation. Sawyer gave his life for you all, he completed his part in the ritual to save you. Do you plan to waste this gift?" he asked them, the tone bored yet with a spark of curiosity lingering in some of the voices.

"... He's really dead?" Skinner croaked out. Tom bowed his head, for the first time letting his black eyes leave the League completely.

"We are what he once was. We are what he will forever now be."

TBC...

Don't worry people, this is NOT the last part, there in fact, five more chapters left. Please leave a review :D

Sethoz