Rant

I'm not all too happy with this chapter, but since this is all my broken brain decided to cook up, it'll have to do. Add salt if needed.

- - -

The crew soon discovered the strange couple slowly making their way towards the Nautilus. Mina looked up on the magnificent ship and truly felt calm for the first time that evening.

"There she is," she told the man she was supporting. "A beauty, isn't she?"

The man looked up. He gave the ship a long look, as if he weighed and measured it. He then nodded.

"Quite nice."

Mina was about to begin walking, when she felt that he took a hard grip around her arm. She

looked at him angrily.

"If there's anything odd going on in there, vampire, I'll slit your throat." The man growled while glaring at her. She understood that he only tried to mend some of his hurt pride, but it was admirable that he still had the power to act mighty when he was in such pain.

"There won't be any need for that. And I'm trying to help you, the least you can do is to be at least a little grateful."

"Well, thanks…" the man muttered as they moved again. Mina saw soldiers talking to each other, apparently spreading the word. She gave one of them an appreciating smile before she helped the man onboard.

"Mina! We were beginning to worry here." A voice said. She looked at an empty coat hovering in mid-air.

"I hope I wasn't gone for too long."

Skinner chuckled.

"Not at all! Sawyer and Nemo were just about to turn London over, searching for you. Someone will be very happy. And who's your friend?"

Mina looked at the man who was staring at Skinner's coat, apparently amazed. She realized that none of them had introduced their self.

"I don't know, actually."

Skinner's coat made a strange movement and a sleeve reached out towards the man.

"Hello! I'm Skinner."

The man looked at the sleeve, raised his hand as if he was going to shake it, but then seemed to change his mind.

"Am I supposed to shake the sleeve…?" he asked. Skinner didn't move a muscle.

"There's a hand at the end." He said with a very serious voice. Mina turned her head away and smiled, not wanting Skinner to see it.

"Oh." The man said and hesitantly tried to find the hand. It was strange to see him shake hands with empty air.

"There you go! As I said, I'm Rodney Skinner, gentleman thief."

"I'm… Charles Remington."

Mina wondered about the pause before he gave his name away, but didn't have time to ask.

"Well, nice to meet you, Charlie. I think I'll go tell Sawyer and Nemo that you're here."

Skinner said before he turned around and walked away from them. Remington continued to stare at the apparently empty coat for a while before he grinned.

"That's one of the nicest talking floating coats with hands I've ever met!" he said. Mina laughed quietly, wishing she could've seen the expression on Skinner's face if he had heard it.

- - -

Mina and Remington walked in through the door to the large room where most of the wounded and sick men were placed. Right now, Adria was the only one in the room, asleep as usual. Mina looked around in the room, trying to find Jekyll. She noticed him standing by the drug cabinet, staring at the contents. He stood with one fist tightly clenched and with a syringe in the other. She could see that his entire body almost unnoticeably shook. She wondered for a moment if he really stared at the contents.

"Dr. Jekyll?" she asked loudly. Obviously startled, he quickly turned his head towards her. She saw his fearful expression on his face before it disappeared in a nervous smile.

"Mrs. Harker!" He said and quickly put the syringe down on a nearby table. "I just gave her something to calm her down. I didn't hear you coming."

"I could tell." Mina said in an unwillingly cold way. Apparently, he didn't notice. His nervous grin gradually grew more natural. Mina motioned towards Adria with her head. He gave Remington an examining look. His eyes locked on his bloody shirt and he hummed loudly.

"I can see you've already seen the reason why I'm here. I think you can take care of this yourselves." Mina said and helped Remington to one of the beds. She stretched afterwards, glad that she could walk straight again. Jekyll saw her bloodstained dress and raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"You bled?"

Mina looked down on her ruined clothes.

"I did, but I think Mr. Remington can explain why much better than I can." She said with a glance towards him. Remington shrugged.

"I just shot you. Could be the silver bullets, how the heck am I supposed to know?"

Mina nodded.

"That could explain it. But as I said, you can take care of this. I better go change and prove to the rest of the gentlemen onboard that I am alive and well." She said and left. There was a tense silence between Jekyll and Remington for a couple of seconds.

"Well…" Jekyll started and cleared his throat. "I think I'd better examine those wounds of yours. You don't mind?"

Remington shook his head and began to take his shirt off in the least painful way as possible. When he got it off, he carelessly threw it on the floor. Jekyll immediately began tending to his wounds, ignoring Remington's almost embarrassed look.

"They seem to be clean." Jekyll said, mostly to himself. Remington snorted, as if insulted.

"My weapons are always clean! I'm no damn butcher."

Jekyll gave him a strange look, but continued to aid him.

- - -

Remington leaned over Adria and looked at her. He looked at her bandages, where Jekyll had shown where her wounds were. He sometimes mumbled things to himself, dragging his fingers over the bandages and crouching or stretching into strange position, always with one arm out. Jekyll watched him, curious against his will. Remington had claimed that 'the vampire' had told him to examine a girl. Jekyll stood there, watching him to make sure that he didn't do anything obviously wrong with Adria. Remington continued with his strange charades for a while, before he turned to Jekyll. He had new lines in his face that made him look older than ever, but his eyes shone as if he had a fever.

"Everything points to one thing, Dr. Jekyll. I just have to do one more 'test'." He said and took up one of his guns.

"What are you doing?" Jekyll asked. Remington smirked.

"Nothing you have to worry about, I assure you."

He took out a bullet from the gun and held it between his thumb and index finger. He took Adria's hand and dropped the bullet in it, immediately stepping back from her as he did. In the same moment the bullet touched her skin, Adria's eyes opened wide and a scream of agony escaped her. She threw the bullet away as she bolted out of her bed. Remington seemed to be ready to shoot her any second while Jekyll could only stare at her. Her face seemed to be rage embodied, with her yellow eyes flaming towards them and her teeth changing into frightening fangs. She snarled at them, before her malicious expression vanished as she put her hands against her head. She became much less fearful, now grumbling in an almost confused way before she collapsed on the floor. Remington put his gun back in its holster.

"Whatever you gave her to keep her calm, it sure was effective." He said and grimaced in pain. He placed a hand on his bandages, covering his stomach.

"But, ow…"

Jekyll tried to help her, but was stopped by Remington, who put a hand on his shoulder, forcing him back.

"I'm sorry, doctor, but you shouldn't go anywhere near her."

Jekyll glared at him.

"I can't just leave her on the floor. I have to check that she's alright!"

"Trust me, doctor, she is. That little scorch wasn't enough to hurt her that much."

Jekyll turned to Remington.

"What was that? Her eyes, her teeth, those sounds and the bullet! What's wrong with her?"

Remington sighed, looking away from Jekyll's face.

"What is it?"

"She's a werewolf, Dr. Jekyll, no doubt. A man-eating beast!" the last sentence was spat out with a glance towards Adria on the floor. Jekyll stared at him.

"Werewolf…? Mat-eating beast? Does she look like a man-eating beast to you?"

"Maybe not now, doctor, but didn't she just a while ago? She will be a lot worse in just a couple of days, you know."

Jekyll looked down on Adria with a sigh. Somehow, he simply couldn't imagine that lively girl from the hotel to be a monster. And still he had seen her, just a moment ago.

Told you so, didn't I?

Jekyll kept his reply to Hyde to himself.

"Is there a cure?" he asked Remington. Remington shrugged.

"I don't know, I just know the right ways to kill these beasts. And that's just what I advice you to do."

Jekyll didn't reply. He looked at Remington's face, trying to decide whether he was joking or not. He could tell that he was dead serious about it.

"Absolutely not!" he said loudly, it was almost a shout. "I worked for hours to save her life, and I won't let anyone come in here and even think about that!"

Remington frowned at him.

"That isn't the only reason, is it?"

Jekyll had nothing to say.

Is it, Henry?

"Shut up!" he hissed and realized the second after that he had said it out loud. Remington didn't move a muscle, just stood there, looking at him. Jekyll looked back.

"Hey, if you're all set in here, we've…" a voice said. Skinner, now wearing coat and make-up, stood in the doorway, looking at Jekyll and Remington.

"Did I miss something interesting?"

"Do you have something important to say?" Jekyll snapped at him. Skinner nodded slowly.

"They wanted me to tell you that they're waiting in the dining room."

As soon as Skinner had said this, Jekyll left the room. Remington glared at his back before he looked at Skinner.

"So what happened here?"

"We had a difference in opinions." Remington said and mumbled curses for a while. Skinner looked at Adria with a puzzled look on his face.

"Okay… Why is she on the floor like that? Why aren't you wearing a shirt?"

"Damn it! Why can't people just see what's the right thing to do? But oh no, they have to go and make things so complicated all the time…"

Remington seemed to notice Skinner being there for the first time.

"Aren't you going to lead me to the dining room?"

"Shouldn't we help her?"

Remington glanced at Adria and shrugged.

"You do that if you want to. She might just tear your guts out."

Skinner gave up.

"Right this way…"