Author's Note: Here we are at Part 8!! Sorry for the long delay, but I've had a rough trot in RL recently … I had a huge backlog of school stuff to clear. But anyway, here I am, back again with Part 8! Hope you enjoy …

Thanks to Clez, Hoshii-Chan, bradleigh, LotRseer3350, and funyun for reviewing :-) You guys make my day! Sorry I don't have time to do individual responses at the moment, but I will do them for the next chapter …

Chapter 8: No Matter What

"We'll find her. No matter what."

That was easier said than done, as Tom was rapidly discovering. The Half-Men, it appeared, had vanished into a coach just outside the library doors, and Becky had been with them. The League had scoured the city, but to no avail. At length, the League – tired and footsore – retreated to the Nautilus to plan their next move.

Tom paced the dining room, impatient. "Look, while we are talking, they could be hurting her," he exclaimed.

Jekyll shook his head. "No, Tom. They won't change her until the full moon. The full moon of this month marks the end of the year for them … only one person can be Changed in a year, as the knife used requires about a full year to replentish its strength. If they Change her on the last day of the year, the knife will be at its strongest. She will be virtually invincible. They have gone to a lot of trouble to arrange this; they will not waste it all now." He patted Tom on the shoulder. "That gives us fourteen days to find her."

"Once we find her, we find the people who are behind this," Mina said. "We can break them once and for ever. We have to smoke them out."

"How?" Nemo asked.

Tom barely listened to the plan that Mina and Huck were discussing. He knew that it could never work in time. In his own mind, he was already forming the basis of his own plan. "Huck," he said suddenly, interrupting his friend in mid-sentence.

Huck frowned, mildly irritated. "What?"

"Do you remember where the Change took place for you?"

"No." Huck frowned again, now in confusion. "Tom …"

"If we can find that place, we can head them off, right?" Upon getting no immediate cries if disapproval, Tom continued. "So, Huck, we need you to try to remember as much as possible about what happened around the time you were Changed. It's probably near the city somewhere; so all we will need is a direction and we can find it." He got to his feet, pacing the room. "Huck, we need to know everything you can remember about it."

Huck nodded, still frowning. "Tom, what are you planning?"

Tom shook his head. "Nothing …"

Becky was frightened. She sat in a darkened room alone. She had attempted to force the lock on the door, but one of the guards in the corridor outside had noticed and had ordered her not to, waving a threatening fist under her nose. She had attempted to climb up to the window level, but had been unable to jump high enough. With a despondant sigh, she had settled on the floor, waiting.

She waited for a few hours before a low growl from one of her guards aroused her from the broken slumber that she had fallen into. She stared wide-eyed at the door as it swung open to reveal a well dressed man; unarmed except for a long sword that hung by his side. He smiled at her. "Miss Thatcher."

"Who – who are you?" she stammered.

He took a few steps towards her until he stood above her where she had squirmed backwards until she was trapped between the wall and the man. He bent down a little, eyes glittering. "My darling girl …" he whispered, running a cold hand down her cheek. She flinched away from him. He smiled.

"I am someone that you do not want to annoy," he told her, almost gently. Terror was plain in her eyes, and he laughed, patting her cheek again, before turning to leave.

"But – who are you? Where am I?" she screamed after him as the cell door slammed shut. His footsteps echoed against the rock walls as he walked away. She was left alone again in the dark.

Tom carefully placed down the cleaned pistol, and took up the other one. Since the meeting earlier in the day, Huck had been racking his brains for any kind of clue about the location of the caves where the Change had taken place. All they knew waws that it had taken four hours by carriage to get there, but Huck thought that the caves could be to the north.

Unknown to the rest of the League, Tom had worked out of a rough plan of where the caves could be. He placed down the second cleaned pistol as he reconsidered his plan. It could – would have to – work, he decided. It was sound enough, if a little rash … but hell, he thought, 'rash' is my middle name!

A knock on the door surprised him. "Come in!" he called, and seconds later Huck appeared in the open doorway. "Huck; is something wrong?"

"You tell me," Huck responded aggresively. "I've worked out what you're planning to do, Tom. Don't. Do. It."

Tom frowned, as if confused, but felt icy dread settle in his stomach. "What do you mean?" he asked, stalling for time as he got to his feet.

"You have no idea what it's like," Huck told him grimly. "The pain overwhelms you and when you think you can't take any more, suddenly it gets worse. Tom, you do not know what you are doing." He poked a finger into Tom's chest. "You say you want to save her – but you mustn't do this. You don't have the faintest idea what you are getting yourself into."

"It's my choice," Tom replied evenly. "Sorry Huck …" He lashed out, striking Huck on the jaw. His head snapped back and he fell to the ground. Tom quickly grabbed his pistols and stowed them in their holsters, then picked up his Winchester rifle. With a mumbled apology to Huck – who was still lying unconscious – he made his way out the door.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading – please review :-)