Author's notes:

This is my first LXG fic, but I wrote X-Files fan fiction for seven years.

"Rubicon 1" is the first in a trilogy about Tom Sawyer. This first story is all done, as I've never been able to write and post a WIP (am full of admiration for those who do though). So I will be posting it out one or two parts a day (one part first, just to make sure I'm getting the formatting etc right - this is very different to what I was used to on the XF mailing lists. So please let me know if something is incorrect). It will probably be around ten parts long.

Title: "Rubicon 1 - Aftermath"

By Ten Mara

'Crossing the Rubicon means to make a decisive move which cannot be undone.' (Collins Dictionary 1988)

Tom Sawyer made his Rubicon by joining the League in London - or rather gatecrashing. Now, after Quatermain dies in Mongolia, Tom has to deal with the consequences.

Rating: PG-13

CATEGORY: Story, Drama/Angst

DISCLAIMER: The literary characters referred to are copyright their respective authors, and "LXG: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" is copyright 20th Century Fox, based on the comic books by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill. The characters and movie universe are used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended, no profit will be gained. Characters not recognized are mine, and a few real-life historical people of the time are used (information on the latter will be given in the chapters where they are featured).

THANKS TO: Suzi, Suzanne, Gerry, Mac and Sawyer Fan for all of your beta help and encouragement. And to Clez and Lady Norbert for inspiration and permission regarding some plot threads.

Written August to December 2004

xXx

M's fortress in Mongolia:

Tom Sawyer stood as if at attention, a soldier saluting his fallen comrade. Then his posture slumped, his head lowering to stare sightlessly at the crack in the floor that ran between his feet. The fact that he could be in danger standing in such a place did not even register. Tom's own world was split in two with his mentor's death, so it seemed perfectly fitting the physical world had done the same.

He could no longer look at Quatermain's corpse, into the open, lifeless eyes. At what he had done.

Snow was blowing in on a freezing wind, through where the crack had opened up the tower wall behind him, but Sawyer could not feel it.

There was room for only guilt and horror.

Slowly the young agent moved forward, towards the hunter. He put the elephant gun down, then reached out and closed Allan Quatermain's eyes. For a moment he rested his hand against the hunter's face.

The emotions running through Tom tripled then, threatening to split his head apart like the tower had been by the bombs.

Oh, God, I'm so sorry! I should have . . . I should have . . . .

Son. He called me 'son', not 'boy' or 'Sawyer'.

Tom's head bowed again, heavy against his chest, and he closed his eyes, tears starting to -

Then two thoughts hit him, grabbing his attention.

M was one.

Tom's eyes flew open and his head snapped up. He knew that he had shot M, but what if he had only wounded him? He had to check. He couldn't let Moriarty get away. He owed Quatermain and Huck that much.

He grabbed up the elephant gun and was quickly back at the breach in the wall, looking out over the snow and ice. The scene had become a lot more populated since his last look at it. There were men standing over M's motionless form - Tom could tell from their attire that some were Nemo's men and some were British reinforcements, here at last. A contingent was approaching the fortress, and here and there, people were fleeing the place and quickly being buttonholed.

From where Tom was standing, it looked like M was dead. Even if he wasn't, at least he was captive. Either way, problem solved. Nemo's men knew what the unmasked Fantom looked like.

Now to the second, equally important, matter. Skinner.

Tom had to find him, but he would not be doing himself or the invisible man any good if he didn't arm himself as much as possible first, in case he came across M's men on the way.

The agent's Colt pistols had been lost in the burning room, but he had Quatermain's elephant gun, and the hunter's Webley revolver was lying on the floor near the fallen man. That revolver and Allan's aim had saved Tom's life.

Sawyer picked up the Webley and scanned around for Allan's Winchester rifle. He saw it in a shattered heap on the floor.

Steeling himself, the spy went back to his mentor's corpse and quickly collected from it more ammunition for the elephant gun and revolver. Then he put some in his pockets and refilled each weapon. With a final glance at Quatermain, he climbed upa small tier that had been created when the room was damaged by the explosions. Tom headed for the door, past Sanderson Reed's body.

Two corpses. And one of them should have been me.

He had tried to struggle against Reed -

Everything that had happened was pressing heavily down on him now, memories and feelings surging into his head. Before having a chance to grieve for Huck or deal with his death he'd had to rush off in pursuit of the Fantom and gotten caught up in this 'adventure'. Now today he had been attacked by an invisible man, nearly burned alive by an armoured giant, trapped in a burning room, saw Skinner get badly hurt in trying to save him, been captured by M's invisible man and made a hostage.

Then Quatermain rescued him at the cost of his own life, and Tom could do nothing but watch him die.

The spy shuddered, then tried to focus as he left the tower room. He had to retrace his steps. They had been reluctant steps, taken at knifepoint, but his profession demanded an excellent memory. And that fire should narrow things down, telling him when he was getting 'warmer', so to speak. He would do it.

There was no time to give in to his grief or guilt. He had to find Skinner and help him.

And Skinner had to be alive. After losing Huck and Quatermain . . . .

Memories of the burns that the thief had suffered were seared into Tom's brain just as much as into Skinner's flesh.

Armed and determined, the spy headed back down the corridor.

xXx

After escaping the Dante beast, Nemo and Jekyll had managed to join up with some of the Captain's crew. Thanks to Nemo's well-equipped men, Jekyll now wore a full set of clothes again, even if they were not the greatest fit. They found another way back into the fortress, but during their time outside they were not in a position to see the Nautiloid or hear the arrival of the reinforcements. Nemo led his men and Jekyll back into the fortress to try to find the others.

They found Mina at a junction of corridors, or rather she found them, thanks to her vampiric tracking skills.

"Dorian is dead," she informed her colleagues without preamble.

It did not escape either Nemo or Jekyll that she kept her expression and voice as matter-of-fact as possible.

"We have freed the prisoners. They should be back at the Nautilus by now," Nemo told her. "And my scientists removed some things of potential interest from M's laboratory before destroying that area."

Mina saw a faint trace of pain in Nemo's face and a stiffness as he moved, as if his back was hurting. "It is nothing to be concerned about," he said dismissively.

"Is there any sign of the others?"

"Not yet," he replied. "I think it would be best if we looked -"

Suddenly Mina inhaled sharply, then cut Nemo off. "I can smell fire close by, and something else with it." She sniffed again. "Burned flesh . . . ."

They followed her to another junction of corridors nearby. There on the left they could see a room that smoke was billowing from, and by now the others could smell burned flesh too.

But there was more. Mina said, "I can smell blood. And not just any . . . ." Still at the junction, she moved a few steps forward and saw a small splatter of it on the floor. The sight and scent of it did not stir her otherworldly thirst - that had already been taken care of during a few encounters with M's men.

Her vampire-enhanced eyes showed her that there were drops of blood at intervals along the corridor, from the room on the left that smoke was coming out of, then heading towards the League, before veering left at the junction, or rather straight ahead from where they were standing.

Mina sniffed again, remembering Venice, how she had examined the cut on Tom Sawyer's forehead.

She mentally compared. "It's Tom's blood."

"Oh God," Jekyll said quietly. As capable as their youngest member was, they all felt protective of him and were horrified to think he might be badly injured or dead. The group hurried for the doorway, Mina hoping that Sawyer had actually left the room ahead of the fire, instead of heading in there and being caught in it.

Other than the distinctive signature of Tom's blood, she could faintly make out his own scent, but the smoke was interfering with that ability to some degree. And there was at least one other person's scent, a strange yet somewhat familiar one - Skinner?

There was no time to stop and examine the scents or the blood itself closely. They had reached the doorway from which the smell of burned flesh was coming.

So ironically Tom's blood and Skinner's burns allowed them to locate the gentleman thief. He was lying in that room, which was half on fire. The flames were getting closer to his badly injured body.

One of Nemo's crew tried to alternatively put out and beat back the fire that was nearest to the semi-invisible man. He was buying time for the others to get Skinner clear.

Mina looked around the room for Tom or anyone else, with no luck. Skinner was too consumed by pain for her to ask him any questions at the moment.

Skinner was aware enough to see some familiar and friendly faces, and be relieved, but at the moment he couldn't speak. So he was unable to crack a joke, as much as he wanted to. Something like: "Fire liked the taste of me so much - trying to get the other half of me now!"

Though that was a pretty lame joke. It just went to show how bad he must be.

He tried to distract himself by making a mental note to use that line or a much better one when safe and sound and recovering. If he lived, that was. He could see the looks on the faces of the others, and while it was nice to see that Mina was looking extremely worried about him, the very fact that she was showing so much worry and not able to hide it made him not like his chances.

But from the moment a few years ago when he'd originally taken the formula and the invisibility had kicked in, his skin had changed. And not just as in 'vanished', but also it was seemingly more durable in the cold and in regard to injury. So here's hoping . . . . Otherwise, I'm literally fired.

And there was also something more important than jokes, but everything was happening so fast, and the others were trying to move him. The pain was now too great to do anything but attempt to hold on to consciousness. Passing out would be a relief, but he had to stay awake, to tell them -

Nemo had gotten a blanket out of one of his crewman's backpacks, and the League quickly moved Skinner out of the room by using it as a makeshift stretcher.

Then in the corridor, Nemo ordered his men to make a better stretcher, one that would enable them to take the injured man safely all the way back to the submarine. Jekyll started checking Skinner's injuries, doing for him what he could without the resources of the infirmary. He was amazed that the thief was still conscious.

Skinner recovered enough of his bearings after the ordeal of being moved to try speaking again, and this time he managed it. "Sawyer?" He had not been able to see a blonde curly head or hear that accent.

That was the very subject that Mina had been hoping to ask him about. "We can't find him. Or Quatermain."

Damn. "Reed. He took Tom . . . ."

And after all the trouble Skinner had gone to in saving him in the first place. The invisible man had hoped the American had gotten away somehow or been rescued by the others, but that hope was now sinking fast. And the pain was on the upswing again.

Mina said reassuringly, "I'll find him. It will be all right."

Skinner realised there was something important he had to tell the others. He managed to get it out through gritted teeth and the pain. "No - Reed . . . he's invisible!"

The others exchanged startled glances. Well, Jekyll couldn't help thinking, we've managed to deal with an even more vicious monster than Hyde -

Thank you, Henry, Hyde commented in his head. Give me more elixir next time and you'll really see vicious!

- and kill an immortal, so there is hope, Jekyll finished.

"Quatermain," Nemo said suddenly. "Skinner, what about Quatermain?"

"Dunno. Not there. Tom . . . alone." Apart from the armoured man trying to fry the kid, of course. And that damned Reed, poised for the right moment to pounce.

The others now gave each other highly worried looks at that news, but Nemo considered for a moment, then pointed out, "Agent Sawyer and Mr Quatermain could have split up by choice." That did not stop a hint of worry being present in his eyes. "But we must find them, and M."

"We will," Mina said firmly. And the sooner they started searching, the better. "I can follow Tom's blood trail." Now she had the time to closely examine the droplets and discern how long ago each had been spilt, therefore getting a direction to take. Sawyer had been moving away from the burning room.

Decisions were quickly made. Skinner would be carried back to the Nautilus on the stretcher by two of the crew, accompanied by Jekyll, and escorted by two other crewmembers, carrying their weapons.

Hyde made some pointed comments in Henry's head, wanting to remain in the fortress and sniff out this invisible traitor Reed and rip his head off. Henry ignored him.

Mina would track the blood trail, while Nemo and his remaining crewman would head for M's private chambers, which was where the hunter and the spy had been originally heading.

"Doctor Jekyll, when you come across more of my men, send them into this area to aid us, and to aid Mrs Harker," Nemo said. "Warn them about Reed and that M may still be at large."

"Good luck," Mina told the others, then she headed off, skirting around the section of rooms that were on fire. It seemed that although the contents were alight, it was not spreading any further, due to the stone walls and flooring.

She ruthlessly shoved aside memories of Dorian's betrayal, of his face disintegrating. She would examine her feelings another time. For now, her preoccupation was finding the other members of the League.

END PART ONE