Chapter Twenty-Eight:
Skinner…
He couldn't believe it. There she was. Kathryn. Sitting in a clubhouse in the middle of Africa, drinking a whiskery, from the look of it, and chatting with Jekyll and Mina.
"You're coming with us," Nemo said, pulling her out of her chair by the arm.
"Am I?" she asked. "I hadn't noticed." Yep, it was Kathryn.
Skinner hugged her tightly, whispering, "I'm so glad you're alive, Kate. I missed you." She didn't answer him. "Are you all right?"
"I haven't decided," she answered, idly.
"Decided what?"
"If I'm mad at you or not," she replied shortly. "Oh, Sawyer. Mr. Quartermain is through that door."
He gave her a look. And if looks could kill, she'd be dead where she stood. "We need to talk," he said lowly.
"Later perhaps," she said. "Go talk to him, Sawyer. That's why you're all here."
"What?"
"Hm, brilliant today, are we?" she asked, sarcasm riddling her voice. "I lured you all here just so you could talk to Mr. Quartermain. Now, go. I'll make your excuses to the League." She pushed Sawyer toward a door. Then she resumed walking. "Y'know, Skinner, I've been wondering these past months. Why did you shoot me?"
Skinner couldn't find an answer for a moment. "Um…" he said slowly. "Well, it's complicated, really…"
"Complicated?" she repeated. "How complicated can it possibly be? You had a gun in your hand, and in cold-blood, from the way you were talking, put a bullet in my chest."
"My god…" he muttered. "Are you all right?"
She didn't answer. He repeated his question. "No man has given me a scar quite like you did," she said finally. "Yours is more than merely physical." She picked up her pace and walked ahead of him.
He stared after her. The scar he gave her was more than merely physical… He wondered what she meant. He ran to catch up with her. "Kate, listen to me," he said.
"There's nothing to discus right now, Mr. Skinner," she said firmly. "Now, kindly leave me be."
After dinner, Skinner sat musing in his quarters. He didn't do it very often, but he figured he had a lot to think about. Just as he was pondering how to apologise to Kathryn about everything, there was a knock at his door. Wondering who it could be, he stood and answered the door. Kathryn was standing on the other side of the door in the corridor. "Skinner, can we talk?" she asked softly.
"Yeah, come on in," he said, opening the door wider for her. She entered his room and sat at the desk as he closed the door. "What do you want to talk about?"
"Everything," she said.
He chuckled. "Well, that narrows things down a bit," he said, crossing the room to her. "Where do you wanna start?"
"Why were you mad at me?" she asked. She looked like a schoolgirl asking one of the boys why he was throwing rocks at her. "What did I do? Because it must have been something I did that made you mad. You wouldn't just get mad… Would you?"
"Kate," he said softly, seeing the tears beginning to roll down her cheeks. He wiped them away. "Listen, I was being stupid. I thought I saw something that I didn't see. I should've asked you about it, but I didn't. I let it take me over and… I lost focus of what was really important."
"What did you think you saw that you didn't really see?" she asked, pulling her handkerchief out of her bodice and dabbing at her eyes.
He hesitated. "I thought I saw you kiss Holmes," he said. She didn't move; she didn't speak. "But what I actually saw was Holmes kiss you. It took me too long to figure that out." He took her hands in his and pulled her to her feet. He led her to the bed and sat her down, his arm around her. "Lordy, Kate, don't cry."
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I just… I'm losing focus, too. And I've done things and hurt people that I didn't want to do or hurt." She wiped her eyes, discarding her handkerchief on the floor. "I led someone to believe something that I shouldn't have. Now, he's mad."
"Sawyer?"
She nodded. "Yes, Sawyer," she said softly. "Then I allowed someone else back into my life. I should've kept him at a great distance. But I didn't. And now that I've done that, I may have put you in danger."
"What are you talking about?" Skinner asked. He understood what she was talking about before. But now… Now, she was speaking in riddles.
"Professor James Moriarty," she said, tears falling from her eyes onto his arm. "Fourteen years ago, before I met you, before I met Mr. Holmes, and before I became what I am, we were engaged to be married. I—I loved him, Rodney. But then, he… He was poisoned—or so it seemed—and he disappeared. Seeing him again… I couldn't prepare myself for something like that. I couldn't put myself on my guard…"
"I understand," Skinner said softly. He held her for a moment. Then he asked, "Did you sleep with him?"
She hesitated. "Possibly," she said slowly.
"Recently?"
"Yes."
"I thought so." They sat there in silence for a few minutes until Kathryn laid back onto the bed and sighed. "What?"
