To whom it may concern:

Ta for the reviews!

Sawyer Fan - You want to fix Sawyer's owie? Go ahead ::bundles Sawyer up into a bin bag and passes him to Sawyer Fan:: He's all yours! ;)
Faust - That fic you mentioned wasn't in my favorites list before, but it is now! Thanks for introducing it to me.

Disclaimer: Guess what? It still doesn't belong to me!

Chapter 6 – Jekyll's Old Home

The next evening, the League set off into London once more, but this time they headed to Jekyll's old home. It was late, and the street was filled with an eerie silence. They walked along the cobblestones, and up to the front door. Nemo stepped forwards and knocked loudly on the door.

"Are you sure Stapleton's the right person to ask?" Jekyll asked the others.

"Whom else do we know of who could identify this plant?" Nemo replied. "John's a botanist, and the only one we know." Jekyll shuffled in his shoes. He knew that Nemo was right, but he really didn't want to be here.

The door opened slowly and revealed John standing behind it.

"Goodness!" He exclaimed. "We weren't expecting you this soon!" Mina stepped forwards.

"Yes, John." She said, politely. "We were wondering if you could help us with something." He smiled broadly back at them, opening the door wider.

"Ah, need my wonderful expertise, eh? I'd be more than happy to help." He replied to her. "Come on in."

They followed John into the house. The house was filled with large cardboard boxes full of everyday object and dustsheets covered the tables.

"You must excuse the mess," John told them as he led them into the living room. "We were only able to move my belongings in today. It's been a great inconvenience." Sawyer stopped by one box. It was filled with large picture frames with colourful butterflies and moths pinned in place, each with a neatly handwritten note under it naming the species. He took one out and examined it. John had been collecting these for a long time; there were hundreds of different varieties. The others filed into the living room. John noticed the straggler and was delighted to find him looking at his butterfly collection.

"Oh, you like butterflies, do you?" John asked him. Sawyer looked up and placed the frame back in the box.

"Erm," he replied, guiltily. "Not really." John's face dropped.

"Ah, well." He spoke softly. "Never mind." He gestured for Sawyer to go into the living room. The two of them walked through to the next room.

The room looked a lot bigger than it had done before hand, Jekyll thought. This room, like the hallway, was also filled with different sized boxes. The walls were bare, but there was still a warm glow in the room.

"Brandy, anyone?" John asked, as he walked over to the liquor cabinet. Skinner's eyes lit up.

"Yes, please." He spoke up, before any of the others could open their mouths. John poured a generous helping of Brandy, which Skinner took with great pleasure.

"Anyone else?" John asked. There was a mumble of agreement from the group.

At that moment, the door opened and Bet walked into the room. She looked first at John and then noticed the other's present and her eyes lit up.

"Oh, John," she said, flustered. "You didn't tell me we had company."

"I was just about to, Elizabeth," he replied to her, pouring out drinks for the rest of the League. "Honestly, I was, darling." Bet made her way into the room and made a point of sitting near Jekyll.

"Cheers, Elizabeth!" Skinner said as he took a large gulp of his drink. She smiled at him before turning to Jekyll.

"Did you want to get your belongings now?" she whispered, discretely. Jekyll nodded back at her. Smiling, Bet turned to face John.

"John," she called to him, as he was pouring himself a very large drink. "Would you mind if I could take Uncle Henry away from your company. I want to show him what I've done upstairs." John smiled at her broadly.

"Of course!" He replied cheerfully, taking a hearty sip. "That is unless Uncle Henry's presence is needed here." Jekyll rose and turned to the rest of the League.

"I'm sure they won't mind if I leave this to them, Stapleton." Jekyll said to John. John raised an eyebrow.

"Please," he told Jekyll, more forcefully than he had done the previous day. "Call me John. I am you're nephew now, remember." Jekyll turned to face him.

"I think it would be best if I called you Stapleton." Their eyes fixed on each other's for a few moments. Jekyll's eyes had a slight spark of menace in them, and John responded similarly for an instant. Breaking away, John smiled broadly and took another sip of his brandy.

"Well," he said cheerfully. "I guess it's you're choice, Uncle Henry." Jekyll flinched slightly. There was something very disturbing about John calling him Uncle. Slowly he turned to face the rest of the league again. "It's alright if I leave you for a bit, isn't it?"

"It's fine." Nemo told him. "I know it's been a long time since you've been here." Jekyll smiled and, offering an arm for a slightly awkward Bet to take, the two left the room.

"Now," John exclaimed. "What is it you need my help for?"

The door closed behind them and Bet turned to Jekyll. She was frowning slightly.

"Did you have to make such a fuss in front of John?" she asked him as politely as she could. He gave her a sheepish look and walked along the corridor ahead of her.

"I don't like him, Bet," he told her. She rolled her eyes and walked quickly to catch up with him. "You could have chosen someone with a slightly smaller ego."

"Oh, leave him alone," she giggled at him, hitting him jokingly on his shoulder. "You're far too prejudiced. First Skinner, now John." Jekyll was still stern. Bet tried to support John. "He was really sweet to me, you know."

"I bet he was," Jekyll sulked.

Nemo handed John the sample of the vine. Putting down his brandy glass, John grabbed for an eyepiece and started to study it intensely. There was little expression on his face. He looked extremely puzzled more than anything.

"To be totally honest," he said to the group not looking up from the plant. "Insects are more in my field of work. I'm not too bad with shrubs and vines, but this is very unusual." He placed it on the table and rushed up and across the room. He started to ferret about in cardboard boxes pulling out reams and reams of paper and notebooks.

"How much stuff does he have?" Skinner whispered to Sawyer. Sawyer leant towards him.

"Just as much as you have," Sawyer answered him, recalling a previous conversation with Jekyll. "From what I've heard, anyway." Mina shot them both a look telling them that, if they valued the full nine pints of blood in their system, they should shut up.

John sprung up from the cluster of boxes with a tatty notebook in his hands. There was a confused look on his face. He walked towards the others again, looking in the book.

"That's what I though," he said to himself, quietly. John sat back in his chair and took a large gulp of brandy. He turned the book to face the League and placed the vine besides the expertly drawn sketch of a plant. They were identical.

"Humulus Japonicus?" Sawyer queried, reading the writing at the top of the page. John nodded.

"Also known as Japanese Hops." He informed them. "It's found in Asia, how it ended up over here, I have no idea."

"Well," Nemo said. "At least we know what it is now." John gave them a discouraging look.

"However, this plant you have given me is far too big," he spoke softly. He pointed to the different features of the plant "The leaves are mean to be 2 to 4 inches long, and these leaves are almost a foot long." John continued to point out the differences as the others started to feel downhearted about this lead.

"They're only meant to grow to 40 feet in length. If what you described to me is correct, there is no way that a Japanese Hop could grow that long, let alone at that rate."

He placed the book back on his desk and gave the vine back to Nemo. John stepped back, looking slightly disturbed. "I could be wrong, but there is no way that that is a Japanese Hop. You're back at square one, I'm afraid."

NB: There goes another one. So much for actually obtaining a clue, huh? I dunno, perhaps I'll throw something more useful at them in the next chapter. Reviews gratefully recieved!