Disclaimer: I don't own anyone here that you recognise.

Feedback: Much appreciated

Samyo: Not that Beast; the Beast Jekyll's talking about appeared in my story Legacy, and was a creature with the power of practically all of the League's original members, including the ability to become visible and invisible at well.

Clez: Well, this one's a bit slow, but I'm hoping it'll get more interesting later on…

Ten Mara: I try my best; glad to hear it went down well. Oh, and thanks for the compliment about the card scene; I got the idea for that from a Star Trek novel I read some years back.

A Face in the Crowd

As the needle broke through his flesh, Skinner winced slightly from the pain. When he'd originally taken the invisibility serum, he'd only needed to drink it, which he'd been grateful for; he'd never enjoyed being on the receiving end of any sharp objects. Now, here he was, having to get 'stabbed' just so he could reverse the effects of the bloody stuff…

Why couldn't the cure be the same as the cause?

Then shooting pain tore though his body as Jekyll removed the needle, and Skinner knew for sure that this was the cure; his body's reaction to taking the invisibility serum had been the same as this one, just a bit less painful.

Of course, he could see how that would make sense; the serum had just been adding something to his cells that they hadn't had before. This, on the other hand, was trying to remove something from the cells that had been there for almost a year now, so he guessed it was only naturally that it should hurt so much…

"GYAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Skinner screamed, as all logical thought left his body, replaced only by the constant, tearing pain that spread throughout his body, tearing into his arms, his legs, his chest, his head, his heart…

Then, all of a sudden, the pain was over.

Gasping for breath, Skinner slumped back in the chair, staring up at the ceiling as he tried to think clearly once again while gasping for breath like a fish on dry land. Leaning forward, he clasped his head in his hands as he tried to cope with the massive headache that had suddenly settled in…

Then he stopped.

His hands.

He could see his hands.

He could see his hands!

He looked up at Jekyll excitedly, and saw that the doctor was looking at him with an expression of amazement that mimicked the one that must have been on his face at that moment.

"Did it work?" Skinner asked eagerly. Jekyll could only nod with astonishment; evidently, he hadn't been expecting the process to be so effective so fast.

"Quick; a mirror!" Skinner yelled excitedly, looking around for one in the lab, his eyes eventually falling on a largish mirror that Nemo had been using for his new experiment in creating a weapon that used strong light rather then bullets to hurt the other side.

Grabbing it, Skinner stared at it…

And gasped.

He was there.

He was really visible.

He was really cured…

He raised one hand to feel his features, no longer needing to worry about smudging his paint. His slightly tanned skin… his light blue eyes, so pale they were almost grey… his shockingly white eyebrows, the only hair on his head…

"I'm… I'm normal again…" he whispered, turning to look at Jekyll with a broad grin on his face.

Jekyll just smiled a slightly saddened grin. It was probably a bit selfish of him, he knew, but he couldn't help wishing that he could solve his own problems that easily as well as Skinner's.

But Hyde…

Well, he wasn't the kind of 'scientific accident', for lack of a better term, that would go away very easily.

And don't you forget it, Henry… Edward growled in the back of Jekyll's mind.

"So, Skinner," he said, looking at his friend curiously. "What are you going to do now?"

His train of thought broken, Skinner put down the mirror and looked over at his friend. His expression was thoughtful for a few seconds, but then he sighed.

"I… I dunno," he said, looking down at his hands for a few seconds. Then, curiously, he closed his eyes and spent a few seconds apparently in deep concentration, before opening his eyes and looking down at himself.

He sighed. "Didn't work," he said, nonchalantly.

"What?" Jekyll asked, looking at Skinner curiously. "What didn't work?"

"I was trying to turn invisible," Skinner said, looking at Jekyll again. "It didn't work; Guess I've lost the power." He sighed, got up, and stretched. "Well… I guess I'll be off."

A couple of hours later, Skinner was standing at the bank of the Thames, a large leather bag slung over his shoulder as he looked at the streets around him. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd felt the sun hit his skin directly, without the paint getting in the way; that stuff always made it harder to really appreciate the warmth of the sun…

He turned around and looked back at the rest of the League. They'd all gathered together to see him off, after Jekyll had passed on the news of his departure.

Skinner smiled as he looked around at his… friends. A part of him almost regretted that he was leaving now, after they'd been through so much together…

He shook it off. He'd never wanted to be a member of the League; he'd only wanted a cure for the invisibility, and he'd got that. He didn't need to stick around anymore.

"Look… you guys know you can always talk to me if you need info on the criminal side of London, right?" he asked, looking at them as he tried to seem casual.

"Yeah, we know that," Sawyer smiled, one hand in his waistcoat pocket as he stepped forward, one hand outstretched. "I guess… this is goodbye?"

Skinner took the hand and shook it. "Yeah." He swallowed, and looked around at the League. "You guys… take care, OK?"

Mina smiled at Skinner and, walking down towards him, kissed him lightly on the cheek.

"You too," she said to him.

Skinner briefly smiled back at her, then he turned around and walked away from the Nautilus, away from the League…

Away from his….

Stop it! He yelled at himself. You've got the bloody cure; you don't need them anymore!

Maybe he'd believe it eventually…

Dammit! the man thought to himself, as he watched the impostor walk away from the massive submarine that was his temple. He couldn't believe this; he went to all this effort to track down the blasphemer, and he went and bailed out before he could punish him!

Then, he smirked.

He couldn't punish the impostor, but he could punish the others…

After all, without the great power of invisibility among their arsenal, they would have no chance against a god like himself. He would observe, learn, and act accordingly.

And then….

He grinned.

He would show them who they should have worshipped, rather then that pale imitation that they had chosen to pay homage to.