A.N: Hmmm… my first ever action scene. I have absolutely NO IDEA how on Earth I am going to write this, and when I do it will either turn out as a complete load of pants or average!

Shoutouts:

Silent Bob 546: I know what you mean about Mina! If only I was wanted by no less than four men! Oooo… if Mina slept in the same room with Skinner… I imagine he'd get a slap if he came within three feet of her! Mwa ha ha ha! Anyway, thanks again for the review!

Melantha Nocturne: Yay! New reviewer! Yeah… I think that if you write a period fic, you may as well get things right, so a little research isn't too much to ask for, eh! Besides, ancient Egypt has always really fascinated me, so I thought that I'd read up about it more. Thanks for your review! Btw, I love you're pen-name! Very cool! ;-)

Disclaimer: Basically, I own nothing, except the plot… and the ninja that lives in my closet. So don't sue… or I may just have to let him out.

Chapter Eight: River attack

Tom bolted up onto the deck, brandishing his pistols with Skinner close behind him. The boat was in utter chaos. Somehow, the gaslights which normally flooded the ship with light had been extinguished, and all he could see was a jumble of shadows which faded into and out of his line of sight.

"What the?" Tom didn't have time to finish his sentence as Skinner roughly pushed him onto the deck, a bullet ricocheting over their heads as they fell.

"You can thank me later." Skinner patted Tom's shoulder and ran off, leaving Tom on the floor, stunned. The sound of gunfire somewhere to his left quickly brought him back, and he turned around, firing randomly at the shadow he supposed was the menace responsible until he heard a yelp followed closely by a dull thud as the assailant hit the deck. He stood, and once again began to take in his surroundings, but this time keeping his senses alert. Someone in the bridge had managed to reach the switch that turned on the high-powered lights further up on deck, and now Tom could see clearly.

There were at least twenty of them, and their darker skin colour and ebony hair told him that they were probably local; their weapons ranged from rifles and pistols to swords and daggers. Tom could see several members of Nemo's well-trained crew already struggling against the onslaught.

Jumping into action, he ran into the fray, shooting at anything that wasn't wearing a turban or the crew's uniform. He saw Nemo under the canopy, slashing left and right at three attackers. They had him in a corner, and the only way the captain could escape was to jump overboard. Tom pushed and shoved over towards him, shouting as he went to try and distract the foes.

It worked. One of the men turned towards Tom, snarling as he did so. He ran forward, brandishing a long curved sword in front of him. The vivacity with which he moved took Tom by surprise, and he swiveled away just as his adversary thrust forward, the sword nicking his upper shoulder as he spun. He felt the burning sensation of the steel parting his flesh, and then a warm wet feeling as blood began to seep down his arm and soak into his shirt. He turned around and aimed his Colt directly at the man's head.

'Click'.

Tom was silent a moment before he looked down at his gun.

"Dammit." He'd lost his other pistol somewhere, and now his remaining weapon was out of bullets. Seeing Tom's dismay, his attacker snickered and lunged forward again, slashing upwards as he did so. Tom fell backwards onto the deck and scrambled backwards for dear life, crawling over bodies. Suddenly, he felt his hand fall on something cold and hard, twisting his head, he grabbed hold of the sword he'd found and blocked another thrust from his persistent opponent. The man continued to slash downwards, again and again, Tom blocking each advance with his own weapon.

Gradually, Tom began to weaken. The wound on his shoulder was now aching terribly, and each time the swords clashed, his entire arm vibrated. With a vindictive shout, the Egyptian foe managed to disarm the American, and Tom watched in dismay as his weapon fell and slid along the deck into the murky waters below. He clenched his fists and steeled himself for the final thrust that would end his life.

He watched as his adversary lifted his sword high above his head, gripping the hilt with both hands. But the jeering laughter that he heard erupting from his would-be killer's throat abruptly changed to screams of fear and horror as hundreds of bats began to swirl around his head, their claws and teeth slicing open his face and arms.

Mina.

Dropping his sword at Tom's feet, he fell to the deck, shielding his face as he did so, and still screaming, clawed his way over to the railing and jumped over, the bats following him until he hit the water.

Tom watched as the dark creatures rematerialized into the familiar form of Mina, and stood, swaying slightly on his feet before gripping the edge of the canopy to steady himself. Mina ran forward and cupped Tom's chin in her hand, forcing him to look at her.

"Tom! Tom, are you alright?"

He nodded silently as he panted, and was about to reply when an enormous roar rent the air. There was a pause as all fighting stopped, and those present all turned to stare at the huge form of Hyde gripping one of the enemy and snapping him in two as if he were a stick. Mina took advantage of the distraction and flew from one attacker to the other, draining their throats of their blood and throwing them to the deck before moving on to her next victim.

There was a sudden rush as the assailants panicked: they hadn't reckoned on fighting a beast and what appeared to be some other worldly creature. They ran about on deck, bumping into each other in their haste to get away from the crew, Hyde and Mina. Some managed to board a boat that had been tied onto the stern of the League's vessel before it pushed off and made it way down the river in the opposite direction to that in which the League traveled. Those that were left on board screamed as they realized that their only real means of escape was leaving without them, and some jumped in the river and attempted to swim after their comrades.

"No honour among thieves, eh?" Tom turned as he felt Skinner's hand on his shoulder and smirked.

"Sounds pretty ironic coming from a guy like you." Skinner chuckled in reply, and picked up a club that one of the fleeing men had dropped and set about hitting the stragglers on deck until they were all either unconscious or in the river.

There was an eerie silence for a moment as everyone stood still, regaining their breath and composure following the fight, before a scream broke through the night which was followed by a gurgling sound and a deep-throated hiss. The crew and League ran over to the side of the boat, and watched in horror as the men that had jumped-ship were pulled under water; great clouds of blood replacing their shadowy forms in the muddy waters of the Nile.

"What on Earth is going on?" Skinner's question was answered as a huge pair of jaws burst up through the water, snapping shut around another unfortunate before dragging him downwards in a flurry of bubbles.

"Oh."

There was another moment of silence as those left alive watched on with a kind of grim fascination, before Nemo finally spoke.

"We should attend to our wounded." He turned to Mina, and seeing that she was dressed only in her nightdress, he removed the light jacket he wore and placed it on her shoulders.

"My dear, until the doctor transforms again," his eyes shifted over to the tall form of Hyde, who was now poking idly at the unconscious forms on the deck, "would you please care for our men? No one appears to be seriously wounded; if you like you can dress first."

Mina nodded and walked quickly down to her cabin, pulling Nemo's proffered jacket closer around her shoulders as she went.

"Nemo, shouldn't we get them out of the water?" Tom motioned to the final few attackers in the water, who were now clawing their way to the shore.

The captain came forward and lent on the railing, watching the retreating figures intently, saying nothing.

"Nemo?"

"No. They will get what treatment whatever their deities see fit to give them." His eyes flashed with anger as he spun around and made his way over to Hyde. Tom looked briefly at Skinner before following Nemo, picking up his discarded Colt's as he went. Neither appeared to be badly damaged, and he was thankful that he hadn't lost either of them over board.

Nemo looked up at Hyde, his hand moving to his sword hilt as he did so. Hyde returned the gaze, his eyes flickering briefly to the captain's hand first.

"How much longer until Jekyll returns to us?"

"Not long. He only took half the potion, seems he didn't really want to let me out for very long." Hyde smirked, revealing his yellowed teeth. "This was fun." He looked around and surveyed the damage he and the League had caused. Suddenly, he straightened and roared, his body twisting and turning as the body of the beast gave way to the timid doctor. Those present watched on as the body shrank and the bones cracked to re-form the body of Jekyll, who now lay on the deck, panting and shaking.

Skinner came forward and helped the doctor to stand, waiting until he was fully composed before letting him go down to his cabin to change. Mina meanwhile had returned to the deck and was dressing the wounds on Nemo's crewmen. Nemo had been right: there were no injuries that had been too serious, and they had only lost four men out of Nemo's fifteen.

"Who were they?" She spoke up now as she examined another crewmember's cut, washing it with a basin of water someone had brought to her.

"Pirates, as far as I can tell." Nemo scowled. "And skilled ones at that. If it hadn't been for Hyde and yourself, Mina, I don't know what would have happened."

Mina smiled in acknowledgement of the compliment before setting about her work again. Nemo stalked off and began giving orders in Hindustani before disappearing up in the bridge, where he shut off the bright white lights that flooded the deck, their glare being replaced by the soft glow of the lamps that had been re-lit.

Tom and Skinner set about moving the worst of the wounded into the infirmary, which was located directly below the deck, next to the crew's quarters, and then began to set the boat to rights. Tom was in the middle of picking up a heavy table when he gasped and clutched at his shoulder. Seeing his discomfort, Mina rushed over and helped him to gently lower the table back down before she moved to examine his wound.

"It's nothing, really." Tom turned back to the table, but Mina placed a warning hand on his shoulder and glared at him. Sighing, he straightened again and allowed himself to be led over to a seat that had been placed under a lamp, although it really wasn't necessary now that the sun was beginning to peak up over the horizon in the distance, gently illuminating the scattered clouds with a pale pink glow and glinting like gold off of the sand in the distant desert.

Mina set about cleaning the cut, washing away the dried blood and gently examining inside to make sure it was thoroughly clean. Tom winced as her fingers pulled apart his skin, but said nothing.

"This will need stitches - it is quite deep. There is surgery equipment downstairs in the infirmary. Come on." She led Tom through a door underneath the stairs that led to their cabins, and made space for him on a bed. Around them, two other injured men were sleeping deeply, and he supposed that Henry had given them something to make them drowsy and relieve them from their pain.

"Lie down." Mina pointed to the bed, and Tom did as he was told. He watched her as she bustled preparing the needle and thread and a syringe and made room for herself to sit.

"This," she held up the syringe, "is just a local anesthetic. It will numb the area around your shoulder so you don't feel this," she held up the threaded needle.

"Alright." Tom nodded and watched as Mina carefully administered the anesthetic to his shoulder, but turned away when she began to push the needle through his flesh. He looked up at the ceiling and concentrated on the dull poking feeling that was followed by the low ssssssss of the string being pulled through after the needle.

"Mina, can I talk to you?"

Mina smiled and shifted her eyes up to look at him briefly before returning to her work. "Of course, although I must admit you've chosen a strange time to do so."

Tom chuckled a little but stopped when he saw it was impeding Mina's work. "Why won't you let me be with you?"

Mina stopped mid-pull and looked down at Tom. She hadn't expected his question to be so forward or abrupt, or, for that matter, of anything to do with his advances on her. She sighed and finished pulling the thread through before sitting up straight and fixing Tom with a steady gaze.

"Because I don't feel the way you do, or the way you want me to." She paused before quietly adding, "I probably never will." She set back to work, dabbing at the stitches with a cloth to clear away some of the blood before resuming her sewing.

"Why?" It was all Tom could think to say. He wasn't ready for how much those words hurt.

"I just don't Tom."

"But what about that time on the submarine, back during Mongolia?" Tom recalled her words perfectly:

She had lain her fingers over his lips and whispered, almost huskily., "Don't apologize… I'm disappointed. I didn't think that Americans gave up so easily".

Mina sighed again. "Tom, that was a long time ago… nearly two years now. I was a different person then. Things have changed, we've both changed. Everyone has." Tom scowled at her, and noting his look she continued. "If you must know, all that I was feeling at that time was lust. You had just gone and given that speech about not giving up, and I must admit that it was rather alluring." She blushed slightly – she never had approved of speaking of such things, but now it was necessary.

"Lust? Like Dorian?"

"Yes." She answered quickly, thankful for the answer he'd supplied her with. "Like Dorian."

"But you and Dorian were… lovers for a long time. Why can't we be like that?" Mina couldn't help but wonder at how child-like and innocent Tom's words were, even if she knew that he was capable of being more a man than anyone she had ever met before.

"That was different. Dorian was the first man I was… together… with after the death of my husband. I was searching for something new. And now that I've tasted that something, and found how bitter it was, I don't want to go through it again. It only ends in pain." She was silent a moment. "I'm looking for something else, something that I'm afraid you can't give to me."

"How do you know if you don't give me a chance?" Tom eyes were almost begging with her, though his voice remained neutral. She tied off the end of the string and cut the excess off with scissors.

"Tom, if I really thought that anything would transpire between us that might one day lead to love, then I would have taken steps to see that we remained together. I have found someone else." She avoided looking at his eyes, and interested herself with cleaning around the new stitches.

Tom was silent a moment and then scowled again.

"Jekyll."

Mina hesitated before answering.

"Yes." Her voice was quiet. An uncomfortable silence filled the room while she finished up. "You should be careful with these in. Don't try shooting anything for a few days, and make sure you keep it clean."

Tom stood and made to walk out of the room. Mina's words had stung him more than the sword had when it'd passed through his shoulder. He didn't really know what he'd been expecting: he supposed that he'd never really believed that she could feel what he did for her, but then again he'd never actually thought that she didn't care either. He stopped as he felt her hand on him.

"Tom, I don't want this to change anything between us. You're really very dear to me." Tom didn't look at her.

"Yeah." He scoffed lightly and shrugged her hand off of him before moving forward again and heading up the stairs onto the deck.

Mina watched his retreating form and couldn't help but feel guilty. She never would have guessed that Tom would be the one to approach the matter between them: as brave as he was, he really didn't like discussing emotions, especially his own – that had been a problem after Allan's death. Tom simply wouldn't come out and talk about anything. He'd suffered alone. And now she feared that he would do so again, and this time at her expense. She wondered briefly if she should talk to him again, but decided that it would be best to leave him alone, at least for a while.

A.N: Oooo… alrighty, it's getting a little angsty now, eh? He he he! Anyway, for those of you that don't know, the little scene that Tom mentions about Mina being flirty is in the deleted scenes on the LXG DVD. Ok my freaky darlings, (Skinner… squuuuuuuuuuueal!) I shall leave you here while I go and do some more research and think what mischief the League can get up to next!

I'd love a few tips on writing action scenes, as I'm not very experienced in them at all… any tips or suggestions of really good stories to read would be great!

Btw, I have guests over at my house for the next few days, so updates may be a little slow in coming… but I WILL UPDATE! Do not fear!