Disclaimer: I don't own any of the League, Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, or the villain; they all belong to their respective creators, and I'm just borrowing the characters for a bit
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The Adventure of the Seven Legends
As Holmes and I stepped out of the museum, just behind Mr Sawyer and Mrs Harker, Mr Sawyer raised his hand and seemed to make a 'come here' gesture to something that I initially could not make out. Then it drove out of a nearby side-street, and, to my amazement, it was a long, white object on wheels, with an elaborate silver design around its front and a seating area around the back that seemed about the size of the average passenger area of a carriage.
"What… what is that?" I asked, looking over at Mr Sawyer inquiringly.
Mr Sawyer merely smiled at me. "The inventor calls it an 'automobile'," he said, as he walked up to it and opened a door to allow Mrs Harker, Holmes and myself to enter it.
"Interesting," Holmes said, as he looked around the small area we now found ourselves sitting in. "And, pray tell, who is the inventor?"
"Talented guy," Mr Sawyer said, before he looked behind himself at the driver, who I noticed with some surprise was an Indian. "Take us to the docks, Patel."
"Right away, Mr Sawyer," the man replied, as he turned back and- to my surprise- the 'automobile' began to move of its own accord, without the aid of horses!
Holmes, I was nearly annoyed to see, did not seem much perturbed by this; he merely smiled and nodded before glancing over at Mr Sawyer.
"Based on the lack of noise and steam, am I correct in assuming that this car is powered by electricity?" he asked, looking at Mr Sawyer inquiringly.
Mrs Harker nodded. "Indeed, Mr Holmes," she said, smiling briefly at him in approval.
AN: I acknowledge that the Nemo-mobile is almost certainly like the cars of today and powered by petrol, but in '20 000 Leagues Under the Sea', Nemo had harnessed the power of electricity to power the Nautilus, so it seems only sensible to me that he has harnessed it in the same way for his car, albeit on a smaller scale
"But how?" I asked, looking at Mrs Harker in confusion. "Electricity is still a fairly limited power source; how could the inventor have harnessed its power to move an independent object such as this car?"
"Simple enough, really," Mr Sawyer explained, as he and Mrs Harker settled back more comfortably into their seats to talk to Holmes and myself. "The inventor spent a great deal of time in the ocean, and learned how to harness electricity from the sodium chloride in the water. The car uses a similar principle; he just fills it up with sea water every now and again, and it runs like a dream."
"I see…" Holmes said, nodding thoughtfully before he looked over at Mrs Harker once again. "If you do not mind me asking, Mrs Harker, what exactly did happen to you and your friends after you had slain Dracula?"
Mrs Harker shrugged slightly, as though trying to give the impression that the memories involved were nothing in particular. Only a sadness in her eyes showed what she was feeling now.
"It was… not perfect, to say the least," she said, sighing regretfully as she looked out of the window at the streets of London passing by before our eyes. "It started off well, of course; although we mourned the loss of our dear friend Quincy Morris, who so valiantly sacrificed his life to give Jonathan and Professor Van Helsing the chance to slay the vampire king, we were all grateful to him for his actions. We received a hero's welcome from the villages around the mountains, grateful to us for saving them from the continuous feasts of the Count, and shortly afterwards we returned to London, where we returned to our old lives as best we could. Professor Van Helsing moved to London to spend as much time as possible with our group, and we all began to make lives for ourselves; Jonathan and I even had a son, whom we named Quincy Abraham Jonathan Arthur Harker, after our little band."
I looked over inquiringly at Agent Sawyer to see how he was taking this story. It had been apparent to me from early on that the two were, if not lovers themselves, than at least in love; how would he react to hearing Mrs Harker discuss not only her deceased husband, but the child that she had given him?
To his credit, Agent Sawyer appeared to be relatively relaxed about her current topic of discussion; he was evidently already aware of this story, and the only emotion on his face was concern for Mrs Harker, presumably at having to recount what was most likely a painful thing to have to remember.
"Then…" Mrs Harker sighed, as she reached over and took Agent Sawyer's hand, squeezing it slightly as though for comfort. "Then came the night that I shall always remember. We had been staying at the coast for a holiday, but while we were heading home, a storm blew up. Jonathan was driving our coach- we had never felt comfortable with the idea of having servants, even if we had the financial means to pay them- and I was in the main part with Quincy. I have never been entirely clear on what occurred then, but somehow, while we were on a part of the road that was alongside the edge of a cliff, a strong burst of wind and rain struck us, and…"
"And your coach fell off the side of the cliff, correct?" Holmes asked, looking sadly at Mrs Harker. Holmes was not always the most emotive of men, but I could tell that he keenly felt the pain that Mrs Harker must have gone through that night.
Mrs Harker nodded. "I can only guess why it took place that night- my best theory is that the trauma and terror of the experience allowed me to access my vampire powers- but, before I knew what I was doing, I had grabbed Quincy and Jonathan and leapt out of the coach, summoning my bats to take us back to the top of the cliff. Quincy, although unconscious, was quickly determined to be alive, but Jonathan-" here she paused and swallowed briefly, as though collecting herself, before continuing, "Jonathan had sustained injuries in the initial accident- a broken arm and a large, deep cut on his chest being the most obvious damage that I could see- and, coupled with the shock of being dragged upwards at an accelerated rate… He was dead before my feet had even touched the ground."
She broke off her story at this point, and looked to the ground as tears began to form in her eyes. Agent Sawyer did not bother to speak; he knew, as all men do when dealing with the woman they love, when is the best time to speak and when is the time to say nothing at all.
Holmes nodded as he looked at Mrs Harker, who had now regained some measure of control over herself.
"I deeply regret your loss, Mrs Harker," he said to her, as she looked back at the two of us. "I feel it all the more keenly for the fact that Watson and I never had the inestimable pleasure to meet your husband for ourselves; by all accounts, he was a brave man and a good friend for anyone to have made in their lives."
Mrs Harker smiled briefly at Holmes. "Thank you," she said to him, before sitting back and adopting a more professional appearance once again. "After that, I took Quincy to Dr Seward's and explained the situation to him. After some tests by Professor Van Helsing and himself, Dr Seward was able to determine that Dracula's bite had transmitted some of the vampire virus to me, but it had remained dormant until then. Tests determined that I was not a pure vampire, still possessing my conscience and lacking some of the more traditional weaknesses such as holy artefacts, but, unfortunately, I still possessed the need for blood. Until I could find an alternative means of sustaining myself, I left Quincy in their care and began to travel, seeking a means of keeping myself alive that would not force me to kill innocent living beings."
"Has there been any luck?" I enquired.
Mrs Harker shook her head. "No; I have tried my best, but I am still cursed with my thirst," she explained, as she reached over and lightly squeezed Agent Sawyer's hand. "That is part of the reason that I remain with the League; if nothing else, should I lose control, they are all well-equipped to stop me before I do any serious harm."
She smiled slightly as she glanced over at Agent Sawyer. "And, of course, the company is greatly appreciated."
She leaned over and kissed Agent Sawyer briefly on the lips, but then the 'automobile' turned around another corner and they separated, Agent Sawyer glancing out the window before looking back at Holmes and I.
"We're here," he said, as the faint sound of the sea was suddenly heard. Glancing out of the window, I noticed to my surprise that we were driving towards the end of a pier, at the end of which was a long, high, silver vehicle that resembled a boat, but it was far sleeker.
Holmes, I was almost annoyed to see, merely nodded and smiled as he stared up at the ship, before glancing over at Agent Sawyer and Mrs Harker.
"The Nautilus, I presume?" he asked, smiling slightly at them. "Then this machine's inventor would be the infamous Captain Nemo, am I correct?"
Mrs Harker nodded. "You recognised it remarkably rapidly, Mr Holmes," she said, one corner of her mouth turning up in a slight smile. "You are indeed a remarkable man."
Holmes shrugged dismissively. "It was not so difficult, Mrs Harker," he said, as our driver ran up a ramp that connected the Nautilus (If it was truly that remarkable vessel) to the pier that we had just been driving on. "Given the captain's know talent for technology, coupled with the fact that he is of Indian descent, I was already fairly certain from the moment I saw our driver and our transport that the esteemed captain was one of the other members of this League of yours- I presume he is also the martial artist you mentioned?" he added, glancing over at Agent Sawyer.
The young spy nodded. "Yep; guy's a natural when it comes to anything to do with kicking the other guy about with his bare hands," he said, as the 'automobile' finally stopped in the heart of the Nautilus. "Favours a sword, of course, but it's all the same to me; hand-to-hand is hand-to-hand, even if there's something in one of the hands."
Opening the door, he smiled at Holmes and myself. "Let's get going; the rest of the League's going to meet us in the conference room."
"The… conference room?" I asked, looking at the young spy in confusion as the four of us stepped out of the car. "Why do you hold your meetings here? Surely that room underneath the British Museum is more secure?"
Agent Sawyer shrugged nonchalantly as the four of us began to walk down the corridors in the main body of the Nautilus. "It's got its perks, true, but we've spent so much time on the Nautilus it's really come to feel like home," he explained as we walked, Holmes and I slightly behind him and Mrs Harker. "Besides, no offence to your brother, Sherlock, but we don't like feeling like we owe him anything. We're grateful to him for keeping us informed of dangerous situations, and he's helped us find a couple of back-up members when we needed them, but apart from that, he's just our contact with the British Government."
"You regard yourselves as renegades?" Holmes asked, looking at the spy and the vampire inquisitively.
"No, Mr Holmes," Mrs Harker replied. "We regard ourselves as defenders of the innocent; we simply do not feel the need to restrict ourselves to the command of a single government. I intend no disrespect to your brother or his colleagues, but after our betrayal at the hands of a man who helped bring us together merely to use our powers for his own ends, we feel it best to remain as independent as possible."
"But how do you support yourselves?" I asked, looking around at the Nautilus. "At least hundreds of men would be required to operate a vehicle of this size on a long-term basis!"
Agent Sawyer chuckled slightly.
"Oh, finances are easy enough," he said, as he continued walking, although he seemed to be slowing down slightly, as though we were nearing our destination. "After all, when you consider that Nemo's got enough cash to pay off France's national debt without missing it, why should we worry about getting paying jobs?"
Holmes and I barely had time to react to that news before the two League members stopped in front of a large set of double doors and glanced back at us.
"Well, here we are," Agent Sawyer said, as he turned the door handle. "Sherlock Holmes, Doctor John Watson, meet…"
And here he swung the door open, finishing his sentence by saying, "… the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen!"
As Holmes and I glanced around the group, we were surprised at the diverse range of faces. One man appeared to only be wearing a long black leather coat and hat, with skin so white that he was evidently wearing make-up; another was dressed in a blue turban with an identically-coloured jacket and white trousers, a bushy black beard on his face; the third had shoulder-length brown hair and was wearing a predominately brown costume, with a slight scar above one eye; the fourth was a tall muscular man wearing what seemed to be an enlarged version of Agent Sawyer's wardrobe, and the fifth…
Holmes and I had never been more shocked in our lives.
"Doctor Jekyll!" we both cried in shock and confusion.