.

(A/N: We're back to the Frozen crew after this chapter for a bit.)

The Asylum: Part 2

Jekyll washed his hands of the Fredrich matter. It was for the young man's sake as much as his own. He gave a serum or two to Kef and did not go to see the boy again. Nor was he asked for. He would have gone, were he asked for, but he wasn't and so he stayed. It was for the best anyway. The more often he was allowed to wander free, the more of a risk he became. He isolated himself for the next week in his cell and refused to leave it for anything. He did, though, ask after the woman who he suspected to be carrying the stone fetus.

His diagnosis of her had been proven correct, he was told. The calcified remains of a girl child had been removed. The woman had not survived. He blamed himself for that, in part. He believed that he could have kept her alive, had he been in charge of the procedure, but he had not been asked to observe or join and so had not heard of the matter until afterwards. Sometimes he saw her face in his dreams. He hated dreams such as that. He had them far too often. Nightmares of patients he had failed or been unable to save. He consoled himself by recalling the appalling conditions she had been kept in and the things she had endured, and determined at last that perhaps death had been the best outcome for her. It was easier to accept and cope with that way.

He had come out of his cell for the first time in a week upon receiving a request from a nurse in the women's ward who expressed concerns for a patient under her care. A young woman a doctor from the lost wing had taken to visiting. He claimed to be relieving her of hysteria, of course. Jekyll was unsurprised. It seemed a favorite diagnosis here along with 'women's diseases', or whatever ridiculous blanket term it was they used to excuse committing a woman for no good reason other than she was annoying her significant other or male relative. Sometimes female relatives for that matter, but most often the other way around.

It was clear to him, upon entering the female ward, that the vast majority of them were perfectly sane individuals wrongly committed. If he had his way, he would have discharged the majority. The women who were perfectly sane, he believed, would not be the preferred targets of any depraved doctors. The doctors would target the more vulnerable ones. They made for an easier mark. Imagine his surprise, then, when the head nurse, Henrietta, led him to a room with a woman who seemed perfectly fine.

"Nurse Henrietta, who is this? Where is Stevens?" the woman questioned, seeming wary of his presence.

"Stevens was otherwise occupied dear Melinda," the nurse answered. "This is Dr. Jekyll. He will take care of you today."

She seemed to recoil a little at this, looking even more deeply unsettled. "Do not fear, my lady. I will not harm you," Jekyll said with a kind and reassuring smile. He turned to the Nurse. "Would you leave us please?" Henrietta looked uncomfortable with the idea. "Please. I must speak privately with her. She will come to no harm," Jekyll pressed. Henrietta cast a final worried look at Melinda before at last leaving with a curtsey. Jekyll waited for a moment before turning to the woman, now pressed against the wall and watching him in open fear. "Do not fear, my dear. I am not here to treat you for hysteria."

She let her guard down a little at this. "Where is Doctor Stevens?" she questioned.

"In the Lost Ward where he cannot hurt you," Jekyll replied.

"Doctor Jekyll, there are but two doctors in the whole of that ward who give a damn about their patients. Stevens is one of them. I am not his victim, sir. I am his lover," she declared.

"What a blunt thing you are," he said, surprised by the boldness with which she had answered. Not even an attempt to cover up this questionable little affair she had going on. She was quite the headstrong young woman. "I had feared, at first, the possibility of emotional blackmail or blackmail of another sort. It seems that is the least of my concerns if your claim is true and you are not in fact a victim of a heinous act. I wonder, though, if you have any idea of who might be, since you clearly have eyes in the Lost Wing."

She was quiet. "No sir," she at last answered. "I'm quite sure it wouldn't matter even if I had the answers you sought. A vast majority consider the wretches locked away down there to be lost causes. It has been suggested that many of the victims may not even be aware of what is happening to them. It is horrible that they would try to justify it as such, absolutely horrible, but there is nothing that can be done, sir. For your own sake, do not try if that is your intent."

"Are there ladies locked away in this wing who also have been treated ill?" Jekyll asked.

"There are, sir," she confessed.

"Do you know who?" he said.

"I try my best, sir, to be as oblivious as I can for my own sake. I do not know any names. What I do know, though, is that if they have been ill-treated here, not often are they allowed to remain. Many times, after the deed has been done, the victims are moved to the Lost Wing to ensure nothing they claim is ever taken seriously. They are imprisoned there, sir, and I shudder to think what happens to them when they are at the mercy of the corrupted doctors of that wing. It would be Dr. Stevens you would have to speak to, to learn names. He or Dr. Davies. Dr. Davies you see is the head of the wing, but his power is very limited for the amount of corruption surrounding him. You would know him to see him, sir. He is a stern sort who looks like the last person you would trust. He seems, if anything, the type of man that would perpetuate such acts or relish in them rather than try and prevent them. His face is always dull and hollow and eerie, and constantly he is flanked by two nurses who he is certain are not corrupt. There are four trustworthy nurses in all. They rotate, as I understand. Two also often surround Dr. Stevens."

"I had thought something was different about that strange man," Jekyll mused out loud. "It is good to know he is an ally and not an enemy. Good also to know he has at least a few allies in that ward."

"You do not understand. I must see her," an insistent voice declared, angry and agitated. Jekyll looked towards the door curiously.

"It is my lover, sir," the woman said. "You should go soothe his concerns."

"Very well," Jekyll said, turning to leave.

Frozen

As Jekyll left Melinda's room, he adjusted his cuffs and looked towards the commotion. There he saw a doctor engaged in an altercation with Nurse Henrietta. The man stiffened and looked immediately in his direction the moment he noticed his presence. Now Dr. Jekyll was not a stranger to envy, jealousy, or suspicion. He was handsome to look at and carried himself with dignity and poise. His size gave him an intimidating but comforting presence that made one feel safe and secure. He was the sort of man women looked upon and loved whilst men hated. The look his fellow doctor, presumably Stevens, was giving him was far from foreign to Jekyll. The unknown doctor looked again at Nurse Henrietta. "What is that man doing here?" he darkly questioned, voice shaking with anger. "How could you be so stupid as to let a patient into this place?'

"He is a doctor sir, and a fine one," Nurse Henrietta replied.

"He is a nut like every other nut in this hell house!" the man snapped. "Why was he in that woman's room?" He turned sharply to Jekyll. "Why were you in her room?"

"Dr. Stevens, I presume?" Jekyll replied calmly, putting on a warm smile that had put many a patient at ease. Since he was no stranger to looks of envy, he was no stranger to defusing the animosity accompanying them either. "My name is Dr. Henry Jekyll. I am of London. Forgive my barging in on your patient, but there was a matter of concern regarding her. The staff in this wing wanted a second opinion regarding some confusion over her diagnosis."

"Dr. Henry Jekyll? What the devil are you doing here, man? In the Lost Wing no less?" Dr. Stevens warily asked. Clearly he had heard of him before.

"It is not all that important right now. My concern is the treatment Ms. Melinda is undergoing. She was admitted under the diagnosis of womanly problems, yes? I should like to know, then, why she is being treated for female hysteria."

"It is not your business to know my patient's business, doctor," Stevens firmly replied, frowning.

"She has given me permission to know," Jekyll replied. "You may ask her if you like."

For a moment there was a staring contest between the two before at last Stevens relented. "She is being treated for female hysteria because it developed later," he said, sounding annoyed but looking quite wary at this line of questioning.

"I have seen no signs of such," Jekyll replied.

"Then the treatment is proving successful," Dr. Stevens replied. "Now I should like to proceed with it."

"Dr. Stevens, you must think me an utter fool. The woman is not hysteric. Now tell me the truth," Jekyll said.

"What are you implying, Dr. Jekyll?" Stevens lowly asked.

Jekyll looked to Nurse Henrietta. "Nurse, if you please," he said. Henrietta nodded worriedly and left the two to their business. Once certain she could no longer hear them, Jekyll turned his attention back to Dr. Stevens. "The woman seemed in no distress when I pressed her for answers. In fact, she was quite forthcoming. You're her lover, she claims, and she herself is perfectly sane. She was only shipped here to get her out of someone's hair, I suppose. She claimed also that there were but two decent men in the Lost Wing. You were one of them."

Stevens was quiet. "What of it?" he at last asked.

"You have information," Jekyll replied.

"And for what purpose would you use such information considering I had any at all?" Stevens replied.

"To help release those patients from their sorry fates by means of proper diagnoses and, wherever it is needed, special sorts of medicines of my own devising," Jekyll replied.

"And if these potions and concoctions of yours fail?" Stevens asked.

"Will your patients be much worse off than they are now?" Jekyll asked. "Doctor, if given the choice would you select hope or no hope?" Stevens was quiet, clearly uncomfortable. "Exactly," Jekyll pressed.

Dr. Stevens sighed through the nose. "Return to your room, doctor. We will discuss matters further later tonight. In secret. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a visit to make," he said.

"Doctor, why do you not simply discharge her rather than keeping her here and risking scandal if you are discovered?" Jekyll asked.

"Dr. Jekyll, she is safer even here than she would be with her family. She has no place to go other than back to them, and that is not an option," he answered.

"Has she no friend to stay with until you can marry her?" Jekyll asked.

"One of the nurses perhaps, but then I would hardly trust any of them as far as I could throw them except maybe Henrietta and Nancy. The risk to all parties involved, though, is an unknown factor I would sooner not chance," Stevens said.

"I have friends in London. Louise and Edvard Collin. They are brother and sister. Louise is… special to me. She is a good-hearted person, kind and personable. She and her brother would welcome a guest with open arms. If I can arrange for it, will you consider discharging her to their care?" Jekyll asked.

"I shall, doctor," Stevens warily replied, looking a bit puzzled. "But why are you so eager to help us?"

"Because it is in my nature, doctor," Jekyll replied, turning and walking away to go back to his cell.

Frozen

It was late at night. Jekyll sat on the armchair he had been provided, reading through a book. Trying, rather. He had read this same paragraph over so many times that he could practically recite it, and still he ended up rereading it. He heard his door being unlocked and quickly looked up and towards it. As it opened, he laid the book to the side and leaned back, tenting his fingers. Into the room came doctors Stevens and Davies.

"Greetings, gentlemen," Jekyll said.

"You are Jekyll," Davies bluntly said in a rough, grating voice.

"Yes sir. Doctor Henry Jekyll," Jekyll confirmed.

"I have read your scientific papers. I am of the opinion you should have been in the nut house long ago," Davies said.

Jekyll was quiet, jaw ticking a bit. "I presume you speak of my research on the duality of man," he finally chose to say, taking a neutral route.

"Your work is brilliant but absurd," Davies said. "Nevertheless. you are renowned and respected so clearly you have something going for you. Now, before we proceed let us set matters straight. I am neither a friend nor a fan. I am disenchanted of you. I in fact believe you have no place in the scientific field at all. Stick to medicine. It's what you're good at."

"Davies, please," Stevens murmured. "You have hardly even given him a chance to speak, let alone prove himself to you."

"It's quite alright Dr. Stevens. One can hardly be liked by everyone," Jekyll said. "I will prove my aptitude in science soon enough, although I fear the revelation may shock one or both of you to death. You would not be the first ones."

"What do you mean?" Davies suspiciously asked.

"My scientific prowess is not the matter up for discussion at the moment, doctor," Jekyll replied. "There are higher stakes at play. Namely the wellbeing of your patients. Not only in the Lost Wing, though indeed they are our priority, but in the rest of the facility as well."

"And what do you propose, Doctor?" Davies questioned, arms folded across his chest.

"I propose nothing. I wished to conspire with the both of you to come to a solution," Jekyll answered. "No doubt you have more knowledge of the state of things than I do, cooped up in this cell they have the audacity to call a room."

"It is a room, Dr. Jekyll. At least for you. I assure you no other patient in this wing is treated half as well," Davies coldly replied.

Jekyll was quiet. "I asked for no special treatment, Dr. Davies, if that is what you imply."

"You're a sensitive thing, aren't you?" Davies replied.

"No, but you are quite the judgemental one," Jekyll answered. Stevens covered his mouth and cleared his throat to hide a laugh. Davies gave the younger doctor one of the ugliest looks Jekyll had ever seen. Apart from Hyde, that was.

Davies turned attention back to Jekyll, eyes narrowed. "I am aware of your little exploits in the asylum, Dr. Jekyll. You've caused quite a stir. The doctors idolize you, the patients you have dealt with adore you, Dr. Kef relies on you… They seem to forget you are here for a reason. A very disturbing one. Oh yes, I have heard also of that. Your little episodes. One moment you are you, the next another person entirely. You are a man of two minds, and so you cannot be trusted."

"No. I cannot. At least my alter ego cannot, and indeed predicting his appearance is difficult. When you have no other options left to you, though, will you continue to wander blind hoping for the best, or will you dare to take a risk? What is your long-term plan, Dr. Davies, for protecting the patients of the Lost Wing and properly treating them? How do you plan to give them a chance at something of a life when they have everything working against them?" Jekyll questioned.

"Some things cannot be helped, Jekyll," Davies replied icily.

"Their treatment at the hands of other doctors can be," Jekyll answered.

Davies' jaw twitched. "That, I fear, would be the most difficult thing to control," he finally chose to answer.

"Who must we go to, to ensure the perpetrators are fired?" Jekyll questioned.

"Firing them would not be the problem. Hiring competent, trustworthy doctors to replace them would be," Davies answered. "Stevens and I simply cannot tend this entire wing by ourselves, and there is a great shortage of doctors, so none are forthcoming."

"Rotate shifts," Jekyll said.

"We are spread too thin as is, Dr. Jekyll," Stevens said in frustration. "Rotating doctors from wing to wing is simply not feasible."

"Discharge the patients who should not be here in the first place and things would go much better for you all," Jekyll said.

"Many of those people either have no place to go or would be in more danger outside than in," Stevens said, clearly thinking of his little affair upstairs.

"There are shelters for them. There are people who would extend their hands in friendship and protection. I know of many. One of them is a Lord of the Orkney Isles with a good deal of land to spare. He is not an oppressive Lord, though indeed he is strict. He is fair but firm, merciful in his dealings yet harsh in punishment. Not wicked, though. His heart is good, he is not closed off to listening to petitions, and he would be open to accepting those who will not be accepted anywhere else, if I can contact him," Jekyll said.

"Yes, the rumors of your powerful and numerous connections are no secret about London," Davies coldly replied.

"Discharging those who should not be here, funding them, or helping them to get to where they need to be, is at least a start in cleaning up this mess," Jekyll said, frustration seeping into his tone.

"It would require getting a great many other doctors on board with the plan," Stevens said.

"Then we do what we can in that regard," Jekyll said, looking at him.

"Now how do you intend to deal with the numerous patients who do in fact have a reason for being here?" Davies asked.

"Treatment of course," Jekyll replied.

"Treatment or concoctions?" Davies sarcastically asked. Jekyll was silent, watching him warily. "Oh yes, Doctor. It's no secret you have been dreaming up little elixirs and concoctions. Feeding them to patients whom others have feared are beyond help. So far you have been fortunate in that they have worked, yet these medicines you prepare can be found nowhere else. Which tells me they have neither been preapproved nor officially tested. Ever. The only testing done has been testing you yourself have done. I assume your test subjects are those initial patients you feed your poisons to."

Jekyll's fingers began drumming on his chair. "I have crafted only a handful of elixirs in my time here. I have offered them only in dire cases where the attending physicians have given up or exhausted all other options say for the Lost Wing, death, or treatments far more inhumane than any treatment has a right to be. These potions I have given out with many warnings and extreme trepidation only when I am commissioned for them, and they have worked. Every one of them. Lest you forget that little tidbit, doctor. I will continue to mix my concoctions when I am asked to because when I am asked to do so, the only other options the patient has left to them are worse."

"You have been lucky with your elixirs, doctor. Have you considered that perhaps someday you will develop a concoction where the side effects are worse than the ailment?" Davies asked.

Jekyll was silent, jaw ticking. "I have already done so, doctor," he finally, icily, replied.

"Then you will forgive my distrust of your little elixirs and concoctions," Davies said.

"In some cases, the ailment is and will always be worse than the side effects," Jekyll said. "I offer otherwise doomed and tortured patients a chance at a somewhat normal and livable life. My greatest mistake with the backfired concoction I crafted, was trying it on a patient who could still be called alive."

"And what happened to this patient?" Davies sneered.

"He sits before you, sir," Jekyll replied, spreading his arms out. Davies and Stevens started, eyes widening. Neither had expected such a response as that.

For a moment there was silence. "You tried it on yourself?" Davies finally questioned, tone quieter and a little softer. His eyes seemed tired now as well, rather than hard and guarded.

"I test them all on myself first, if it seems practical to my physical and mental health to do so," Jekyll answered. "I would not give a patient a medication I would not give to myself. Unfortunately for me, sometimes what seems practical to my health is not. I learned such the hard way. I am living with those repercussions to this day."

Davies was quiet. "What did you do?" he finally questioned.

"My research into the duality of man that you so disdain and spit upon, sir, was originally conducted in response to my ailment. The one I am currently here for. Two minds, one wicked and one good. As you well know from my research papers, I sought to split apart the two sides of men, the good and the evil. I was young and foolish when I first began to conduct such research. I did not fully understand what was wrong with me and thought that I could justify the wicked vices of my youth with the excuse of two minds that could be separated. As I aged, the thought fell to the wayside. I began to better understand things, though still not completely. I was improving. Then I reached midlife. I hardly need to say more than that. With midlife came regrets, questions, urges, etcetera. With midlife, the pursuits of my youth began to creep up again and I found myself desiring to indulge once more. That was when the ailment of my mind became worse. There were triggers that would bring my alter ego out. Brothels, bars, opium dens, conflict, anger… I resented my other self, yet my true self still couldn't help but wonder, even in normalcy, what pursuing those vices of my own accord would be like. Then I started to toy with the idea of using my alter ego to my advantage. Controlling him instead of him taking over me. Turning him into a tool rather than a nuisance. If he would be there anyway, I might as well have some measure of control. My research into the dualities of the human mind began anew," Jekyll said. "After months, years, of research, at last, I was able to craft a concoction unlike any other… Pursuing my desire to separate the two minds of people, because surely I was not the only one in such a situation, I sought to give the evil mind a body of its own, leaving the good to be beyond reproach, because to anyone else's eyes the two would be separate."

"And then?" Stevens asked, enraptured by this point. Davies, on the other hand, was starting to feel ill at ease and wary.

Jekyll smirked ever so slightly. It was a bitter smirk to be sure. "And then I succeeded," he answered with a little shrug. "I succeeded, doctors," he repeated, standing up with eyes blazing with passion. "I separated my two minds, and suddenly my alter ego had a body and form all his own. Many times, I could still experience the things he experienced. I retained some control of him. I retained control of my own mind, and I could see the world as an observer within him, watching it through the eyes of someone else. What he saw and felt, I saw and felt, and it was like there were two in one working in tandem instead of against one another. Then things went horribly wrong…

I started to lose any form of control. Sometimes even memory. I would wake up Jekyll with no clue of what my alter, who I call Mr. Edward Hyde, had done. That or I would wake up as Jekyll, remember everything that Hyde had done, and remember being helpless to stop it. What happened to me with the use of that potion I cannot really explain. Not in any sort of manner that would make sense. You would need to experience it to understand, but I wish that fate on no one. Nor would it affect you even if I still had it and you took it. It would work only on one who had multiple personalities. I began to lose control of the changes. The triggers no longer were relevant. Sometimes I would go to sleep and wake up Hyde. It got to the point where I could be sitting on a bench, look down at my hands, and suddenly realize I was no longer in Jekyll's body but Hyde's. Hyde's personality and mine were one in a desire not to be caught, and so in some twisted sense, we worked together in such instances.

I wanted to undo what I had done. I made a potion that would bring Jekyll back, but it stopped working and I could not replicate it for my life. Hyde was spinning out of control, Jekyll was dying swiftly, and inevitably it came to be that there was only one way out. Death. If I died, so would he, and all of it would be over. I attempted to kill myself. I should have died that day. I thought that I had. Others thought that I had. I am going to tell you something now, doctors, that I have not told anyone else. Not even my dearest friends. When I woke up, I found myself in an eight-foot box that was six feet underground."

Davies and Stevens both started, eyes widening. "What?" Stevens said in shock.

"Yes. I had been pronounced dead and buried. Fortunately, the box was wooden. Fortunately, Hyde was far more determined to survive than Jekyll was. Or unfortunately, as the case may be. Unfortunate for Jekyll and the world Hyde would be unleashed upon. Not so much unfortunate for Hyde and my general survival. Hyde broke his way through the wooden top of the box. With a foot. He began to shovel in dirt, shoving it to the back of the coffin and slowly but steadily digging his way up. He clawed his way through the earth. He dug himself from his unmarked, solitary grave. He burst from it in the dead of night. An unfortunate caretaker was happening by and saw it. The man was lucky to have died from a heart attack because Hyde would have done far worse. He buried the corpse in the unmarked grave, and he went on his merry way laughing. That is the last I remember witnessing through Hyde's eyes before waking up as myself once more. Frantic, I attempted to end my life once again. That was when a group of strangers happened upon me, and for some insane reason that I should have been institutionalized for from the get-go, I listened to their reason and abandoned the plan. We concocted a plot to separate Hyde from Jekyll permanently. Take him completely away. Give him an entirely new body all his own. Not a mere transformation, but another form. Another person. It would leave Jekyll to live his life and leave Hyde to face the consequences of his own actions."

"You are utterly mad," Davies said in shock and disbelief, shaking his head. Stevens seemed uncertain what to think, which was no surprise to Jekyll given how young a man Stevens was.

"Hence why I am here," Jekyll replied, wearing a pleasant albeit strained smile. "But it worked you see, gentlemen. It worked. It worked, and for a time I was completely free of Hyde. Hyde, in turn, was completely free of Jekyll. But without Jekyll, Hyde was untampered and uncontrolled. There was nothing to slow him down, nothing to stop him, nothing to fight against him, nothing good constantly trying to claw its way to the surface to save whatever victim he could. Hyde became deadly. He became dangerous. He became nigh unstoppable… And the only one who could have controlled him or slowed him down was busy running and hiding from him, enjoying life to the fullest while Hyde cut short the lives of many others who might otherwise have been saved. I tried to justify staying separate from him as long as I could, but inevitably it became clear that I was only deluding myself. Once more I backtracked, and I caused Hyde and Jekyll to become one again. Only this time, there was no separate form Jekyll would transform into when he became Hyde. Just as it was in my youth. This time there was no chance of Jekyll escaping the consequences of Hyde's actions, and after an incident I would sooner pretend never happened, I drew the line. I came to this place and committed myself. Hyde's appearances have been few and far between. There are precious few triggers to be found here. Conflict and threat, that's about all there is. That and old traumas. As long as those things are avoided, and I am keeping myself busy, Hyde is not as persistent or inclined to make an appearance."

Frozen

"This is utterly fascinating," Stevens said.

"This is wonderfully bad. This is the man concocting potions and elixirs and feeding them to our patients," Davies said.

"Even his backfired potion succeeded in some form, Dr. Davies," Stevens said, giving the older doctor an annoyed look.

"It was a case of the side effect being worse than the ailment," Jekyll said to Stevens. "Do not feel the need to defend me against the accusation, Dr. Stevens. Dr. Davies is not wrong."

"Do you still test each medication you formulate on yourself first, Dr. Jekyll?" Stevens questioned.

"What have I to lose?" Jekyll answered. "Yes. I still test them on myself where it seems practical and safe to do so. I have never made a mistake as horrendous as the one I made that led to the strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ever since. Or prior to that incident, for that matter, and that mistake in itself was subject to forces beyond my complete control. Tainted salts that would never have worked as they did, had that impurity not been in them."

"What do you want from this, Jekyll?" Davies asked.

"I want to help. I want to make amends for my previous errors. I want to aid those who have no options left," Jekyll said. "Maybe it will not work for them all, but it may work for just enough of them to make a difference and leave an impact. I will not give any patient a concoction I have not first tested on myself, nor will I make such concoctions on a whim unless I am commissioned to. That is why I am pushing for methods other than that to clear out this asylum of patients. That is why I say that to start with, you should do all in your power to discharge those who do not need to be here in the first place. Most any woman diagnosed with female hysteria or womanly problems should be free to go unless there is another underlying condition. Anyone suffering some sort of depressive disorder, as long as it is not extremely severe, can be treated without having to stay in an asylum. If an ailment could be treated at home with the proper medications, a good diet, and exercise, then an asylum may not be the place for them to be. Come up with guidelines, discuss it among your peers, and act on it. Doctor Davies, I do not mean to discredit your authority or anyone else's, but sitting here doing the same old thing day in and day out is not helping anyone! Not the patients and not the doctors."

"My patients, Dr. Jekyll, are not your test subjects," Davies darkly said. "I do not care who tries to commission a medication or poison from you, you are not to make it and you are not to administer it. Not to anyone! Your desire to help is admirable, but it will not be at the cost of the vulnerable."

"I do not seek to take advantage of the vulnerable!" Jekyll protested testily.

"Keep your concoctions to yourself, doctor!" Davies snapped viciously before turning on his heel and storming out.

Jekyll glared darkly after him. Stevens shifted uncomfortably and turned to Jekyll. "My apologies for Dr. Davies, Dr. Jekyll," he said. "He is very… stern and set in his ways. He means well, but he is not open to new ideas."

Jekyll was quiet. Perhaps Davies was in the right when it came to that. This was not so much a new idea as it was a moral dilemma. "Davies desires to play it safe. That is all, Stevens," Jekyll replied.

"He is not willing to take a risk for himself let alone for the sake of others," Stevens said.

"Both admirable and bothersome," Jekyll replied.

Stevens turned to Jekyll. "You have an ally in me. Whatever you wish to concoct, concoct it. If it falls into my hands, then I will ensure the patient in question receives it regardless of Davies' wishes."

"Thank you, Stevens," Jekyll replied.

"Good day, doctor," Stevens said.

"Good day," Jekyll answered, nodding.

Turning, Stevens left the room and locked it behind him. He was a young man, Jekyll noted. Young, curious, adventurous… perhaps careless too. Naïve as well, if he was willing to trust him so implicitly after the story that he had told. Jekyll supposed that was due to his young age, and that could hardly be helped, so all he could do was try his best to live up to the young man's expectations and prove to Stevens that he was right to put his trust in him. He did not want to be the reason for the young man losing his trust or faith in humanity. He desperately did not want that.

Frozen

When patients began to get better, Dr. Davies knew something was happening. By patients, he meant those who had not already been discharged per Jekyll's guidelines and recommendations. He meant others who should not have been so simply treated. Patients with deep depressive disorders for which there were no known cures or aids. Patients suffering from severe post-traumatic stress. Patients recovering their senses from otherwise confused, indecipherable states. These he was willing to let go, though he was admittedly unsettled. When, however, patients who most certainly should not have been able to be cured or helped began to recover, he became guarded.

"What are you doing, Dr. Stevens?" he darkly asked, cornering the younger doctor with a stern look.

"The usual, Dr. Davies," he answered innocently.

"Liar!" Davies shot in a sharp whisper. "You are conspiring with Jekyll."

"You are paranoid, doctor. Perhaps you should commit yourself for a while," Stevens answered, putting on a blameless and falsely concerned look.

"I warn you, Stevens," Davies growled.

"I warn you, Davies. Let this matter go. Only good has come of it. Would you stop progress and recovery in favor of playing it safe? Men and women who would have lived and died here otherwise have been discharged home happy and well with the treatments they need. If they could not go home, they were sent to the mysterious friend Jekyll spoke of. You underestimate him, Davies," Stevens said.

"And you put too much stock in a madman," Davies lowly warned. "Perhaps uncomplicated cases, or even some complicated ones can be solved easily enough with his witchcraft, but what of cases of severe complication? What about when he begins to experiment on the patients in the Lost Wing?"

"He is not experimenting on them, sir. He experiments on himself first and foremost," Stevens said.

"Always?" Davies demanded. Stevens' silence was more than enough answer for him, and a dark scowl blossomed across the older man's face.

Stevens shifted. "Sometimes, in cases of emergency, there is no time for self-experimentation," he finally said. "But thus far Jekyll has been confident and thus far it has worked!"

"Shut up!" Davies snapped. "You're letting that madman experiment with his little concoctions on our patients?! Stevens, you're as mad as he is!"

"And you're too careful and set in your ways!" Stevens argued.

"The man split himself in half and put himself back together!" Davies shouted, pointing in the direction of Jekyll's cell.

"The man single-handedly cleared out no less than fifty percent of the asylum's populace," Stevens lowly answered.

"And what undetected monsters went with those he discharged?" Davies darkly asked, scowling. Stevens kept quiet. "This ends now," Davies said.

"I am willing to do whatever it takes to help our patients, doctor. What are you willing to do?" Stevens challenged.

"Be smart!" Davies answered. "I am willing to be smart! You act on your compassion, Dr. Stevens. What does Jekyll act on?"

"The same!" Stevens answered.

"He acts on morbid curiosity!" Davies argued.

"No, doctor! He acts on his passion!" Stevens replied.

"His passion for patients or his passion for science?" Davies snarled.

"Ask him yourself," Stevens replied with a scoff, turning and walking away. Davies watched after his younger co-worker, a deep frown etched on his face, then looked back in the direction of Jekyll's cell as the ambient noise of the patients of the Lost Wing filled his ears. Screams, giggles, weeping, scratching… He shifted uncomfortably, looking around, then sighed and made his way towards the doctor's cell.

Frozen

Davies stopped by the window of the room, peering in. The doctor was engrossed in a thick textbook, bent over it and the chemistry station that only ever left his room at his own request. Normally he only requested such prior to a switch to his alter ego. Davies had yet to personally witness that switch, nor was he inclined to ever see one. He had dealt with patients of dual minds before. He had witnessed switches and did not fear them. Jekyll, though… Jekyll was another matter entirely. Seemingly sensing eyes on him, Jekyll lifted his head and turned to look at the window curiously, a frown on his lips. He stiffened slightly when he saw who was behind the glass before relaxing a little and offering a pleasant smile.

Davies pursed his lips, considering his course of action. Jekyll approached the glass, and Davies was not sure why, but a deep sense of unease washed over him. To say he was unsettled was putting it mildly. "Greetings Dr. Davies," Jekyll said through the glass, voice muffled but still audible. "May I help you?"

"Stop your nonsense, Dr. Jekyll. No more potions, no more elixirs. No more. Your help is not welcome," Davies said.

Jekyll was silent for a moment. "Is it not welcomed by you, or not welcomed by your patients?" he finally asked.

"Stop this madness," Davies hissed. "You're going to get someone killed or worse!"

"Have I done any wrong so far?" Jekyll questioned.

"No, but I won't stand around doing nothing until you do," Davies answered. "Dr. Jekyll, please. I implore you. For the sake of the patients, stop with your human experimentations."

"I experiment on no one, doctor," Jekyll answered.

"For the sake of your patients, stop," Davies pled tiredly. "You are putting science ahead of their well-being, and it is only a matter of time before it blows up in your face! For your sake and theirs, stop."

"Dr. Davies, nothing is more important to me than their well-being!" Jekyll replied.

"You're deluding yourself, man!" Davies shouted. "Fine! If you will not stop, so be it. One way or another, I will find a way to put an end to this. Mark me well."

"It is marked, sir," Jekyll replied. The tone, though, was not the doctor's. Davies started, staring at the man. It took him about two seconds to piece together what it meant, and cautiously he relaxed, for the moment more curious than fearful. "Mr. Hyde, I presume?" he carefully said.

"Why not be a gem and open this cell of mine, doctor? It's quite stuffy in here you know," the man within said.

"The day I open that cell door to you, Hyde, is the day pigs fly and the sky falls in," Davies replied.

"Or just the roof," Hyde answered, looking up and about.

"Mr. Hyde, I would just as soon leave you to die in here should this building ever collapse," Davies said.

"What of Jekyll?" Hyde asked.

"What do I care about Dr. Jekyll?" Davies asked. "The senile fool outlived his worth long ago."

"Then we are allies, doctor!" Hyde said.

"I would far prefer Jekyll's alliance to yours," Davies answered, not about to be tricked. "Good day, Mr. Hyde."

"You will not keep me locked up here, doctor," Hyde lowly warned.

"Watch me," Davies replied, not once looking back. As he left, he saw Stevens approaching. "Hyde is out to play, Doctor Stevens. Do not be fooled," he warned the younger man. Stevens frowned, looking concerned, then nodded in understanding. "Better yet, walk with me," Davies said. Stevens grimaced, hoping this didn't mean a lecture, and did so.