Disclaimer:- I am so sorry about the long wait with this, there is no real excuse. Got stuck with writers block but it finally went and I was able to write this. Hopefully I will be able to update this more regulatory. anyway, I don't own anything but my own ideas and even so, I'm sure someone has already thought of them... Here are the shout outs;

Melanie:- Thanks for pointing that out, so silly of me! ::Blushes::

Clez:- The end wasn't that good... was it? Please don't explode! ::Ducks and hides, just in case.:: Exploding would be baaaaaaad...

Quicksilver19:- Sorry this took so long, hope it was worth the wait.

SilverEagle:JessieWest:- Sorry, I didn't realize it was that big of a cliffhanger... anyway, here is the next part!

Crystal:- ::Evil Grin::Well, you're just going to have to hold on a little longer, as the suspense isn't going to end. As for the silk mask, I'm not really sure. It just seems so much better than a solid, inflexible one.

LotRseer3350:- Yes, Tom's 'admirer' is one of the girls they rescued. Which means it could be Dove, Rachel or Gemma. But which? You'll just have to wait and see. Gah, spelling... bane of my :- Beg no longer ;)

Devilburns:- Glad you're finding it cool!

Scifirogue:- Well, one of the girls is evil – or insane, obsessed about Tom. Possibly the first fan girl ;) But I've already decided which one it is, so you'll just have to wait and see... hopefully Dove won't die.

Hoshii-chan:- and here is the next part, which may just give you more questions...

Zayina:- Sorry, I did. Hopefully this ending won't be as bad.

DJ TammyKat:- I up-dated! Does this mean you'll be my friend now?

And now...

Tainted View

Chapter 5:- Fire and Brimstone

Tom took a cautious step forward, glass shattering under his boots as he stared at the burnt man in front of him. Behind him Nemo closed his eyes, muttering a quiet, almost silent prayer to his Gods. Tom took another step forward, pity and horror mixing in his eyes. The hideous lump of flesh moved, two bright blue eyes suddenly peering intently at the group in front of the burnt building. This clear sign of life seemed to brake the spell that was holding Dr. Jekyll frozen in place and with a mumbled oath he moved swiftly forward. The creature – for it was only vaguely recognizable as human, lifted what had once been an arm, pieces of glass stuck in the flesh, even as it sank to the ground.

"Please..." It gurgled, the word slightly distorted by the injuries. "...Kill... me..." It begged. Dr. Jekyll had reached the man by now and bent down by him, helplessly scanning the man and making a mental note of the many injuries. The man had suffered burns all over his body, rather like Skinner had suffered in Mongolia. Unlike Skinner however, this man had clearly been in contact with the flames for much longer and as a result some of the flesh had melted, causing odd shapes and destroying the form of the man. It was a miracles that the man was conscious and alive at all – though Dr. Jekyll was forced to admit to himself that there was very little he could do for the man. If he lived, which did not seem likely, he would would likely look this way for the rest of his life.

"What happened?" Tom asked, reaching the hurt man and bending down as well, offering him a smile to try and reassure him. The injured man's eyes fixed on Tom and a faint light seemed to appear in the fading eyes.

"Agent Sawyer?" He croaked. Tom blinked and exchanged a look with Dr. Jekyll then nodded. The man carried on. "We had no warning... the fire... it consumed... Caliban and Summers were in... inside..." he trailed off, gasping frantically for breath through his ruined throat. Tom sat back on his hunches, a shocked look on his face.

"Agent Caliban was inside? No..." He muttered to himself. The dying man nodded once, twice, painfully. Dr. Jekyll tried to turn him slightly, to check his sides and back, but the man waved him away.

"Doesn't matter..." He muttered, coughing harshly. The light started to fade away from his eyes and he gave a gasp, his body jerking. A faint trail of blood dribbled out of his mouth and the eyes slid shut, his whole body going limp.

There was an uneasy silence as Dr. Jekyll carefully lay the dead man down on the ground. Tom remained on his hunches, his elbows resting on his knees, as he stared into space, the shocked look still visible in his eyes. He couldn't believe it, Caliban, his mentor, his friend. Dead. Dead like so many others. Sometimes, Tom had the feeling he was cursed, and that people around him were doomed to die. Huck. Allan. Belinda. And now Caliban. How many more of his friends was he going to loose?

Shaking his head, causing his hair to fall in disarray around his face, Tom rose to his feet in one, easy monition. He pushed the negative and self-pitying thoughts away and sighed deeply.

"We should get back to the Nautilus. Check on the girls and discuss this... latest turn of events away from anyone who could hear us." Tom said softly.

"What about him?" Nemo asked, gesturing to the dead body. Tom gazed down at him, shadows obscuring his face. Mina silently stepped forward, looking round at everyone.

"We have no choice but to leave him... the American government are better equipped to handle him and by moving him we do him no good." She told them. Slowly, in an almost defeated manner, the League began to head back to the Nautilus.

:::

Dove paced back and forth in the room she had been given, twisting the ring on her finger as she did so. Her gaze darted nervously to the door, where she knew the sailor would be standing guard. Oh, the League said it was for her protection and her protection only but the young woman wasn't sure she believed that. She wasn't even sure if she believed Agent Sawyer's story that he had found Robin when she was dieing. Oh, Gemma and Rachel thought he was telling the truth and could be trusted, but obviously he couldn't be trusted enough, otherwise they would have told the League everything, instead of the half truths.

She sat down on the bed, wrapping her arms around her thin body as she desperately tried to force back the chocking sobs that threated to overwhelm her. Robin was dead. Her twin, her other half. Gone... forever. Tears formed in her eyes before spilling out and trailing down her pale cheeks. Dove shot off her bed and ran to the door, suddenly stuck by a feeling of claustrophobia. She had to get out, out of this room and off this vessel. She pulled roughly on the handle, yanking the door open and running past the startled sailor. She ran blindly, trusting to luck as she darted round corners, hoping that she wouldn't run into anyone or find herself trapped in a dead end. Her path led her past first Gemma's room and then Rachel's. Both girls opened their doors as she ran past, a confused look on their faces. That soon turned to alarm however and they ran after her.

Finally, her chest heaving, Dove found herself on the metal ramp. She didn't pause to ask herself why there was no sailor guarding the entrance or even why the Nautilus was above the water. Gasping in relief she half ran, half stumbled down the ramp, her feet touching solid ground – right into the waiting hands of Roger Noir.

He was dressed in black as usual and there was a intake of breath from under his silk mask as he reached out and grabbed the terrified girl by the throat. She screamed, the sound being cut off mid way as Roger lifted her by the throat. Dove gasped, kicking out, her feet just touching the smooth fabric of clothing, belonging to the unfortunate sailor that had been assigned to guard the ramp. He lay on his back, his mouth half open, his dull gaze staring up at Dove. Around his chest was blood, a mixture of shining bright red and drying duller red. By Roger Noir's side, a second man appeared, his cold limp eyes staring at the struggling girl with disinterest.

As Rachel and Gemma ran down the ramp, Roger tossed Dove to the ground where she remained, holding her body from falling completely to the ground by resting on her palms.

"Ah... so good of you to come out where I can find you." The voice was low and silky, the words spoken with a faint French accent that exaggerated some of the sounds. Roger took a step forward, placing his boot of Dove's back and pushing down, forcing her to the ground with a whimper.

"Leave her alone!" Gemma cried, sounding more brave that she felt. One of the sailors turned and ran inside, no doubt to alert the rest of the crew. The remaining two stepped forward, hands reaching for swords. The greased faced man with dead eyes tutted and pulled out a gun.

"Now, now." He said chillingly, pointing the barrow of the weapon straight at Dove's head. "None of that. You remove those weapons and put them on the ground or this pretty little red head gets a bullet through the brain." With great reluctance the two men did as they were told. From her view point on the ground, Dove gave another little whimper as the swords clattered on the ground. The second man bent down by the scared girl, the gun still pointed at her head.

"Oh don't worry." He said, a cruel smirk on his face. "You'll be with your sister soon enough..."

"Mark." The single word was spoke very softly by Roger but at once the man now known as Mark cringed and stood up. Nobody heard the faint sound of bare flesh on pavement as something moved closer to the little group of three. Mark's eyes flickered to Roger who's head was still bent, looking down at the girl trapped under his boot.

"Boss?" He asked. Roger slowly lifted his head and nodded, removing his boot. Instantly Dove started to try and wiggle away from him. Without any warning, his black boot slammed into her side and she gasped in agony, curling up into a little ball. Mark began to squeeze the trigger when there was a shout and the gun was jerked was Mark's hand by an invisible force. It floated just out of reach, even as Gemma ran forward, to help Dove up from the ground.

Skinner smiled, even though no-one could see it as he pulled the gun out of Mark's reach. With the gun now safely pointing away from Dove, the rest of the League could spring out from their hiding places. At the same time, some of Noir's men burst out from nearby buildings. Gemma pulled Dove to her feet, pushing her back towards Rachel. There was a sudden pressure on stopping her from moving and when she turned her head, she could see Roger holding onto the back of her dress. She didn't even have time to scream before he had pulled her close and covered her mouth with one hand. With the other hand he pulled out a thin sword that flashed in the light. Her brown eyes wide with fear, Gemma allowed herself to be dragged away from the fighting, understanding the threat of the sword.

Confusion regained over the fighting. Mina was forced to stay near the other two girls, using her abilities to protect them from the bullets, though she was unable to strike out in the offensive. Skinner carried on to lead Mark a merry dance, having thrown the gun into the Theme's long ago. Mark threw punches wildly, but unlucky for Skinner, manged to hit him a few times. The rest of the League fought Roger's lackeys.

Slowly but surly the men on Roger's side began to fade away and Mina herded the two girls up the ramp and to safety. At the far end of the dock, Roger threw Gemma away from him and raised his sword. She stared back, frozen in fear, her gaze fixed on his cold eyes. She didn't know what she was looking for – mercy, compassion perhaps? What ever it was, she couldn't see it and almost against her will, her eyes closed in surrender. Even with her eyes closed she could imagine the sword blade as it fell towards, she could hear it as it cut through the air.

The pain never happened. Instead she found herself knocked aside, out of the path of the weapon. Gemma's eyes opened in surprise, just as a male voice cried out in pain. Tom lay a few meters away from her, clutching his left leg, blood seeping out from under his fingers. Roger stood frozen in shock, his blade held limply in his hands, blood – Tom's blood – dripping off it. In a flash, Gemma realized that Agent Sawyer must have knocked her out of the way and in the process got hit by the sword in the leg. Already the frozen look was fading from Roger's body.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, Tom pulled out one of his Colt's and aimed it at Roger. At the same time Mina ran down the ramp, Rachel and Dove safely on board. Sensing that he had lost this battle, Roger turned and ran, vanishing into the shadows. Tom panted loudly, slowly lowering his Colt and shut his eyes, trying to block out the pain.

:::

Night had fallen over America and the Nautilus. In the infirmary, Tom slept peacefully, aided by drugs. His left leg lay on top of the blankets, the sword wound covered by clean white bandages. Dr. Jekyll had remained in the room as well, watching him carefully, in case he should have some negative reaction to the drugs.

Slowly though, sleep had crept over the man and twice his head had bowed before jerking up again. Yawning slightly, Jekyll rubbed at his eyes. It was unlikely now, that Tom would have a negative reaction but Jekyll wanted to stay with him the whole night just to make sure he was alright. A gloved hand appeared on Jekyll's shoulder and he gave a slight yelp of surprise. Mina raised an eyebrow at his behavior.

"Dr. Jekyll. I thought I could stay with Agent Sawyer for the rest of the night. You do not seem to have been sleeping well lately." She said softly, yet with an edge. Jekyll blinked then nodded slowly, silently agreeing with her. He stood up, masking another yawn with his hand.

"Very well Mrs. Harker. Good night." He said.

"Good night Doctor." Mina replied, nodding her head at him as he turned and left the room. Mina moved quietly over to the bed that held Agent Sawyer and stared down at him for a few, long, minutes, pity on her face. This mission was hardest on him, even before the injury. She sighed, placing her hand on his forehead and carefully brushing some strands of hair away from his face.

At the entrance to the infirmary one of the girls stood frozen, mostly hidden by the wall, so that only part of her face was visible to anyone in the infirmary, her hair falling loosely around her. Her eyes narrowed in anger as she watched Mina touch Tom – how dare that whore touch her Tom. Only she had to touch him when he was asleep, because of course her Tom wouldn't have let the whore touch him normally. She snorted lightly and turned, heading back the way she had come, mentally smoothing the anger away from her face. The young American had only got a few meters before the sailor assigned to looking after her caught up.

"There you are." He panted. The girl mentally sneered at him, at the thought that such a pathetic little bug was supposed to control her, but on the outside she gave him a shy smile and blushed, heading back to her cabin, the man following a respectable few steps behind her.

Inside the infirmary Mina turned to stare at the open door, a frown crinkling her face. Mina could have sworn that she had smelt one of the American girls, but the scent was getting fainter and fainter and the female vampire finally decided she must have made a mistake. It had been a long day after all and the girl's scents were all over the ship.

A short distance away, the girl smiled again at the sailor before vanishing into her cabin. Inside, her emotions finally broke free and she shook with the sheer rage of it. The young woman crossed the room in three steps and pulled open a draw, removing the photo of Mina Harker. She placed it on the wooden desk and bent over the photo, a low laugh escaping from her lips. It had a breathless quality to it, as if the girl had been running a great distance. There was the faint sound of rustling, as if paper was being brushed against more paper. A few seconds passed and then the smell of burning filling her nostrils. The photo on the desk began to the blacken as the flames bit into it, turning it into ash. The girl watched it burn, her fists clenched.

Mrs. Wilhelmina Harker would pay...

TBC...

Sethoz