Chapter Text
Everyone knew of Henry Jekyll, at least the people in London did, his name being spread far and wide of being the man that saved and swooped mad scientists off the street like stray cats, saving them from corrupt policemen, but for the night-following Catrine, it was the opposite for her. Henry Jekyll sounded like a name of a man who wouldn’t care less for the human race, looking down upon people as nothing, a rich man, not someone sweet and sensitive, absolutely not, but as she found a home in London, the deepest parts of it, the grossest and stinkiest parts, making sure to do her science in secret, but the smell of her dingy apartment made her known almost too fast. She thought she could be like how bats are, silent, unknown from humans, she certainly didn’t think she would be chased all across town by the bugging police, wanting to hold her captive for saving a sea dragon from a fishing harbor boat that would’ve slashed it and sold it on the market for a foolish price, but alas, she was attempting to escape, tripping every three second in her boots from her long dress, holding the tiny, wet dragon in her small arms.
“You’ll never take me! Not here, not now, and NEVER at night! This is like invading my home.” She hissed at Brokenshire, who was losing breath behind her after an almost twenty minute sprint to catch her, “Why can’t one of these buggers cooperate with me,” He gruffly said to his two police pals, their legs wanting to give out, “and I’m always the one sent on the scientist sandals!” The ginger haired man took a small leap on the ground, trying anything to get even inches closer to her, almost wanting to yank on her hair to put an end to this run. Catrine never gave up, the slim, dark blonde woman never quitting, only becoming faster. Her heart was hammering in her chest, the scarred dragonet growling in slight pain in her arms, “I know, I know darling it’ll be okay you wet baby.” She crooned with worry to the creature, forgetting about the wet cobblestoned street she was swiftly running on, that is, until she hit a certain puddle due to the storm that ended only a few hours ago, one of her boots being caught on a large crack on one stone, making her trip and fall into the wet stone, her body sliding across it for a moment, but still wounded half of her face and forearm, but she couldn’t care for a second about herself, her mind only went to her new found child. Her wet body scrambled to scoop the dragonet into her arms once again, already on the brink of tears from the worry of the police taking the creature and handing it back to the men who were going to make a filet out of it, but the thought of her causing it more pain, it was almost unimaginable to her caring mind, but before she could’ve picked up the small, light and dark blue dragon, Brokenshire and his men were already at her tired body.
“You can’t do this to me, do you even have a reason why you’re doing this!? You’d have to hear my side first, right..?” She asked in a worried tone, watching the man prepare his handcuffs.
“Miss, I’m only doin’ my job here, I want no issues from you.” His hands grasped her wrists, forcing them into the cuffs, but Catrine’s eyes went to the dragon, which was being picked up by its tail by a more skinny policeman, with a sharp mustache, and she wouldn’t dare accept such a behavior, “NO- NO, NO!” She wailed “Don’t you dare take her back, she’ll die! Wounded dragons can’t survive with fishermen, it’s always their demise.” Her hands tried to struggle out of the cuffs, scratching up her wrists in them as she attempted to trip the man with her feet and legs, trying to get out with all her might, her legs flailing with fear, boiling in anger in her own steps, forced to be bounded by Brokenshire’s side.
“Is that it?” A smaller policeman asked the pointy one, pointing at the dragon.
“It could only be! Let’s return this thing, the docks shouldn’t be much farther from ‘ere.” His hands held the dragon out, grimacing at the wetness of the little creature as it stayed limp in his grasp, only whipping its tail around with baby rage (Which Catrine was grinning about mentally, loving that even her new baby was against the police.) In which, the officer hated holding it more. The woman looked like she had a shadow over half of her face, at least whichever side she decided to let her hair part fall over, and that with a combination of her wicked gaze, it was, alarming at most, and she stared down the lean policeman, giving him a glance that only could read as her swearing and wishing him death in her brain, in which she totally was, and as he noticed her sharp death glare, he got more uncomfortable, scooting more near his shorter partners side. Small drops of rain came back into the sky, keeping the somber and lost tone of the scientist’s mood, having to accept that she failed. She couldn’t save the dragon, she couldn’t even save herself, and now she’d be dragged all the way to the infamous Scotland Yard, accepting her own demise. Somehow, even though she knew she was doomed, there was a feeling in her stomach, some pit, that told her otherwise, that maybe all wasn’t lost, maybe someone was watching her, even if all the streets were empty, somehow there was a hope that not even she could put her finger on.
“Rats…” She hissed under her breath, making the strong, ginger officer turn his head down to her as she was sat in the puddle still, her hair dampening slowly in the rain, her scuffed face making her expression a little more scary,
“I beg your pardon?”
“Rats! You’re all rats!” She began, kicking her feet in a stomp, “Corruptness! God wouldn’t dare stand for this, not your God, no, you find pleasure in this, don’t you!?” Her frown darkened as she hissed her words, yowling like a feral cat to their ears, but they had enough shutting her up just as fast as she was running her mouth.
“Listen here, woman, all you are is someone with hysteria. Surprise you haven’t ended up in Bethlehem yet.” He wrapped one of his arms around her left forearm, forcing the trembling Catrine back on her feet, “Say, they don’t have any asylums in the Americas, do they?” “No.” She simply spoke, glaring back at Brokenshire’s words. He looked down at her in a way she knew all officers did to all people, filling his own ego, he huffed
“We could tell, now get on with it, no time to waste. Jenkins! I want the rat dumped back at the sailor’s boat by-”
His words stopped, and all the officers looked like spooked deer, their heads turning to the front of the street, a change in the air quite obvious, and Catrine didn’t let it go unnoticed as well, because she turned too, and there was a man.. A long, black, flowy coat following his slim body like a shadow, the bright red line across his top hat alerting his presence like a siren, and his bright, white gloves were noticeable too, nobody’s this clean around London, at least to her experience. She squinted, fearing the officers called backup to wrangle her, but no, his heels clicked against the cobblestone, getting louder as he approached the small scene. “Now what is all this?” The man questioned, his friendliness oozing from his tone alone.
“Capturing a woman like this? In the middle of the night, what possibly could she have done? Yet alone, this is close to the society.” He chuckled, standing before the officers and the blonde lady, and she felt like now she could study him easily, his brown hair was too well combed, his hat barely messing it up, smelling like peppermint, yet so close to sage at the same time, perhaps a hint of wine. “Ohhh, Jekyll..” Brokenshire groaned under his breath in annoyance, “Another mad scientist you’ve come to collect? Your shelter needs better locks on it.” Jekyll laughed, shaking his head, raising both of his hands up with innocence. “Ah no, no! I can’t even seem to recognize her,” he started, but held his breath in slight suspense of his next words, “though… I wouldn’t mind another lodger in my care.” He smiled, turning his gaze to Catrine, and as soon as he did, the sadness of the situation set in for him, his smile fading and care and worry roamed his voice, “Miss, what’s your name if you don’t mind me asking?” Catrine perked up her head, blinking at him like he was some hallucination from her mind, and for the first time…
“Hm? O-oh! Cat…Catrine, Catrine uhm, BLACKWOOD! Yes, yes that’s my name”
…She stumbled over her words. Her harsh voice grew weak and soft to him, the difference was noticeable to the officers who stood beside her, like they were worried she’d lunge at Jekyll instead, but she did the exact opposite, becoming timid, like a stray cat being tricked with a piece of fish, even she was appalled with herself, she never grew WEAK! That was a word she had no clue with, well, that’s if you count out her ex-lover who died from…certain circumstances. This peppermint smelling man never stopped smiling at her, his cape softly blowing from the slight breeze, “Catrine Blackwood,” he murmured, like he was trying to taste her name on his tongue, “Wonderful, I’m doctor Henry Jekyll, leader of the Society for Arcane Sciences, and how about I take you from those shackles and take you somewhere you truly belong, miss Blackwood.” Her eyes widened, a small smile creeping on her lips, but Brokenshire moved in-between the two of them, like he was trying to stop his hypnosis on her,
“You certainly will NOT try this again, Doctor! I’ve had enough of all your scientists, my team alone will never be able to contain all of your deranged pets.” He spat, making Jekyll flinch slightly, and the officer puffed out his chest in smugness, knowing where to truly hurt this caring man. Even with that, Jekyll combed through his slightly messy forelock, smirking slightly, “Well when you try these things around the Society, I’m certainly not letting you get away with it. After all, you really don’t know what all my so-called ‘pets’ can do, now do you?”
“Is that a threat!?”
“It’s whatever you take it to be.” The amber-eyed man said lowly, then pointed at Catrine, staring Brokenshire down. “Give me her, now.” He demanded.
Catrine could swear she saw him scowl, and knowing him for only a handful of minutes, it was obviously an emotion he never faced anyone with, it even made her tense up, but her face warmed up as lowered his finger at her, and she turned to the officers, shrugging her shoulders with a cute smile. The thinly-standing officer stiffened, contemplating this, turning to the lead officer who stood strong, looking like he was about to explode with anger, but he only sighed and waved his hand at Jenkins, allowing him to release her. Catrine’s blue-green mixed eyes widened with relief as she was released from the cuffs, her wrists already slightly bruising like a peach, and she stood up, her legs all wobbly, which Jekyll swiftly came to her aid, one of his hands grasping onto one of her arms with care, while his other went to the side of her waist, making sure she was stable enough to walk. “You’re going to be okay, I’ll get you all healed, I have wonderful types of medicines to care for you.” He whispered to her ears, then raised his head up and back to the officers, “I’ll have this whole thing dealt with, the head of all you won’t hear about this, but if you try this once more, don’t be surprised to see an interesting letter sent to your doorstep.” Jekyll attempted to walk away from the scene, and fast, (perhaps to spare himself some embarrassment) but Catrine didn’t budge, instead, in spite of her wounds, she looked back at the officers and made her own demand, “I’m not leaving without her,” she said softly to him, then looked hopeful to the police, wincing, pleading with her eyes, “Please, if you take her back to the docks she will die, dragons are rare! Aquatic ones especially, almost over-hunted about a few decades ago-” as she opened her mouth to say another word, Brokenshire grew red with anger “ENOUGH! SAVE IT! You’ve already ran us dry enough tonight, JENKINS!” He called, and the scrawny officer, plopped the small, wet creature in her arms, which made Catrine beam with happiness, which Jekyll watched with his own smile, then dipped his head to the officers.
“Thank you for your time, officers.”
Brokenshire rolled his eyes, turning his back quickly, “Over my bloody dead body you are.” He huffed, which left Jekyll satisfied enough to turn his back as well, holding onto one of Catrine’s arms, letting her lean on him.
The rain pittered softly on the cobblestone, setting a gentle mood to help with the outcome of something which she thought she was doomed in, bound to be thrown into a cold cell, dying there, alone.. But alone she was not anymore, at least that’s what she believed. As she walked- well, limped, beside this new man, she wondered who he truly was, as she was convinced he was some master manipulator, taking and brainwashing scientists to do his bidding! But she couldn’t believe that, just by his demeanor alone, she couldn’t ever think of him that why, no, instead of lulling her to become some soldier on his front lines, making evil sea creatures for him to murder people with, she was stumbling over her feet for him already, feeling an oddly flustered and warm emotion she hasn’t felt in years. Her curious gaze kept looking at him at the side of her eyes, hoping he wouldn’t notice, but he turned his head to her, chuckling under his breath, being all stupid and charming and-
“I deeply apologize for that,” He interrupted her thoughts with a sweet voice.
“For what? The officers?” She scrunched her nose slightly with confusion, then shook her head “Not your fault, at least- is it? Who knows, you could’ve sent them to me to give yourself a little ego boost.” Her lips curled into a small smirk, which made him turn his head back to look in front of him, laughing loudly, “Absolutely not! I couldn’t, knowing how ruthless they are? No, no I could never, it’s cruel.” One of his hands gestured to her bruised wrists as he pulled them both to a stop before another street, “Look what they did to you, I never could wish it on anyone, let alone another scientist- or a lady..” He smiled, and she gave one in return as their eyes locked for a few seconds.. Or what felt like minutes to Catrine. Hours? Something of the sort, perhaps time stopping, and she didn’t want it to stop, that warm emotion crossing her cheeks again.
Before she could get another word in though, he cleared his throat to cut the silence and raised one of his fingers to her, gently talking “One moment, Miss Blackwood,” and then he turned his body away from her, leaning his body forward and took his top hat off, waving down a carriage from the distance of the dark street, whistling quickly, and then looked back at Catrine with a warm gaze, which humored her completely dazed and confused expression, her eyebrows up slightly, like a worried and surprised cat.
“Speaking of being treated right,” He started, dusting off the brim of his hat with his free hand, “I just called a carriage for us, so we can speak properly, nobody can ever get a word out when they’re shivering to death from this cold storm, isn’t that right?” Jekyll topped his words off with a small tilt of his head, waiting for her approval in a way. Catrine laughed softly, raising one of her hands to pet the small, sleeping dragon that draped in one of her arms, her fingertips gently trailing over its slimy body, “You are right, again, it seems to be a good trait about you,” she teased, earning a breathy chuckle from him, “I usually am fond of the rain, but tonight really isn’t the mood, and I’m sure my new companion would like to agree, even though she is an ocean dragon.” In which the pale, lime green dragon huffed, which she took as its agreement, and she nodded, “See! I know these animals like I know my heart.” One of her arms went to the back of her neck, scratching it with slight nervousness, adding a small laughter to her statement “aaaand I know one far better than the other!” “Let me guess,” Jekyll added “It’s not your heart, is it?” Catrine looked down, nodding, and brought her face up again “Damn right it isn’t” She laughed, right as the carriage pulled up beside the both of them, two beautiful brown and white spotted horses leading the way of it, which drew her attention as fast as Jekyll did with her, almost.
He shifted in his place, walking to open the door of the carriage and stood next to the door, allowing her to take the first step, “I’m far beyond intrigued by you, Ms. Blackwood, truly, you seem like a woman of many mysteries and wonders, and if you don’t mind, I’d love to continue this inside?” He said like it was a question, and his wide puppy dog eyes sold her on the spot, it was hard to say no in the first place anyhow. Catrine fixed her posture, dipping her head to him, and went to the door of the vehicle, putting one of her hands on the handles to climb inside, looking at him and quietly spoke, not caring if her hair was even more dampened by her stalling, “I have no reason to disagree, doctor, and you must tell me about that society of yours.” She smirked, and Jekyll gave her a promising look, “How could I not? I’m taking you there anyways, I’d be a terrible fool to never tell you.” he sighed, looking to the side of his eyes awkwardly like he’s made that exact mistake before.
“Taking me to your place? We only just met Jekyll, so forward.” Catrine teased him further, giggling as she finally stepped inside, sitting down, poking her head out from behind her to make sure he was coming along, and her words made a mark, a pinkish glaze coming onto his cheeks as he came inside with her, sitting on the opposite end from herself, “Minx! Hush, hush! Technically it’s not my place, though I am there.. An awful lot” he admitted, shutting the door once he got comfortable, his voice becoming softer, “Not yours? Gosh you must tell me more.” Her eyes glimmered at him, egging him on, and he inhaled a long breath, already feeling comfortable with her presence. “Where should I even start?” He asked himself out loud.
“Wherever you want to.” She smiled, feeling the bumpiness of the carriage as it started moving closer to the society, the rain drops even more audible as it hit the window of the door to it, feeling more at peace as the sweet doctor opened his mouth and began his rambling, petting her little dragon on her lap, both of them listening in.
Catrine could get used to this.