Chapter Text
All things considered, Robert Lanyon should have just stayed home. On top of his other business ventures, the Societies paperwork was becoming more and more strenuous by the hour, and although Henry insisted that it was his responsibility, Lanyon was damned if he didn’t at least take a little bit of stress off of Henry’s mind. With Hyde still on the loose, and all but one of the Lodgers abandoning the exhibition from Frankenstein’s sudden and traumatic appearance, God knows that Henry Jekyll could use all the help he could get.
Henry’s outburst at the party earlier was… concerning, to say the least. Henry had always been anxious at social events, it was evident the first time Lanyon ever got him tailored into a fancy suit and taught him how to dance. But despite his nerves, he had always saved his anxieties for the end each social event. Letting it all out afterwards in his office with a shot of bourbon or a glass of wine, often with Lanyon by his side. But despite his humble beginnings, Henry had an almost unnatural way of swaying the upper class into investments and support. His charisma and charm seemed to come from out of nowhere, and he was far more successful at working on the upper-class sensibilities than Lanyon ever was, especially when it came to some of his more outlandish business ventures like the Society for Arcane Sciences. It was almost like he was wearing a mask, a mask that Lanyon helped put together and that Henry was able to finish with more finesse than Lanyon could ever hope to accomplish. Lanyon thought he knew Henry well enough to know what was underneath that mask. But after tonight, something slipped through Henry’s façade, something not even Lanyon knew was there. He knew that Henry had been stressed as of late but to the extent of a full-on panic attack? To the extent of accidentally pushing Lanyon away? Something was going on, and he was sure that Hyde had something to do with it.
That is why despite his mind's best efforts to talk himself out of it, Lanyon found himself at the infamous Blackfog Bazaar, home to the grimiest, most unnatural sciences that Lanyon had ever seen. Henry used to go on and on about the Bazaar while they were still in school. The majesty of it, how any number of scientific discoveries could be found within the vendor stalls if one only looked close enough. “A Whole Mine's worth of Diamonds in the Rough” Henry used to say to him with a glint in his eye. Henry always used to rant about topics like that. His eyes would light up as he spoke about the Bazaar and the famous mad scientists of the past as if he had actually been there or knew them. That was something Lanyon missed in Henry these last few years, that sparkle of excitement. It didn’t come out often anymore, he had seen it briefly at the theatre when he spoke of "doing anything for science”, but nowhere near to the extent that Lanyon could remember. That was why, despite all of its shortcomings, Lanyon could see what Henry admired about the Bazaar. The people here truly did put the Mad in Mad Science, and many of the members of the crowd had the same glint in their eye that Henry Jekyll used to have in his youth. And Lanyon had to give it to them, there were certainly more interesting things to look at in the first three vendor stalls of the Bazaar than anything Robert Lanyon had been shown in med school.
Everyone had an air of something about them, however, what optimistic people might call wonder, intrigue, and excitement, Lanyon preferred to see as dangerous, deceitful, or even fraudulent. Amongst these riffraffs and outcasts, Lanyon stuck out like a sore thumb. He needed to finish his business and get out of here as soon as possible, before some street person got the nerve to steal his wallet or pick a fight with the stupid rich gentleman who came to the Baazar without changing out of his fancy suit first.
He was sure Hyde was here, and Lanyon had to find him. How did Rachel describe him again? Blonde, spindly-legged, ragged clothes… the thought got away from him, there were just too many people here, and all of them looked ragged or unnatural in some way or another, exactly like Hyde had been described. He was beginning to get frustrated, I could be standing right next to him and be none the wiser. What else did Rachel say he looked like? He’s prone to wearing green, isn’t he? Lanyon was just about to turn another corner thinking Hyde might be hidden in the audience of Alice’s Circus of Wonder or be desperate enough to maybe hideout as a member of a Cthulhu Cult until the search for him was finally over. Ideas continued to circulate Lanyon’s mind, when the sound of a violent confrontation suddenly broke through the crowd, bits of dialogue catching Lanyon’s attention.
“…what are you even going to do with all that brimstone!?” One man yelled, before a second more high pitched voice screamed back, “…doing science with them you uneducated swine, now piss off!”
As Lanyon turned out of vague curiosity, the shorter of the two men immediately caught his attention. Blonde, spindly-legged, rugged green clothes with an intentionally torn cape, it couldn’t be, could it? Against his best judgment, Lanyon began to walk closer, not even considering how to get the men’s attention when they were clearly about to go into an all-out brawl. Lanyon was just about to open his mouth to say something when the presumed Mr. Hyde slipped a knife from seemingly out of thin air and took a swipe at the other scowling patron. Lanyon stopped dead in his tracks. In spite of his short stature, Hyde clearly drew blood from the grizzled cheek of the man above him. How the hell am I supposed to drag him back to the Forty Elephant’s den if Hyde can injure someone practically a foot taller than him? Just as he was getting lost in thoughts of shock and concern, Lanyon was suddenly brought back to his senses. It seemed that the other patron wasn’t as easy to put down as Hyde thought. Lanyon looked on as Hyde turned his back and took just a second too long to laugh at his opponent. Time almost seemed to slow down as the other patron stood up, a glint of silver behind his back, and took a sudden swing at the back of Hyde’s mass of hair, hitting his skull. The hit was so hard, the loud KONK of metal could be heard reverberating above the sound of the moving crowd, a small portion of which had stopped to watch the scuffle.
“That’ll teach y’a! Nobody talks to me like that, not even behind me back! Now piss off ya blonde-haired gremlin!” The man laughed one last time, kicking Hyde into the post before he walked away with the brimstone. Seeing the excitement was over, the crowd dispersed as quickly as it formed, nobody even taking notice to Hyde as he remained slumped over on the post, people walking over his spindly legs as they passed by. Not knowing what else to do, Lanyon walked forward towards the man he had been looking for, and knelt in front of him.
“Excuse me, your Mr. Hyde I presume?” He said kneeling closer, “I’m Doctor Robert Lanyon, you may have heard of me, I’m an acquaintance of Doctor Henry Jekyll?”
There was no response from the man, and Lanyon was beginning to get concerned. Slumped over on the post there was no indication that he was at all conscious. His ragged clothes somehow looked more ragged than they had been before, covered in the muck from the Bazaar grounds, his top hat landing in the mud from the brawls ending blow, leaving his straggly bits of blonde hair disheveled and covering his face almost completely. Lanyon knew how bad blunt force trauma could be on the body, and it was far from an easy fix. Lanyon also knew that unless he could get Hyde to wake up, there was no way he could drag him out of the Bazaar and to Lucy’s den all by himself.
“Hyde!?” He said a bit louder, slapping his face lightly, lifting his head and trying to clear his face of hair.
“Wake up! I have questions for you! I can’t believe this…” He said finishing under his breath. Well, I suppose he is rather small, maybe if I can lift him I could drag him to Lucy’s until he comes too? It was a long shot, but it was his best option by far, so he thought he might as well try it. He put his arm around Hyde’s torso, using his other hand to support his limp head, grimacing as he began to feel blood beginning to drip from the back of his skull and into his hands. Okay. He thought, Lift on one, two, and….
“Lanyon what do you think you are doing with him!?” Lanyon turned to the female voice so startled he almost dropped what little of Hyde he was supporting in the process.
“Rachel?” Lanyon said suddenly recognizing her, “What on Earth are you doing here? And how did you manage to find me out of all these people?”
“Well, I was looking for him.” She said rather agitated, “Get this, I’m about to have the first real snog of my life, with a man I actually like, and out of the blue I see him…” She says exactly pointing to Hyde on the ground, “…dead to the world for days, worrying me sick, hopping across rooftops like he’s on one of his nightly routines and isn’t a wanted felon on the run. So I stopped my fantastic night of romance to instead spend hours searching for him!” Finishing, she huffs angrily, crossing her arms.
Lanyon pauses for a second not knowing what to say. God knows what poor being she was trying to seduce this time.
“Anyways…” He finally said, “It’s actually good you’re here because I do require some assistance with him…” He says looking in Hyde’s general direction.
“What’s wrong with him? I knew he would probably be drunk when I found him but I didn’t think he’d be knocked out.” Walking closer, she starts to grab Hyde’s other side.
“He’s not drunk…” Lanyon says beginning to lift him with little coordination. Gosh is Rachel really that short? He thinks before pushing away the distraction. “I found him just as he was starting a brawl, some madman hit him with a pipe across the head after he insulted him, I felt blood on the back of his head, I think he really needs to be bandaged up before we can talk to him.”
Rachel’s eyes widened as soon as he finished. “We need to get him to Lucy’s immediately, I can’t believe he did something like this! Actually, I do believe it, he’s Hyde for God’s sake, but I’m still not happy about it.” She huffs as they both try to hoist him up again. Without warning a moan suddenly broke through Hyde’s mess of hair.
Lanyon and Rachel both looked at him startled.
“That’s a good sign,” Lanyon said dismally, “He hasn’t made a sound since he was knocked out, not even when I slapped him.”
“Well, Hyde has always been one to recover quickly.” She said quite sure of herself, “His energy is a lot like a hyperactive child, and you know what they say about dropping kids, they always bounce back.”
“I don’t think anyone says that Rachel, dropping children is quite a serious matter and can lead to lifelong problems…”
“You know what I mean! He’ll be fine, we just need to get him to my sisters and patch him up, and he’ll be up and talking in no time.”
Hopefully, Lanyon thought, then maybe I can ask him what his place is in all this mess.
Lanyon needed to know what Hyde was to Henry, he was always confused as to why Henry had hired such a lowlife. Everyone knew Hyde was a thief and a ruffian, or at the very least presented himself as such. Lanyon’s best guess was that Henry had taken pity on the young man, he always did hold a penchant for lost creatures, especially the monstrous. But he couldn’t help thinking that there was something more to it than that, especially with all that Hyde’s done to his reputation, and how off Henry had seemed lately. Henry always protected Hyde way more than he logically should, and it worried him to think that Hyde might have something to do with Henry’s panic attacks, or his rant from earlier that night, and the secrets he’d been keeping from Lanyon lately. Thoughts continued to fill Lanyon’s head as they dragged the so-called “Spirit of London at Night” through the empty back alleys and low lit pathways on the way to Lucy’s.
However, no one seemed to notice that as the limp body was being dragged across the cobblestones, the green-eyed night spirit’s eyes slivered open just enough to instead reveal a very dazed and confused pair of soft russet-colored eyes. Unable to see through the blond fluff and darkness blocking his vision, he slipped in and out of consciousness, vaguely annoyed and thinking that he should be doing paperwork instead of being on some midnight escapade. How did we get here again? He thought to himself. “Hyde?” He said so softly that no one, not even himself could hear it through the ringing of his ears. Of course, you won’t answer me. This is all your fault… And that was his last thought he had as he slipped away into darkness once more.