Chapter Text
Dead Hearts.
“(…) We carry in our hearts the true country,
And that cannot be stolen,
We follow in the steps of our ancestry,
And that cannot be broken (…)”– Midnight Oil “Dead Heart”.
Warnings: Crime, racism/speciesism, xenophobia and everything that comes with it.
Timing: 2017, a year after “London Calling”
Rating: T to M.
Disclaimer: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen original comic books © Allan Moore and Kevin O’Neill. Thin Blue Line (in character of Maggie Habib) and ‘Allo ‘Allo (in person of Otto Flick) © BBC. Atomic Robo © Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegner. Stargate Atlantis © MGM Studios. Hellboy (in character of Karl Ruprecht Kroenen and Hellboy) © Michael Mignola. Slenderman © Eric Knudsen (as Victor Surge). Dracula (in character of Wilhelmina Murray) by Bram Stoker. Allan Quatermain by sir Henry Rider Haggard. Orlando (or his/hers alike) by Virgina Woolf.
This story © Archer Black. 2017
Epilogue.
???
‘M’s’ office. Wednesday, October 4th.
Wilhelmina Murray read through the report that Maggie Habib submitted and then lifted her eyes to look at the woman in front of her. The ‘M’ dropped the document on her desk and leaned back in her chair in contemplation. It seemed as if the time stood still and the universe was juggling all the possible futures in that very moment.
“And you have found nothing else in that house?” Finally Mina asked.
“No. There were only the documents that Flick, because it was his true name, kept in his binder. I admit that it was thick binder, but I suspect that he stashed some of his documents somewhere else.” Maggie replied. “Other than that, Spike and Slenderman only found three gold bars that we have seized and turned in as evidence.”
“It is a shame that he managed to escape but I suppose that there was little you could do. He took you by surprise and as a former operative I can definitely understand how that could happen.” Mina nodded. “At least we have Hill and his hooligans, they will have to do.”
“I wish we could grab Flick and put him to justice.” Maggie huffed. “I do have strong opinion about his kind of people.”
“So do I, but what is done, is done. Nothing that we can do about it. Let’s just enjoy the small victories.” Mina shrugged. “If it will make you feel better, Inspector, knowing Atomic Robo, he will look out for Otto Flick. And Doctor Kroenen may want to eliminate his old enemy too.”
“There’s another thing that bothers me, Chief, and I can’t shrug it off.”
“What is it, Inspector?”
“When I was told I would lead the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, I thought I would join a team of heroes.” Maggie spoke. “And instead… Atomic Robo, no matter how cute or smart, is a celebrity action scientist. Doctor Kroenen is an ex-Nazi Occultist Surgeon. Spike is a real alien space vampire and Slenderman’s a plain monster.”
“Disillusion is common reaction to the League, Inspector.” Mina said with nostalgia in her voice. “If you would look into history of the League, you would find no champions of virtue or heroes there. Only people, each of them morally ambiguous1), and some of them plain scum. Look into the past and you will see it. Take few of the most famous members. Nemo was brilliant man and a pirate. Hyde was a brute barely restraining his anger, but he knew where to direct it. And Griffin…” Mina’s voice suddenly turned ice cold. “Was a rapist, coward and a traitor2), and he ended poorly.”
“Does it include me? The moral ambiguity?” Maggie asked3).
“It includes all of us, Inspector.” Mina looked her hard in the eye. “Extraordinary Gentlemen, or Gentlewomen, have to be able to do whatever it takes to fulfil their missions and that means that sometimes they have to do things that no one would normally be proud of.”
Maggie blinked, realising that the woman in front of her had to be League’s operative at one point.
???
New York. October 6 th .
Atomic Robo and Hellboy sat on a convenient rooftop, drinking beer. In reality it was Hellboy that was doing all the drinking but Robo didn’t mind and Hellboy wasn’t complaining either.
“I knew he wouldn’t go for it.” HB shrugged with resignation. “He’s up to something.”
“But I did learn something. He has a personal nemesis and that ain’t you.” Robo pointed at his companion.
“Ain’t I? Then who?”
“Some Gestapo major named Otto Flick.” Robo revealed. “They clashed during the war and hated each other ever since.”
“I’m not surprised, from what I know Project Ragna Rok wasn’t popular in Berlin.” Hellboy nodded. “It was competition for cash and thanks to the people involved, it wasn’t well respected.”
“I don’t know. I mean I know, Slavs were just one rung above Jews in Hitler’s playbook, but that’s not the issue here, at least I don’t think so.” Robo tapped his chin. “Rasputin was recruited by Himmler himself. You said so yourself.”
“So?”
“Did I forget to mention that this Flick guy was Himmler’s godson?” Robo asked. “That allowed him to get away with a lot, but his uncle’s patience finally ended.”
“And you would like to hunt him down?” HB asked.
“I wouldn’t mind.” Robo admitted. “Maybe he could share some of his knowledge of Kroenen and Kurtz with you?”
Hellboy took a long sip of his beer giving the idea a thought.
???
Somewhere in Siberia.
The hideaway in Siberia was almost absolutely brilliant, with emphasis on ‘almost’. It was well hidden from any prying eyes4), it had independent source of electricity, it was constructed so that it was warm in the winter and cool in the summer – it was designed by their master after all, and Rasputin certainly knew a thing or two about living in Siberia, given that it was where he came from. There were some minor kinks to work on but nothing drastic enough that it was impossible to fix. The only reason Kroenen didn’t fix them the last time he was there was because he didn’t live there for long enough to actually get to work on improvements. He didn’t unpack some of his things that he brought – which he was doing at the moment.
The room was meant to be a library but at the moment it was more of a sitting room all due to lack of enough books to fill the shelves. Kroenen was doing his best to change that, but his collection wasn’t vast enough to make a difference, even after he actually printed all the digital versions of his volumes.
Currently he was standing on a ladder, organising his collection of grimoires into an alphabetic order. Slenderman was standing at the foot of the ladder, handing the books to the German. All expect for one5) were merely computer printed versions in transparent plastic covers, but it was still better than empty shelves. Elegant, custom made covers for these books would come with time, after Kroenen dealt with more pressing matters.
“This place reminds me of one castle where we worked with our Master during the war.” Kroenen placed a Lemegedon6) on a shelf.
“How do you mean?” The faceless entity asked.
“It was merely one of many places that served as headquarters for Project Ragna Rok during the war, but it was one that General von Krupt picked himself, it was one of the most elegant places we worked.” He touched the book’s back, it consisted of a thick, dark blue, plastic spiral that bint the pages and transparent, plastic cover together. “It feels so similar and yet everything is so different.” The Occultist turned to look at the pale creature. “How far have we fallen from what Rasputin said would come to be!”
“Do not despair, what Rasputin promised you will come to be, his words and promises are true. The manner in which they will come true, however, may not be exactly what you expect it to be.” Slenderman buzzed. “Not even your Master could foresee the future under his own power; he could only tell you what his own Master told him.”
Hearing that Kroenen only sighed, he knew all that, he knew where Rasputin’s knowledge and power came from... He didn’t have to fully comprehend the true level of Ogdru Jahad’s power to understand that Rasputin dealt with power and knowledge far beyond understanding. Slenderman’s words rang true. Whenever Rasputin told them what would transpire he never spoke of when and how it would happen. They simply assumed how things would come to pass, they never really had any basis for their speculations other than guess, and not even educated one at that.
“If you’re finished moping, come and help me.” Leopold Kurtz called from the door, where he stood. “If the plumbing is to survive the winter, it needs fixing.”
Kroenen and Slenderman’s heads snapped to look at the short man, as he turned to leave.
“Your friend, Leopold, would make a terrible wife to someone.” Slenderman joked.
Kroenen only snorted behind his mask but didn’t say anything.
“And if you want to hang around, Slenderman, you better help too!” Kurtz’s irritated voice called from beyond the door.
???
Pegasus Galaxy.
The space always seem dark from planet’s surface, but in reality, it is pretty bright place. And not just according to astrophysicists claiming that the only reason space looks dark is because the universe is expanding and in reality it is cappuccino coloured. The space is light because the starts, which are giant balls of blazing plasma, produce a lot of energy and spit out all sorts of radiation that can be found on the electromagnetic spectrum which includes the visible light among other, less pleasant things7). All that light traveling through vast spaces unseen because space is empty8) for most part so the light has nothing to illuminate. But every now and then a nebula comes into way and provides dust and gas for light to play with, creating radiant spectacle of light and shadow.
It was one of such nebulae that a single, albeit unusually small Hiveship sat in, with its Commander sitting in his personal quarters, pondering the nature of space. That particular nebula wasn’t picked due to its aesthetic value however; it was picked because it held a habitable planet… ‘Habitable’ was perhaps a bit of a stretch, it was a desert planet covered with yellow-grey dust with barely any oxygen in the atmosphere and temperature below water freezing level, not that it had much of it to freeze in the first place, on top of that its star was giving way too little light. But the planet had two undeniable upsides: it was well hidden in the nebula and it had Stargate on its surface.
The Wraith Commander known to some as Todd wondered why the Lanteans chose that particular planet to put their Portal on it, but whatever their reason was, it was there and it would serve him well on this occasion. And that’s what really counted.
His musings were interrupted by his SIC informing him telepathically that his agent has been delivered to the Dart Bay and was on his way to report to him. Todd knew that should his Hiveship was of normal size, he would have few moments to himself, but this has not been normal sized Hiveship and…
… the Wraith in question was now standing in front of his door, waiting for his permission to enter. Todd smirked, took a deep breath, looked around and counted to ten before he sent his permission. After all, he loved to be mean to this one.
Spike entered the quarters of his Commander, and wondered why haven’t he been summoned to the Bridge, but then he remembered that this Commander picked some customs from Atlanteans, and one of them was using an ‘office’ for duty related purposes whenever he deemed the issue required some privacy. It seemed that for some reason this was the case.
“Commander, you requested my immediate presence.” He stood in front of the older Wraith, who sat behind a desk.
“Indeed. Your mission, how it went?” Todd asked without any ado.
Spike blinked and then reported. It wasn’t nearly as outrageous as the previous one; in fact it was ordinary in comparison. His report seemed to be mildly interesting to his Commander, at best up until the point where he mentioned the information that he took upon himself to gather. He hoped that perhaps that would earn him some favour, being Commander’s favourite “pin cushion” was proving to be tiring experience, not that he said that part.
“These documents that Doctor Kroenen showed to you, have you obtained their copies?” Todd enquired.
“I had no opportunity to do so.” Spike admitted. “But I have read them and I have memorised them to the point where I can provide you with their summary, Commander.”
“Prepare as detailed recapitulation of these documents as you can. Report when you’re finished.” The older Wraith decided.
“Yes Commander.” Spike bowed his head and turned to leave, only to stop at the door. “Will this be useful in our dealings with the Atlanteans?”
“With Atlanteans? Not likely.” Todd slowly shook his head. “But with other Wraith? Especially with our enemies from other Alliances? This has huge potential.”
“I understand.” Spike replied, not really understanding.
“I know of at least one Queen that will be interested with this.9)” Todd added. “You did well. Dismissed.”
Spike bowed again and left. He had some work to do but perhaps his life would be easier now, or at least less miserable.
Todd sat in his quarters pondering.
???
New Scotland Yard. London. October 12 th .
Inspector Maggie Habib sat behind her desk. There was some paper work in front of her but she was focused on her email account at the moment, checking her incoming messages, clearly in search of something. Her dark eyed darted over the addresses of the senders and they seemed to sparkle when they finally landed on a message sent from Tesladyne’s address. She opened it with barely contained smirk and began reading it when her phone rang. She huffed, it was the internal line – it was probably important.
“Habib.” She barked to the receiver.
[[This is the Commissioner. We have just received the word from MI5: they have been contacted by the Foreign Office, the ‘M’ is missing.]]
“What do you mean, sir?” Maggie’s eyes grew round. The term ‘missing’ covered a number of things from ‘late for work’ to ‘probably dead’.
[[The MI6 is in no danger, but there are… complications. The ‘M’ was personally supervising reorganisation of the agency’s archives. She took over shortly after the incident with two Jihadists stealing materials that lead to reactivation of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.]] The Commissioner explained. [[We cannot be sure, but there is a chance that she used that reorganisation to conceal identities of several inactive League field agents.]]
“And that concerns us how, sir?” Maggie asked. She was a cop, not a special agent, at least not at the moment.
[[MI6 requested MI5’s involvement in upcoming investigation. You have been the commanding your own group, Group Habib, under ‘M’s’ supervision, it means that you will be interviewed. You also may be asked to lead a Group again if the investigation will uncover any signs of foul play.]]
“I understand, sir.” Maggie replied. She didn’t like where it all was coming. “Is that all?”
[[Yes. Be prepared. I do not expect you to be able to reach to all of your fellow Extraordinary Gentlemen, but inform those you can reach, that they may be needed.]]
With that the Commissioner disconnected. Maggie only sighed and started to compose her own message to Atomic Robo – the man-bot was her SIC, he should know what was going on. He even may need to come to London… Now that was a thought that made Maggie smile.
???
October 12 th . Somewhere in Africa.
It was autumn but it didn’t matter here. African soil was warm, African air was warm, and African sun was blazing… Africa… it was always so beautiful, even when it was insufferably hot. Then again, it was only natural that the place where one’s kind originated from would be one that one would feel pulled to.
“Come, Mina, we’re here only for a moment.” Orlando beckoned to the other woman.
“I know, ‘Lando, I know.” Mina nodded and looked up at the sky. The sun was starting to set. “It’s just… difficult, you know.”
“Not really, well, maybe a little.” Orlando walked closer to the other woman. “I know that you wanted to pay your respects to Allan, but it’s getting late and we need to leave. We’re heading out tomorrow.”
Wilhelmina Murray nodded again and casted one last look at an old tombstone. They would be away and she didn’t know when would be the next time she could come to Africa again and visit this old graveyard.
“Haven’t been in Blazing World in ages.” Orlando led Mina away.
The End.
1) Yes, even Robo, but that only makes him more “human’ (best proof is when he meets Skorzeny).
2) Yeah, he was all that, and his end was… fitting.
3) Maggie Habib did few things she may not be very proud of; she did help her sister avoid arrest for drug possession after all.
4) This is closer to comic than the film, so there was no convenient dungeon under some cemetery for a show down between HB and forces of evil (aka Ogdru Jahad, Rasputin and his disciples).
5) Sefer Jecirah that he obtained in “The Cabbala”.
6) A title of a real, existing grimoir.
7) For example gamma radiation.
8) Actually, that is a LIE! Big, bold lie. Vacuum of space isn’t really empty. It’s pretty much full of stuff, just because it doesn’t have breathable air doesn’t mean it is empty, it’s just humans being very… self-absorbed that think that lack of oxygen renders space empty. In reality space is filled with radiation and particles, we just can’t breathe it. Stars are producing a lot of that stuff and just catapulting it into space.
9) Mira, naturally, but then again, cunning runs in the family, and Mira is Todd’s sister (for reference go to my SGA fan-comics).