The strange swap of Dr Hyde and Mr Jekyll

Dinner at Utterson's- part 2

"Aaand done!" Utterson had just finished to make some pasta for dinner, and he was now headed to the living room.

"Was leaving Lanyon and Hyde alone the right thing to do?" Thought Utterson. "Hastie can get very nervous and even a bit paranoid in social situations... and Edward is a complete stranger to him... but I know he can handle this! I'm just worrying too much!"

Gabriel peeked from behind the wall, and saw Hyde... who seemed to be panicking? But for what reason? Utterson leaned forward, and saw Lanyon... holding a gut, which was just a few centimeters away from the blonde's head.
"Hastie..?" Questioned Utterson, stepping into the room. "What is going on?" The brown haired man, who until now had been stolid and emotionless, had been struck by that sudden call. His tenge expression loosened, making his eyes appear wider and allowing his lips to part from each other just a little.
Then the man bounced back, tightened the grip on the chilling metal of the weapon, and stared intently at Hyde with a mixture of hatred and determination.
"I'm only doing what needs to be done" he muttered, betraying insecurity.

Edward took a shaky breath. "Hastie... let me explain..." "shut your mouth." Ordered the other. "I won't let you just come into our house, spy on us and allow you to poison our ears with your lies. I won't allow you to destroy the life I worked so hard to build."

"Hastie, please" whispered Gabriel with a calming tone "he is a friend, there is no reason to believe he's our foe-"
"Gabriel," muttered Lanyon with a broken voice; he was clearly conflicted, his emotions were struggling within him, but he fought furiously to hold them. "My dear Gabriel, how can you be so blind? A 'perfect' gentleman suddenly pops out of nowhere, and appears to be a doctor; casually you were looking for a replacement at the hospital; he has no documents to prove he's a doctor, that he ever went to a medical school or that his name is even Edward Hyde; and not only he knew who you were before you could present yourself, but above all, he knows who I am. Me, a person who, to everyone, even the government, died years ago? This is far too suspicious to be a coincidence Gabriel! This man is a threat."
"This is just a big misunderstanding!" Countered Utterson "he has to be a doctor! He wouldn't have been able to perform on that patient if he wasn't!"
"But what about the documents then? Did this 'Hyde' have at least a birth certificate? Something to prove that that is his real name?!"
"No... who carries a copy of his birth certificate everywhere he goes?!"
"But what about us? How did he know us?!"

"Someone told me about you two."
Edward couldn't bear that anymore. He interrupted that debate with a confidence that didn't belong to him, but that he managed to carry off.

Hastie lowered his gun just a little, and stared through his green eyes, into his soul. "Who told you about us?"

Hyde felt the weight of his words pressing against his heart. He looked at the floor for a while, searching for the words to say, and the boldness to pronounce them. Then he raised his head.
"Henry Jekyll"

"Lies-"
"...tell us something," interrupted Utterson, stopping Lanyon from saying anything. "something only Jekyll could have know... about us three."
Edward thought for a bit. "...You three used to pretend to be foreigners whenever someone in the street asked you for directions. Jekyll used to blather in Spanish; Utterson kept saying the only 2-3 French words he knew on repeat, while Lanyon made random noises, pretending to speak Chinese."
Lanyon's arm dropped, as if he was the one who had been shot. "No... it-it can't be..." his bronze eyes were the mirror of his inner shock. He gazed at Gabriel, who shared his same incredulous expression.
"I.. I used to work for him, a few years ago. During that time he told me about both of you..."

The silence that fell upon the three men was broken by a little sound; a feeble tock. Hastie had placed his gun on the coffee table. "..I better go." And he left the room, his hands in his pockets and his head sunk between his shoulders.

Eternal seconds passed; Hyde stared at the floor, and sometimes glanced at Utterson; the latter played with his hands a bit, and tried to talk, but it was no easy feat, for every time he opened his mouth, the words fled in the void of his subconscious.
"I'm sorry" he murmured finally. "I-I should have thought twice before bringing you here... Hastie can be a bit... 'paranoid' and... he has trouble trusting people... I just thought that maybe, having you here, could have helped him 'open up' a bit..."
Edward placed his hand upon his friend's shoulder, causing him to turn around and look at him with his watery eyes.
"None of this is your fault," Hyde reassured him. "It's nobody's fault. Nobody got hurt after all, everything's okay..."

The blonde one stood up.
"Where are you going?" "I need to talk to him."

Edward left the room, and walked through the corridor in which he saw Lanyon disappear. A glass door with iron bars caught his attention: it led to the backyard of the house. Hyde crossed said door, and there he found Hastie, sitting on the cold ground. Edward sat next to him. The garden was small and square shaped; a wooden fence delimited it; the grass was short and well kept, it had probably been cut recently, and in the middle, there was a weeping willow with little flower grown around.

Before Hyde could say anything, Hastie began speaking.

"I joined the army when I was 16. I didn't want to, but I was forced by my father. I began as a common soldier, but soon, thanks to my family's influence, i was able to climb to the highest ranks at a very young age. Everyday I wrote letters, to my family and to my friends, but nobody ever answered; nobody even read those letters. They were all intercepted by my superiors. According to them, those were just worthless distractions, that were to no practical use. Of course, I only found out about that years after. After months of no replies, I eventually stopped writing. I was alone, devastated and in command of a Bataillon. Never a good combination. I... I made a huge mistake. Our foes were drawing near; every second that passed I was being tortured by the weight of the decision I had to make: I could have ordered to retreat; I could have saved them but instead, i ordered to attack. I was there, in the middle of that merciless bloodshed; soldiers fell to the ground with the same inevitability of leaves in autumn. I was the only coward who had been lucky enough to escape. As you can imagine, after that, I had to flee; first from my commander, but that was rather easy; then, I had to escape from the families who lost their sons because of me. Vengeance is what they're after, and they won't stop until they have my head."

Lanyon paused for a bit, staring into space.
"If what you said is the truth, and I want to believe it is, you only know me through Henry's descriptions. Unfortunately I'm not like that anymore. I'm not bold, I'm not brave... but with what's left of my courage, I want to tell you that I am truly sorry, for what I did."

"...it is a nice evening, isn't it?"
Lanyon looked at Hyde, with a confused expression; the blonde man was staring at the tree, with his long branches that danced with the wind.
"I think," continued he, closing his green eyes and letting a soft smile form on his face "it is so nice, that I'd be a waste to spend it dwelling on the past. How about we start over?"
Hastie hesitated, but then smiled and nodded slowly.
Edward offered him his hand. "My name is Edward Hyde sir, it's very nice to meet you." without thinking twice, Hastie shook the other's hand. "I am Hastie Lanyon, the pleasure is mine."