Ice May Melt

By:

She's been here four years now. Ever since James had supposedly died. She knew he wasn't dead of course, but they hadn't believed her. Their leverage on her was gone, so they locked her away. Sent her off to this old dusty mansion to live with the Monster, forever. Never again to go out and see people, or observe the world.

She was allowed to read the news, so she read all she could find on the world outside. Her favorite thing to keep up on was her childhood playmates, the Holmes brothers. Sherlock was doing very well as the world's only consulting detective. He had of course "died" too but came back two years later. Lana had always been the one with a crush on Sherlock. SHE, however, was more interested in Mycroft, the "Ice-man."

Mycroft seemed to BE the British government, when he wasn't preoccupied with other affairs. She wasn't surprised one bit. She had given him the nickname "Ice-man." Though he was rather cold, distant, and condescending, she saw something in him. She held onto the idea that ice may be melted. Everyone, of course noticed that the only person Mycroft wasn't a sadistic ass to was her, everyone except for Mycroft. He could not fathom even slightly liking another human being. She and Lana taught the boys to dance. Sherlock loved dancing just as much as the girls did. "Ice-man" made sure to let everyone know quite frequently that he did not. He just didn't think it fair that SHE didn't have a partner. The rest of them knew he in fact did like to dance, but either way it was evidence of him liking her.

When she was little, she lived with Lilliana(Lana), and her brother, James. They were both very smart as well, like the Holmes boys. Her parents had died when she was two, and the family had "kindly" taken her in. The children thought their life was perfectly ordinary, until they met other families. Once the people at the school started to notice their bruises, they had to move away. Never to play with the Holmes boys again. Lana and James' father was a very good criminal who had people to completely wipe any records of the ever existing. As for the teachers who knew them, they were threatened to remain quiet. Since the Holmes's parents had never actually met the girls, nobody believed them when they started asking questions.

The children were always forced to work alongside the maids, and were beaten if they didn't do a good job. The Monster didn't care about them. The Monster had gone away for a while. Campbell, the Monsters favorite minion, took care of them then. Campbell let them go to school. They were even allowed to go wherever they wanted, between 10:00 after Campbell was given breakfast, and 4:00 to make Cambell his dinner. They could've easily escaped, But Campbell and the Monster had no doubt that they would return everyday at 4 O'clock.

The past four years were different. After what had happened the Monster lost his leverage on them. They were free. Except, Campbell caught Her before she could go. The Monster didn't really care to keep her, she wasn't his child. But, Campbell wanted her. So he locked her away in a big victorian house on the countryside. Only Campbell and his servants to visit her. Aside from holding her captive ,Campbell was kind to her; as long as she played the part as his wife.

"Love?" Campbell started out calmly, "where the hell is my bloody mornin' tea?"

She walked calmly from the kitchen with a tray of tea and biscuits. "Sorry dear. I got distracted by the paper, there was this murder case in ther…"

"You and the bloody paper, I swear."

"Well, maybe," she said," if I got to come with you to town sometime. I mean just for a day to get out of the house and observe other people."

Campbell slammed down his cup so that tea spilled out the sides. "Oh right so that you could escape from me! Turn me into Scotland Yard, like you turned in so many criminals you discovered years ago!"

"I didn't…"

"Don't play stupid. I knew." Campbell rose from his chair. "When you and Lilliana were allowed to go to town, you would tip off that fool Lestrade on little cases you solved from reading and observing people."

"Those cases were just little things, they never messed with His plans. Campbell I would never…" *smack* It only took her a second to register the sting on her cheek. Campbell did not like being argued with, especially on this subject. She dropped to her knees in front of him with her head bowed, knowing to stop her argument. If she continued, not only would she put herself in danger, but he would beat the servants in front her. "I'm sorry, Campbell. I won't bring it up again.

After a while she was allowed to go to her room. From under her bed she took out a book of news clippings. She flipped to a page with a picture of the prime minister. He wasn't the person she particularly cared about; instead she looked at the person standing next to him leaning on an umbrella.

The door creaked open. "Knock knock," Campbell said. The book slammed shut and went back under the bed. Cambell sat next to her and took her hand in his. "Listen darling," he started, "I'm sorry for letting my anger get ahead of me earlier." Used to his bipolar tendencies, she just calmly sat there. "To make it up to you I have decided to let you come with to London for business next week." Her eyes flew open and she looked at him in skeptical astonishment. "My bodyguards will be with us 24/7, and if you try to escape that elderly maid you've gotten attached to in these past four years will 'disappear.'"

"Of Course, Campbell, I promise." She smiled at him pleasantly.

"The game is on, John!" Sherlock shouted running down the street.

"Sherlock, where are we going?" John shouted, trying to keep up with his best friend. They rounded a corner and crossed the street, almost getting hit by a cab. The cabbie rolled down his window and shouted angrily at them, but they were too far down the alley to hear him.

As Sherlock rounded the corner he ran into a pretty woman who had been too excited by the sites around her to notice the tall man before he collided with her. She looked up into his face and her eyes widened. He dashed around her without apology. "Sorry," John apologized to her before running straight into the man he was apologizing for. Sherlock had come to a dead stop, recognizing the face of the woman he ran into. He turned back to look at his childhood friend, but she was hurriedly rushing her companion and bodyguards away.

John looked at him questioningly. "You alright? Look like you've seen a ghost."

"Not a ghost, John, an imaginary friend." Sherlock stated calmly. "Let's go." He again sped off.

"What?" He rushed after his friend. "Sherlock!"

"The game, John."

Mycroft had had another very stressful day basically running the British Government. He was ready to sit in his chair at the Diogenes Club with a scotch in hand and enjoy the silence; instead, he opened the door to his private office at the club only to discover his little brother and said brother's blogger.

"We need to talk."

"Obviously," Mycroft retorted," why else would you be here?" he set his umbrella near the door.

"You remember Lana and…"

"Charlotte," Mycroft finished for him. His eyes narrowed as he continued. "And you remember, little brother, the therapy mummy put us through to get over our imaginary friends."

Sherlock folded his hands under his chin. "They weren't imaginary. You are never wrong, Mycroft"

"Sherlock," Mycroft sat behind his desk, " do you have a head injury perhaps. Of course they were. There is no proof of their ever having been in existence. We created them as children, because of the lack of our having real friends. Everybody is bound to be wrong sometimes, Sherlock,especially, children."

"I saw Charlotte earlier. Ran into her actually."

"This is ridiculous. Sherlock would you and Dr. Watson please see yourselves out and quit wasting my time. I'm a very busy man."

"Fine," Sherlock glared, "I'll prove it."

"So, love, how was your first day out?" Campbell asked once they entered the hotel room.

It took a second for Charlotte to register he had spoken. "Wonderful," she assured him. "Thank you for bringing me. Seeing the city again, if only for this week, is amazing."

"I'm glad. Well, I'm off to bed. See you in the morning, love."

Charlotte couldn't sleep. She lay awake thinking about her close encounter with Sherlock. Hopefully he hadn't recognized her. Sure he could help escape, but she didn't want to. If she wanted she could easily get past his bodyguards, the problem was, by letting herself feel for the maid she had given him back the leverage he needed to make her stay. The 'Ice-man's' voice ran through her mind, "caring is not an advantage." That's who she was, though. Charlotte's entire being forced her to put the safety of others before herself.

Charlotte got up to look out the window. The country was great, but after being stuck there so long the city was stunning. She sat there about an hour just watching London. Eventually she turned back to her bed. Campbell was sleeping soundly in the bed adjacent. Just as Charlotte was nearing unconsciousness something caught her attention; she felt a light breeze, yet she hadn't opened the window. Her eyes flew open.

A man was standing in between the beds of Campbell and herself. Just as she was about to scream, she recognized the face. He put a finger to his lips and nodded his head toward the door where the guards were stationed. Keeping his eyes on her so that she wouldn't look elsewhere, the man put a silenced pistol to Campbell's head. "Let's go," he whispered.

"The maids…" she started to tell him.

"Already taken care of," he assured her. "They're safe." Charlotte got out of bed and got dressed. The only thing she would bring with her was Campbell's money from his safe. She didn't want anything else that would give her bad memories.

"The guards," she whispered.

He just smiled and walked back to the window. She felt dumb for not realizing they'd just avoid them. He climbed out and hung there. Charlotte walked to the window and sat on the ledge. With complete faith that this man would protect her as she slid off the ledge into his arms. Together they scaled down the wall. When they got to the street he handed her a helmet. Charlotte got onto the bike and wrapped her arms around his muscular waist as they sped away.

They pulled into an alley next to a seemingly dilapidated building. Following the man in she realized the grandeur of the inside. Charlotte wasn't surprised: only the best for James Moriarty. The fact that she was free finally started to sink in. "Sebastian," she addressed the sniper who had just saved her life, "why did you come for me?"

Sebastian Moran sat on the elegant white coach and kicked off his old military boots. "You think Jim just abandoned you? You may not be be blood Charlie, but you are family, and we don't abandon family. It took us a while to track down Campbell's facility, too long. But once we did Jim set up a fake business deal to get him out of the house. Security's always much more lax when he's away. The fact that he brought you with made it all the easier. Oh, that reminds me…" Moran jumped up from the couch and went into another room. He came back with a book, which he handed to Charlotte. "Thought you might like this. The boss loved it, for different reasons probably."

Charlie took her book of newspaper clippings with joy. She curled up in a plush,round chair and started flipping through it. Sebastian closed his eyes and laid his head back. The two sat in silence for some time, until the door swung open. They both looked toward the door as Moriarty strolled in. He kicked off his shoes and lost his suit jacket. There was blood spattered all along the front of his shirt. Moriarty laid down on the couch and placed his head in his sniper's lap. "They ruined my favorite tie, Sebby," he said angrily. "This is why I don't like doing the dirty work. You got me this tie for christmas, and now it's ruined." The ex-military man calmly played with his boyfriend's hair as he listened. "Ruined my tie, and for what? I'm still bored. I'm so bored, Sebby."

" I know, sir, I know." Charlie smiled at them. Sebastian was so loving. It was so different from what she was used to. Of course the two were master criminals, but James Moriarty wasn't truly evil. He was insane, like a child throwing a tantrum. The Monster had been worst to his son. Trained him to be how he was. Jim didn't know anything else. And after what happened, he just went more over the edge, blaming himself. Charlie doubted there was anyone who could better handle him than Sebastian.

As if just noticing her Moriarty said, " Hello Charlotte, I'm glad you're well."

"Hi Jimmy," she responded.

"Nobody's called me that in years," he said.

Charlotte soon fell asleep in the chair she was in. When she woke up she was in a bed. The smell of food lured her to the kitchen. "Morning Charlie."

"Goodmorning. Where's Jimmy?" she asked as she hopped up onto the counter.

" Working. He'll be gone a few days."

"He doesn't need his sniper with him?"

Sebastian smiled. "He has other capable snipers, and besides he left me with work to do here." When the eggs and bacon were done they sat in the living room and watched the news. "Don't tell the boss I have my feet on the coffee table, he'd flip a lid."

She laughed. "I still can't believe I'm free. It's weird."

"Well, believe it. No son of a bitch will ever lay a hand on you again, I'll make sure of that." They watched the news in silence a while. Sebastian washed their dishes when they finished. "Oh, Charlie, we took the liberty of wiring all of Campbell's money into separate multiple accounts for you to use. I know you don't like being part of criminal affairs, but that bastard made you act as his wife for four years so you might as well get the money. I don't want any arguments. I have work to do now, so I'll see you later tonight. There's a phone and credit cards for you in your room. I programmed mine and Jim's number's so if you need anything just call." With that he was out the door.

Charlie didn't know what to do. She never got to really decide for herself what to do. Maybe she would make Sebastian dinner to repay him.

She had been with Sebastian a few days, but still wasn't quite used to the fact that she didn't have to serve anyone. She kept making him meals, doing laundry, and picking up around the house. Sebastian kept trying to tell her that she didn't need to, but it's all she knew.