"Sherlock!" Merlin yelled into the Holmes brothers' flat.
"Yes, I know, new people on the floor below. Both blondes, one's inheriting his father's company, the other just came back from either Iraq or Afghanistan." Sherlock answered before Merlin could say more.
"Stop showing off."
"I'm not. Showing off is for little four-year-olds whose parents only care if they're child prodigies."
"That would be you, except for the four year old part. Anyways, we're stopping by to say hello."
Sherlock sighed. Merlin Holmes- his brother, besides Mycroft. Merlin was so normal, so he always cared bout people. Not that Sherlock didn't care, but honestly, he'd rather stay in their flat and test how long eyeballs can stay in the microwave without exploding. But no- Merlin would literally drag Sherlock down the stairs (he'd only use the elevator if Sherlock was walking on his own) just to say hello to some new people.
Of course, Sherlock was mildly interested in one of the men. He was just coming back from the army, so maybe he could help with cases Sherlock got. Merlin was useless at it (He'd ended up getting kidnapped) and Sherlock was getting a little tired of doing it all on his own.
"John, your girlfriend just broke up with you!"
"What?"
"I just happened to look over and the message said 'Sorry, but I'm ending this-'"
"Shut up! I can read it on my own."
Merlin had been about to knock on the door, but the yelling had made him pause. Now, he rapped four times on the gray door. A tall, blonde man opened the door.
"Hello! I'm Merlin Holmes; this is Sherlock, my brother. We noticed you moved in and thought we'd stop and say hello!" Merlin smiled up at the blonde, his blue eyes lighting up with friendliness.
"Oh- Come in. I'm Arthur Pendragon. That's John Watson- John, are you done reading that damn message already?"
"She said I was gay!"
"Yes, and she's probably right. Say hello to Merlin and Sherlock."
"Hello." The man- short, military cut hair, and apparently a sweater lover- glanced up briefly. A small smile, a wave, and he was back to his phone.
"John, for god's sake, put the phone down!"
"Yes! Sorry. Girlfriend just broke up with me." John sighed, putting the phone down.
"Girlfriend? You just got back form Afghanistan or Iraq and moved into a new flat. How do you have time for a girlfriend?" Sherlock raised his eyebrows. John stared. Merlin did a face-palm and groaned. Arthur just looked mildly surprised.
"How did you know about Afghanistan?"
"No, don't ask, please don't ask…" Merlin groaned again. "Sherlock, don't you dare start one of your rants."
"He asked me how I knew." Sherlock defended himself.
"Yes, but you can tell him some other time when I'm not here to listen to you show off!"
"I'm not a four-year-old, Merlin."
"Do you guys want tea while you argue?" Arthur asked, breaking the silence between the two brothers, who had reverted to a staring competition.
"Yes, tea would be lovely." Sherlock didn't bother to look at Arthur or apologize for arguing. Merlin would have, but his phone buzzed.
"Sorry, hang on…" Merlin stopped talking. The blood drained from his already pale face, making him look a lit like some sort of ghost. Wordlessly, he dropped his phone and practically kicked the door down trying to get out.
"What just happened?" John asked. Sherlock picked up the phone, read the message on it, and spoke up.
"Call the police."
"What?"
"Now!" Sherlock shoved the phone at John's face.
Dad's got a rolling pin. A new message read.
"What?"
"Freya, fifteen years old, drunk and abusive parents. Call the police." Sherlock ran out after Merlin, leaving Arthur and John.
"I'll call the police- you go help." John said, picking up his previously abandoned phone and beginning to dial.
Arthur raced down the hall after Sherlock, down a flight of stairs, then another. They reached the thirty-ninth floor of the building, and found the entrance to Freya's flat. The door was open, and there was loud shouting coming from inside.
Arthur pushed Sherlock out of the way and went inside.
Merlin was nowhere to be seen. Two adults- one a woman, with frizzy brown hair, the other a man with close-cropped black hair who needed a shave- were inside. The flat was messy- a broken vase here and there, lamps turned over, blankets and sheets on the floor, ripped up pillows, and so much more that Arthur didn't have time to take it all in.
"Freya! The hell are you, you stupid- Oi! Who the fuck 're you?" The man glared at Arthur.
"Arthur Pendragon. May I ask why you're yelling so loud I can hear you three floors up?"
"My bitch of a daughter isn' answerin' me. 'M trying to get her out here so I can give her a good beat-lecture." Arthur would've laughed at how ridiculously stupid the man was if it weren't for the fact that he had a rolling pin in his hands.
"Freya likes to misbehave." The woman said, with a smile so false that Arthur did laugh.
"The fuck 're you laughing at?" The man glared again.
"Oh, nothing…" Arthur stopped smiling and kicked the man in his gut. In an instant, the woman was flying at him; clawing and screeching like some sort of bird.
Arthur's fighting instinct kicked in, and he sidestepped the woman, who promptly crashed into a kitchen counter and knocked herself out.
The man was back on his feet, and angry. He swung the rolling pin at Arthur's head, but it somehow missed. The man looked confused for a moment, and then fell over, unconscious. Arthur looked around. There was no one there- Sherlock must've run off to find Freya- so who had hit the man? It wasn't Arthur.
"Is he out?" Arthur jumped. Merlin was there, standing a few feet away.
"Where the hell did you come from?!" Merlin looked confused for a moment, then the look faded.
"Oh. I was invisible again, huh?"
"What?"
"I do that from time to time. I've got magic in me." Arthur nodded.
"Oh." Magic people did exist, but they were rare- like, one in ten thousand rare. On top of that, magic folk rarely told people of their powers for fear of persecution. Some people thought that magic was evil, and would hunt down anyone with magic and kill him or her.
"You're not going to go call a hunter, are you?" Merlin looked worried. Arthur shook his head.
"No, I'm not one of those people. My dad is, but we never saw eye to eye anyways." Merlin looked relieved.
"Good. I hate making people forget about me."
Sherlock wasted little time as soon as Arthur had the attention of the two drunkards. He knew Merlin was probably invisible somewhere. Freya would be hiding somewhere her parents couldn't reach- Freya was very skinny and small, so there were a lot more places she could fit that her parents couldn't. She would hide somewhere that she felt safe, or at least safer than the rest of the house. So, her room. Not under the bed, that would be to obvious. Not on the fire escape, because it would be much too difficult to run all the way down the stairs.
Sherlock opened the closet of Freya's room.
"Freya, it's Sherlock, Merlin's brother." Was all Sherlock had to say. A small, dark-haired twig of a girl burst out from behind a small corner the closet that was hidden behind clothes. The girl was sobbing, and Sherlock could see a fresh bruise appearing on her arm. Sherlock wasn't sure what to do, so he simply led Freya to the living room, where Merlin swooped down on her and started doing his weird mother hen thing, petting her hair and telling her it'd be okay. Within a few minutes, John arrived with Lestrade and his crew of policemen. Freya's parents were arrested, and Freya went with Merlin, Arthur, John and Sherlock down to the police station for questioning.
"Where am I going to go?" Freya asked no one in particular.
"Foster care." Was Sherlock's instant answer. "Or to any relatives, but seeing as-"
"Sherlock, shut it." Merlin commanded. For once, Sherlock listened. He was going to say Seeing as you were living with alcoholic, abusive parents, I doubt you have any other relatives, so you'll probably be going into foster care to live with a couple who can't have children and will most likely treat you like a baby.
"Alright, you all can go. Freya, you're going to stay with Merlin and Sherlock until we can get your situation figured out." Lestrade commanded. Freya broke into a grin for the first time that evening.
"Great. Well, I'm going to get coffee, I'll see you all some other time." John stood up.
"No, stay." Sherlock was surprised that Freya actually spoke to someone besides herself. "Merlin's got coffee, right?"
"A-yup." Merlin nodded. "And sugar."
"All right, but I don't take sugar." John agreed.