The montage of final images of The Final Problem seemed to depict Sherlock connecting somehow with his strange and estranged baby sister Eurus. All she wanted was for him to play with her, and there he was, playing with her. I wondered if this exclusive connection between the two of them could be somehow written in to my favourite Sherlock pairing – Sherlock and Molly – while maintaining the cold detachment she projects to everyone else. My commute to work in the mornings usually provides some thinking time, and the other day, thanks to this story forming in my head, Bach's Prelude ran through my mind incessantly all flippin day! (NOT that I minded, I LOVE that particular piece)… This story is complete as usual, and I will be posting in three chapters. My first time writing Mycroft and Eurus, I hope I've kept them in character! Love as always, PrairieLily
Mycroft Holmes stood in front of the clear cell wall and, crossing his arms, projected a completely emotionless look at his sister Eurus.
Eurus, in return, stared coldly back, her arms held stick straight at her sides, her head tilting slightly to the side. They seemed to be in an icy stalemate, and neither of them felt even a hint of a chill from it.
"MUST I repeat myself AGAIN?" she said, sounding dreadfully bored.
Mycroft cleared his throat. "You want to have… THREE treats at once? Greed has never been one of your qualities, sister. Forgive me if I question why you require so many of your presents in such short order, and nowhere near Christmas. This is highly unusual, even for you."
Eurus seemed to ignore most of what he had just said. "Oh GOOD, Mycroft. You DO understand. Yes, THREE treats. I trust you have actually heard them but just in case you fail to comprehend," she said, her voice dripping with condescension, "listen carefully. I shall only repeat them once more."
"I wish to have a pretty dress in a radiant royal blue," she said with mocking childlike whimsy, her sing-song tone sending the usual chill through the oldest Holmes sibling.
Her intonation quickly shifted back to her usual coldness. "I wish to have a cello." She gave that a moment to sink in, how they would manage to give her something as large as a cello of all things, without breaching the security of her cell.
"And," she said calmly, almost affectionately, but not quite, "I wish to have our brother record his half of our playtime duets. The pieces will be of my own choosing and arrangement. It's my understanding that he will be rather pre-occupied soon…" Eurus swayed her head slightly and rolled her eyes in extreme annoyance, "Something to do with that silly little Molly plaything I had such fun with... they'll be married in a few weeks, as I understand it. I simply wish to have a way to play with him when he can't come to play with me."
Mycroft's mind raced, trying to figure out what his diabolical baby sister was up to… and whether or not she could be trusted. Well, he mentally gave his head a shake, of COURSE she couldn't be trusted. The only Holmes sibling she seemed to connect with at all was Sherlock, and Sherlock, in his opinion, had become too emotional of late to be a reliable source of reason. He weighed the risks.
A pretty dress... Well THAT was definitely unusual. Eurus had gone decades without a single care about her appearance. Concern over her appearance was… an EMOTIONAL reaction to something. If Mycroft considered himself to be emotionally dormant, then Eurus had certainly never even had anything to become dormant OF. It was a definite curiosity, but most likely harmless enough.
A cello… well, that wasn't so unreasonable. She already had a violin. Perhaps she was bored with it, and a bored Eurus was a dangerous Eurus. She produced pleasant sounding music with her violin. Even Mycroft had to admit that while Eurus played with technical perfection, Sherlock played beautifully. Perhaps emotion wasn't such a useless thing after all, if it was kept in its place.
Besides, Mycroft considered… he rather liked the cello, and perhaps it would give a fresh new dimension to the "concerts" that Sherlock and Eurus performed for him and their parents when they had their regular little family reunions at her cell at Sherrinford. For him, they had started to become a bit stale, of late.
The logistics of getting it into her cell would be a challenge… but a minor one. Certainly nothing he couldn't manage.
The pre-recordings… Well that was the most strange of all her requests. Eurus only seemed to respond to anyone when Sherlock was there in person, when he made her feel that she mattered to someone enough for them to actually come play with her. When she wasn't being ignored or disregarded or shoved aside anymore. To play with a pre-recorded Sherlock - it seemed entirely the opposite of the family interaction she craved.
He weighed the cold benefits. She would owe them extra with her clever intellect. Perhaps this wasn't such a one-sided deal after all.
"Right, then," he said to her. "Provide me with a list of music you wish to have recorded and I will see what our brother has time to prepare for you. The wedding is scheduled for only three weeks hence. But perhaps for you, he will make the time."
Eurus allowed a flash of a smile and the briefest of light shone from her eyes. Mycroft hadn't even noticed either, before they were gone.
Inside her mind, though, her thought was clear… her present to Sherlock was in progress.