Embrace the Crime, a story written by artemisbear
CHAPTER 1
Will Graham woke up on that morning at 6:07 am, which is earlier than usual, but he didn't wake up all sweaty or scared because of one of his nightmares. He actually didn't remember any dream. It felt for him like the beginning of a good day. He stood up and heard some noise coming from the kitchen, downstairs. Nervous as he always can get, he ran there. It wasn't a big kitchen, Will didn't need one as he lived alone, well, almost alone. The kitchen was all grey, just like the rest of Graham's house, which was a kind of reminder that life hadn't always been bright to its owner. When he entered that room, he saw the source of all of that noise: his dogs. Over the years, Will Graham had rescued many lost dogs and took them to his house. These animals were the only cheerful element in this kingdom of grey. Winston, Will's newest companion, jumped on him as soon as he felt his saviour's presence.
"Oh, hey, Winston! I see someone had a good night of sleep. What about you, ehm, everyone? I think you had a calm night as you are all making a morning storm!, said Graham, smiling"
After feeding his dogs and getting prepared, Will Graham went to the FBI, where he was a special agent. Actually he wasn't supposed to be still an agent on the field. He had a special gift, an empathy disorder that could make Will feel like any murderer in order to understand him or her and the crime to catch the criminal. The problem was that if Will Graham got too close to a crime or a murderer, he began to have nightmares and hallucinations; he could maybe even murder someone. A few years before, he had to stop going on the field because he couldn't carry on anymore and became a teacher for future special agents of the FBI. Will thought he'd never have to face any murder again, he didn't want to think about any case anymore until two months ago, when Jack Crawford, his boss, proposed him to try again. At first Graham refused, he didn't want to risk another collapse into madness. However, the temptation was too strong and after a few days of hesitation, Graham was back on the field.
Will Graham arrived at the FBI station somewhere in Virginia. He met Special Agent Beverly Katz, a friend of his. She had always supported him and was very interested in Graham's personality, which included of course his disorder. She was wearing, as always, dark jeans, some comfortable jeans and her chemist blouse. She had long black hair and a long face on which there were two brown eyes always trying to analyse and understand everything on whatever she was looking at. Graham didn't know much about her life, but that didn't bother him.
"Hello, Will, said Beverly, Jack wants to talk to you about some business."
"What kind of business? Is there any new murder?, replied Will with some anxiety"
"None that I know of, hurry before he gets impatient."
A few minutes later, Will Graham stood in Crawford's office, waiting for him to come in. He didn't have an idea of what could be the reason of his presence in this room. Did he solve a murder wrongly? Did he send an innocent to prison? Was Jack unsatisfied with his work? Did he want Will to work as a teacher again? So many questions were on Graham's mind at the same time and he couldn't handle to wait anymore. Suddenly Jack Crawford, a tall dark skinned man came in with another man who Will had never seen before. The stranger was tall as well, taller than Jack, and was wearing only black clothes, including a long coat and a rather looking expensive scarf. He was very pale and had black curly hair. He seemed to analyse everything with his cold blue eyes, which reminded Will of Beverly Katz's habits. Death seemed to surround his person, he was probably a Special Agent, or a smart twisted psychopath.
"Good morning, Will Graham. I'm sorry you had to wait for me. I present you Sherlock Holmes. He is an English detective but he will work in the United States for a while., declared Crawford staring at Will." Then he turned towards Sherlock Holmes and said "Mr. Holmes, this is the man I told you of, Special Agent Will Graham."
"Will Graham… Single man, living alone, loves dogs, you are very unsociable and have quite a high level of arrogance. You are tortured by a fear, fear of, yes, madness, easily guessed by the constant nervous shaking of the hands and the look on the face, recited Holmes very quickly with his deep voice"
"Jack, did you tell Mr. Holmes my entire biography before coming in? Is it why you have come late?"
Will Graham was quite surprised that Jack Crawford could tell so much about him to a stranger, as if he couldn't have any private life. He felt quite angry but didn't want to make it obvious.
"Well, actually, replied Jack in a surprised tone, all I said is that you were a special Special Agent for the FBI. Will, you have just had a free demonstration of Mr. Holmes' talent. He can guess an entire lifetime story of anyone out of basically anything on you and out of your behaviour. That is why we asked him to work with us for a while. And Will, continued Jack with a more serious expression on his face, he is the reason why I asked you to come here. You and Sherlock Holmes will work together on every case that appears. It isn't that we doubt of your abilities, Will, but maybe if you don't solve it all on your own, you will have less trouble with your gift. It is for you good to control the potential madness. I won't let the same happen to you. Will, don't look offended, I'm doing it because I am concerned."
"So, you hire an English detective to babysit me? I thought I couldn't fall any lower, assured Will, bitter."
"Trust me, I am not very pleased by this project either. I never asked to work with anyone. There is only one person I can work with and…, Sherlock's voice broke"
Will Graham looked again at Jack, with a how-could-you-do-this-to-me look and walked away. He refused to believe that Crawford thought he wasn't strong enough to be on the field again. He felt almost betrayed by him and refused to work with this pretentious Holmes. He decided to have a coffee at the cafeteria in order to try to calm down. But apparently, his new colleague had the same idea and sat next to Will Graham.