Jim never understood why his dear Clara ever put up with such an ordinary person, let alone marry one. It was no secret among their family that she had great intellect and an IQ that rivaled his own, which led the question of why she existed in such an ordinary way, when she was anything but.
When they were younger, going through school, the siblings didn't have exceptional grades or results, simply because they weren't bothered. They were in no way failures, they aced every important exam and test - a hundred per cent on every subject.
They saw it as a joke, that they learned from ineloquent idiots who had to consult a book while grading them on material they could recite on an exceptional level since leaving elementary. To them, school was a game - they leaped their way to the top of the social heriarchy, finding it hilarious how the teenagers squabbled amongst themselves on a daily basis - completely oblivious to the real world.
The siblings would whisper deceit in their ears - such as who kissed who's boyfriend or who done what to which person - just to see their reactions. The rumours worked wondrously, the adolescents getting more and more humorous as they got older. Hair pulling, scratching, punching, kicking, biting - it was the same vicious cycle, over and over and over again.
It soon became repetitive. Very boring. At first it was fun, toying with the kids, but they also became so unoriginal, it was almost painful.
But as Jim stared at his sister now, all he could see was pain.
"Why did you ever marry that bastard?"
"I love him."
"I love homocide - not good enough. "
She sighed and shook her head sadly. "I dont know Jim - I guess . . . I liked the freedom of it, no matter how boring he was, I had made my own choice. It was mine - no one elses."
Jim nodded. It was understandable that she would feel that way, their mother was a very... domineering woman. Well, before her death, that is. All very tragic, really.
"I let myself fall for him. A stupid decision really."
"Well, you know what they say, it's not the fall that kills you..."
"It's the landing." She finished softly.
"Tea?" Clarissa nodded distractedly. It had been a few years since she had moved in with him, Jared and herself having taken up permanent residence in the Moriarty Mansion, and Jim was still asking and asking the same question. 'Why did you marry him?' And she had answered the question countless times. But for some reason he had an odd interest in it.
She didn't know why, nor did she really want to.
Jim arrived back carrying an ornate china set on a beautiful tea tray. Ut was one of the best sets they had, she noted. Jim set it on the table, pouring the tea into the fragile cups daintily. She muttered her thanks when she was handed her cup.
"Have you and Jared been playing Scrabble again?" She asked in amusement when she saw her brother toe the box under the table. Her smile grew even wider when he pouted childishly, the expression looking over dramatic and ridiculous on his ordinarily handsome face. "He keeps cheating at it."
She raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow "Darling, you cheat at Go Fish, where do think he picked it up?" Jim pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes in mock offence. "You cheat at chess all the time!" She casually sipped her tea, hiding a smug smirk behind the rim of the cup.
Moments passed in comfortable silence until, simultaneously, they set their cups on the individual plates and onto the table between them. The previously amicable and light atmosphere shifted to a more serious tone and each twin waited for the other to speak, to break the silence.
Finally, Clara shattered it.
"It will happen soon, won't it?"
Jim nodded. "It's time." He said simply with a shrug, as if it was the only answer that suited the topic. Which, to Jim, it was. he had been planning it for months, intricately weaving his traps and plans like a deadly Widow. This was what everything had been building up to, ever since the work of Sherlock Holmes became just that little bit more famous. The underground network, although oblivious to the actual plan, could feel a storm brewing just on the horizon. The twins had worked and reworked it, until every single possible outcome had been unveiled. But still, there was too much hanging by a thread, and Clara was worried that her brother's would be snipped.
"You don't need to do this, you have done famously, Jim. You have nothing to prove." Jim sighed, reaching across to take his counterparts hands in his own. He smiled gently at her, his usual childish snark gone from him. "I want to do it, Rissa, it's my... our job. No one else can do it. No one else is worthy enough to do it."
Clara sighed "What if the worst happens? What would I tell Jared? I can't let him lose another parental figure, I'm not sure what would happen to him."
Their entwined hands had grown increasingly tighter. Jim leaned across the small decorative table, resting his forehead against his sisters. "You, my dear Rissa, are a strong woman, stronger and smarter and braver than any other of those mayflies inhabiting this Earth. When the time is right, you tell Jared the truth. He's an intelligent boy, he'll understand."
Clara nodded, her head lightly bumped against her brother's, which brought a nostalgic smile to his face.
"Now, enough of that, I have a serious question for you," Jim pulled away, grabbing two DVD cases from a pile beside him, brandishing them in the air for her to see. "Which should we watch first?"
"Lestrade is looking rather well, isn't he? Wonder how he is, always liked him, his wife is a bit of a tramp though". Clara said aloud, tapping away at her computer and keeping a careful eye on the live feed of the courtroom.
Sebastian snorted, shooting her an amused look that she ignored. "I thought you'd be more into the lanky looking fellas, one such as this perhaps?" With a few clicks the camera feed had zoomed into the crowd, focusing on Scotland Yard's forensic scientist. Clara glared half heartedly at the assassin beside her, but couldn't keep a smile from twitching onto her face. She rolled her eyes, lightly whacking Sebastian in the arm.
"Oh please, I'm not the only one paying attention to the eye candy!" She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, then grinned and grabbed a handful of Pixie Stix, flicking a few against the side of her partners head.
"Maybe I should pop into London some time..."
"And coincidentally bump into a someone, almost giving them a heart attack by the fact you're alive?"
"Oh look, Sherlock's being a smart ass again. And he's being hauled away, along with brother dearest." She emptied a sherbert stick into her mouth. "You want the right side of the jury? Ill take the left."
Clara crouched low to the ground, cursing under her breath as she watched the events unfold with her very eyes. This wasn't a good idea, this was not a good idea at all. So much could go wrong...
"Well good luck with that." Her heart stopped when she felt more so than heard the shot fired. Her heart beat wildly against her ribcage, almost as loudly as her brother's body hitting the ground. Clara adjusted her earpiece, keeping her eyes trained on the screen and desperately tried keeping her eyes away from her brothers broken form. She almost cried when Sherlock finally hung up from his 'note' , took one final look at Jim and stepped off the roof gracefully, his arms spread out and his dark coat fluttering around him... like wings . She made sure to file the image away for later, it was beautiful, poetic even. She would like to paint it.
Once she heard the doctors shouts she jumped into action. Closing over the laptop and stuffing it into her bag. She swung across to the opposite roof of St. Barts from the previously positioned zipline. When she hit the roof she untied the rope, letting it fall to the ground for one of her network to pick up.
Clara hauled her limp brother to the edge of the roof, the one opposite to where the crowd had gathered. She tied a length of rope around his midsection and shoulders twice and lowered him down to the van waiting below.
She took one last look around, jumping over the edge just as Greg Lestrade and three officers barrelled through the emergency exit, into the sunlight. They only found a faded red residue that would disappear within moments.
"Where is he Clara?"
"Still in surgery Seb, we don't know if he'll make it."
Clara typed away at the laptop furiously. Time... time... There was never enough time...
And... she was done.
She watched the clock carefully as the seconds ticked down.
"It's not the fall, it's the landing..."
"What? Clara, you're not making any sense."
Her fingers hovered over the keys. Any second now...
"It's not the fall that kills you, its the landing."
"... Son of a bitch."
Her hand dived forward and with a small click it was done. Everything turned to static, and then anything equipped with a speaker blared all at once.
"Did you miss me?"
Well I hope everyone enjoyed that. This is a small follow up of sorts to a previous fic that, if you haven't read and would like to, can be found on my account, although it is not really necessary to. please leave reviews and I hope you all have a good day!
Fun fact! The two movies Jim picked out were Road to El Dorado and the Boondock Saints.