Like fathers like daughter
Smiley face
Juliet was reclined in the armchair, her long legs outstretched, arms wide and head bent back over the chair. Her mass of black curls were fastened at the back of her head in a fishtail plait, she was clad in a pair of red shorts and a white vest that stopped above her belly button. The black strap of her bra was visible against her milky skin. She signed loudly, brought her right hand up, across her chest and fired the gun she had been holding. Her face was firmly fixed in the direction of the kitchen as she shot another three times at the wall to her left.
"What shall we do today?" She asked, turning to the wall she had been shooting at. She looked at the new pink smiley face that she had sprayed on the wall and shot at. When the smiley face didn't answer she sighed again, this time louder but continued speaking to the smiley face anyway. "I envy you, so happy without even trying but I suppose I created you that way. Now you mock me with your happiness." She lifted the gun again and shot at the face again, the bullet going through the wall above the mouth and below the eyes, in the exact position of a nose. She smiled.
The front door opened and slammed shut, Juliet rolled her eyes and took the clip out of the gun, disarming it. She stood bracing herself for the arrival of her parents and Detective Inspector Lestrade.
John was the first through the door, his face alive with worry, the once blonde but greying hair slightly windblown. Without saying a word Juliet threw the gun at him, Sherlock stepped through the door second, she threw the clip at him. They both caught them easily, John sighing loudly.
"Bored" she said in explanation, their eyes finding the pink smiley face on the wall as Greg stepped into the lounge.
"So you thought you'd shoot at the wall?" John asked annoyed, he crossed the room and put the gun in the desk draw.
"The wall had it coming" she answered, standing up and walking into the kitchen, she came back in a minute later holding a tray with a tea pot, cups, sugar and milk, anticipating their arrival for some time. Sherlock had already settled in the arm chair she had been sitting in, his coat and scarf off, black curls windblown and cheeks slightly pink from the changing on heat from hot to cold. John was sat on the sofa and Greg in the other arm chair. She placed the tray on the coffee table in front of John, sat down next to him and continued in a softer tone "the wall has been intimidating me for the best part of three hours. I just wanted it to have a friendlier face, always so cold and un-wielding, now the wall smiles." Juliet turned to look at the wall, smiling at her creation.
"Miss Hudson will charge us for that" John muttered in response, knowing better to question her on the matter further. He also remembered the time he had walked in on Sherlock doing the exact same thing in a fit of boredom.
"I have settled the debt in advance to avoid any inconveniences" she answered.
"How thoughtful" Sherlock murmured sarcastically, she glared at him.
"I'm bored" she moaned, sinking into the sofa.
Sherlocks eyes widened and he turned to look at her "homework?"
"Done" she said quickly. John lent forward and started pouring the tea, he added a splash of milk into her cup and five heaped tea spoons of sugar, before stirring it and handing it to her. Juliet's hands clapped around the hot mug and she blew at the tea.
Sherlocks eyes scanned the room, they settled on his violin which was now out of the case. "What's wrong with your own violin?" He raised his eyes rows, rose from the chair and placed the violin back in its case, he grabbed the two cups of tea made for him and Greg as he walked back to the chair.
"Mines in my bedroom, I had the sudden need to compose about an hour and fifteen minutes ago." Juliet answered, the phrase 'pot calling kettle black' in her mind. Her blue eyes moved to Lestrade, he was sat content in the arm chair watching them converse, she smiled at him "I've been rude in ignoring you" she addressed him, placing her cup on the table and moving to the edge of her seat. She rested her head in her hands, elbows on her knees ready to listen to him. She continued "the case?"
Greg gave a small smile "we have three tourists, all killed by what appears to be a trained killer using a curved sword."
"A curved sword…" she repeated, thinking about the weapon, which seemed outdated to her. "Seems a strange choice of weapons, especially in this day and age, I mean we're no longer in the middle-ages. The weapon must have some significance otherwise he wouldn't use it, I assume it's part of his chosen style of killing" Greg's nod confirmed that for her. "How interesting…"
"Quite" Sherlock grumbled, Juliet's eyes went to him and she sighed.
"Fine, you want me gone so you can talk, I understand" she said as she got up from the sofa, making her way towards the door "I do hope that you realise that I am no longer a child soon, I am getting dreadfully bored of being sent out of the room every time you want to talk about a case." She ran up the stairs, calling behind her as she went "see you later Greg" Juliet could faintly hear him say his farewell as she reached the top of the stairs, she pushed open her door and stepped into her room.
The room was exactly how she had left it hours ago. The walls covered in a selection of different wallpapers, four different wallpapers for each wall – turquoise superfresco pattern on a beige background, dark purple linen effect, a white paper with various coloured butterflies on and a misty forest scene paper. Pages of notes, pictures, newspapers, online articles were stuck on various patches of the wall with string connecting them. Her wardrobe was shut, a built in closet, the doors made out of wood with a skull carved into it. She also had a chest of draws in matching wood to the doors of her closet, a dark heavy wood. The top clean, only her phone, iPad, iPod and chargers on there. A vanity table made out of similar wood was scattered with various cosmetic items, a mirror lent against the wall. A painted silver chair with clack cushions was pushed underneath the table. On the other side of the room, under the window sat a sturdy desk that was a mess of papers, books and an expensive apple laptop. The desk had two separate sets of three draws that were filled with various items that ere of use to her. A grey desk chair was positioned next to it, ready for her to sit in. In the corner of the room, by the door was a tall mirror that stretched towards the ceiling and was situated in a silver painted old fashioned frame. The double bed was pushed slightly to the right of the room on accord of the closet on the left side of the wall, the wooden frame was also dark. The bed decorated with a white duvet cover with a black and white sketch of a bird on a tree, the pillows matches. She had two distinctive covers, that one that was currently on and another that is plum coloured with dark vines on. A black fluffy throw was strewn up at the bottom of the bed along with a matching pillow. The bed was decorated with two patterned pillow – one light blue with a cartoon style skull on and the other a beige map design. Under the bed was her musical equipment, a keyboard, acoustic guitar, violin and a black electric guitar.
Juliet sighed; kicking the door shut and sat on her bed. The boredom that consumed her before her parents returned with Greg had become to consume her again, her body was slightly run down from lack of sleep, she needed to rest. She fell backwards, laying down on her bed, she lifted her hips off the bed and pulled off the shorts she was wearing, chucking them on the floor by the closet. She rolled onto her front, pulling the black throw over her and the matching pillow under her head. Juliet was lying across the bed sideways, not in the traditional style but she didn't care, all she needed was some rest and she preferred to lay comfortably. She shut her eyes tightly and waited for sleep to wash over her, as an aid she thought of only a calm ocean not wanting to get her brain in overdrive again. Within minutes she had fallen asleep, her head filled with different musical compositions as she slept.
Juliet woke to the dark room, she stretched out, pushing away the throw and pillow. She sat up, distinctively remembering the light on when she walked in, John must have checked on her and turned it out, it was a habit he had.
She leapt up off the bed, landing safely on the balls of her feet. Juliet opened the door and began walking down the stairs, her thirst washing over her. The flat was dark and quiet except a small light emulating from the longue and the sounds of feet scuffing against the floor. She listened closer knowing that neither John or Sherlock scuffed their feet, Sherlock especially wouldn't, he walked with elegance and was the only one likely to be awake at this time of night. The sounds of a struggle were also audible, papers falling, grunts and big movements. She frowned as she took the last few stairs "if you two are having sex in the living room again I swear…" she trailed off at the sight of her father fighting off an attacker is a large curved sword. The attacker had Sherlock pushed back in the armchair with his sword at his throat, as he dad tried to push the weapon back.
"Excuse me" she snapped, alerting both men to her presence, they both looked at her. The attacker moved, using the hilt of the sword to hit Sherlock on the side of his face. Sherlock jerked at the contact, the attacker peeling his sword away from him and lifting it over his head, turning ready to attack her. He swiped at her in a downwards movement, she dodged it easily, moving out of the way, the attacker again brought the sword over his head ready to strike again. She spoke calmly "you do not come into my house attempt to kill my father then try to kill me at three o'clock in the morning, have some curtsey."
The attacked cocked his head slightly before stepping forward, before he had time to attack again Juliet jumped up grabbing the doorframe. She swung her body forward lifting her feet up and kicking the attacker in the torso. The man fell backwards, falling on the coffee table, causing the wood to break on impact. The sword fell from his hand as he lost consciousness. "you're welcome" she breathed as she dropped herself from the doorway onto her feet, she crossed the room to Sherlock whose face was bleeding from being hit with the sword.
"Are you ok Dad?" she asked, kneeling in front of him. She brought her hand across the tear in the skin, it was deep but mostly superficial, a few stitches would take care of the wound and leave him without a scar.
"I'm fine" he grumbled "where did you learn to do that?" he asked, his eyes moving to the doorway.
"Saw it on a film somewhere, didn't think it could be done but it seemed to do the job alright." She smiled at him. "I'll restrain him and get the first aid kit."
Juliet moved towards the kitchen, gathering some duck-tape and cable ties from the miscellaneous draw. When she came back into the longue she checked the attacker for any more weapons before using the duck-tape to cover his mouth, then used the cable tied to bind his hands and feet.
She moved the sword onto the mantel piece and grabbed Sherlock's mobile, dialling Greg.
"Sherlock, it's three in the morning" the voice said groggily on the end.
"It's Juliet, there's been a break in at Baker Street. I believe he is the killer you have been looking for." She responded simply.
"Are you alright? Why are you using Sherlock's phone?" he asked, the concern alive in his voice and the sounds of his getting ready to come see her.
"Yeah we're fine, Sherlock has a cut but noting major. I knocked the attacker out, he's unconscious and bound, my phones up stairs" she offered for explanation.
"I'm on my way" he said before she hung up the phone. She turned back to Sherlock who was still sat in the chair, looking annoyed "you're going to need stiches, I could attempt them myself but you will be more likely to get a scar, I'll get dad to do them for you."
"No, there's no need to worry him" Sherlock said, screwing up his face slightly.
Juliet cocked her head to the side "he's going to figure it out when the police arrive, might as well get him to sew your face back together before that."
Sherlock sighed in defeat, Juliet walked out of the room, down the hallway and knocked on the door to her parents room. There were sounds of movements as she opened the door and spoke quietly "Dad…Dad…" she called.
John stirred, rubbing his eyes "what's wrong?" he asked, the tiredness clear in his voice.
"It's dad, that killer you were looking for broke in, he needs some stitches in a cut on his face." She answered.
"What? Are you okay?" he asked frantically, pushing himself out of bed. The covers pooled away from him, revealing his tatty pyjama bottoms and top.
"Yeah I'm fine" he pulled her into a hug, she wrapped her arms around him willingly "the man was trying to kill Dad, I just stopped it, knocked him out."
She pulled away from him and led him into the longue where Sherlock was sat with an annoyed look on his face, they grabbed the first aid box from the bathroom on the way. John rushed over to his side, brushing his fingers over his cheekbone and accessing the wound. "You stupid detective" he spoke more mocking then compassionate. Sherlock let out a small laugh.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring this into our home, not after last time. He came in through the bathroom window and surprised me" Sherlock said quickly.
John hushes him "I know, I know" he swallowed, grabbing some gloves, a sealed needle and the surgical thread. He pulled the gloves on, grabbed an anaesthetic wipe and dabbed at the wound. Sherlock hissed at the contact but suppressed it after a moment.
The sounds of sirens from outside became louder, Juliet gave a small reassuring smile "I'll go let them in" she said, retreating out of the room and down the stairs. She picked the key up from behind the mirror in the hallway and opened the door.
"Greg" she breathed as he pulled her into a hug, she let him, not struggling against the contact.
"Is everything one ok?" he asked, pulling away.
She nodded, allowing him to follow her up the stairs. "Sherlock got wacked with the swords hilt, John stitching up the wound now."
"Are you ok?" he asked as they reached the top of the stairs, she gave him a questioning look.
"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked in response as she led them into the longue.
He sighed "someone was trying to kill your dad, that can be considered as quite traumatic."
She shook it off, walking into the longue, she moved over to her parents. John had just finished with Sherlock's stitches, he stood up ready to discard of the equipment.
Greg looked over the room, the unconscious body of the attacker, the injured Sherlock then to Juliet. He asked "And how did the attacker end up unconscious on a broken table with his hands and feet bound?"
Juliet gave a small cough "well I came downstairs to get a drink, saw Sherlock almost getting his throat cut by our attacker. Confronted him, he then attempted to kill me" she gestured to the line in the wallpaper where the sword had hit the wall "I applied a simple manoeuvre where I used the doorway to swing myself forward, hitting the killer in the torso. He fell backwards through the table, I bound him after checking on Sherlock, I disarmed him also. The sword is on the mantel piece."
"Ok, we we'll process the scene" Greg turned, gesturing to the policeman behind him.
"Juliet, can you come here?" John asked from the kitchen, obediently she moved into the kitchen. John closed the door behind her and looked her up and down. "Your, you are…." He pointed towards the lower part of her body, she followed the direction and blushed at the sight of herself in her underwear. She was thankful that she had picked simple red hipsters.
"in my underwear" she finished.
"Why don't you get a drink, go back to bed, it's late and you have school tomorrow." He said calmly "I'll take care of all this."
She nodded at him "ok, thanks dad" she ducked out the door leading to the hallway, ran up the stair and into her bedroom. Without turning her light on she crawled back into her bed. She closed her eyes hoping that sleep would consume her quickly. It didn't.