CHAPTER 1
The air was still. Frozen in its silence as the heavy-duty windows held the outside world at bay, yet she could just make out the ever present honks and squeal of tires on tar. The soft glow of the headlights winked as the cars shot past. It was almost peaceful and she knew that if things had gone according to plan it would have been a pleasant night.
Cold maybe, but definitely pleasant.
Only the drip drop of Jack O'Neill's blood as it hit the freshly swept floor of the now abandoned café could be heard. His limp arm spread across the counter had scattered the sugar from its shaker jar and the cash register appeared to have been sprayed with the contents of his head.
Clara sighed before slipping behind the dead man and helping herself to the coffee machine. She felt like she deserved the caffeine after successfully ushering out the screaming customers and horrified staff. And couldn't be a coincidence that she was meant to be meeting this very man for a dinner, no it had to be some roll of chance that she had gotten lost and took longer then she had anticipated to find her way through London's crowded streets and many night goers.
Why was he dead? Who benefitted from this?
If only she had gotten here sooner and spotted who was responsible.
When she had pulled up her rental car in the back car park people were already sprinting of into every direction, mobile phones pressed against ears, cars shooting away. She must have been the only person to walk towards the scene.
Scotland yard was going to have a field day.
Pushing the coffee grinds carefully into the grinder Clara looked up to watch two men stroll briskly across the street towards the café. In the distance a siren was singing, she had roughly five minutes till the police arrived to clear out the crime scene and then she would have to be scarce.
To her surprise the two men pushed open the door, (ignoring her tactfully flipped closed sign) to stop and stare at the overall mess.
The taller of the two stood straight, his dark hair matted against his scalp by the rain and gave her a quick once over before dismissing her presence entirely to focus on the crime scene.
"What are you doing here?"
Clara looked up from the coffee machine to shorter man. He was standing leaning on one leg, hands deep in his pockets he watched her pour out the right amount of milk into a jug with a look of utter confusion.
Clara smiled to herself before pulling out an extra cup.
"Making a coffee, would you like one?" She asked politely, she had four minutes till the police arrived.
"Oh… I meant." He started.
"John she quite obviously is not with the police as the car outside is a rental and must belong to her as every other vehicle in about a 10 mile radius is heading out of town due to the shooting, and seeing as she does not work as a barrister or at this café judging by her clothes and over all general appearance she is therefore either the killer or a civilian. And no, I do not believe she is the murderer. Does that satisfy your curiosity and I'll take it black with two sugars." The dark haired man answered quickly all in one breath giving the man now known to be John a 'don't be stupid' look.
Clara blinked. For some reason he sounded familiar. Pouring the two cups of coffee she gently scooped two teaspoons of sugar into one and stirred before carrying it over to the taller man. He nodded absently towards her general direction before cradling it in the palms of his hands as he rotated around the room.
"Umm no thanks, but if you don't mind me asking who are you and why didn't you run away like every one else? I mean no offence but making a coffee after someone was murdered is not exactly the norm". John said before stepping over to examine the body.
Clara took a sip of her drink before perching on a stool to watch.
"I could ask you the same question, except minus the coffee part." She pointed out, scrunching up her forehead as she thought.
She watched as the taller man jumped from where he was standing on a chair and began examining the dead body wit a sort of barely controlled excitement. Clara's frown deepened as she watched. Who was he and why did he feel familiar? She had definitely seen him around before, maybe a long time ago as although his face was not familiar, his tone of voice and the way he carried himself was something she had seen before. She knew him or at least had known him at some point in time.
The man in question obviously was under a similar conundrum as he continued to glance curiously up in her direction, an equally puzzled expression flicking across his face.
John nodded and stood up straight offering his hand.
"I guess that's fair, I'm John Watson. A doctor, well ex-doctor. And he is… well you can introduce your self I don't have to do everything for you Sherlock!" He finished glaring angrily at his partner.
The man or Sherlock rolled his eyes before picking himself up from the floor and dusting himself of.
"I don't need your help John and I think I'm correct in assuming that I can function quite happily without your input. I…"
The crash of Clara's cup against the tilled floor jolted him out of his tirade and Sherlock looked up in time to catch a look of pure shock cross the woman's face. He watched mesmerised as each emotion was steam rolled by the next: surprise, disbelief, confusion, joy, uncertainty and sadness. Her cheeks blushed, matching her auburn hair as she came to realise that she was staring.
Crossing the room he held out his hand, a fake smile plastered across his jaw as he watched her play absently with the chain around her neck.
"Sherlock Holmes. How do I know you?" He asked simply taking her limp hand before stepping away beginning to evaluate her.
She was twenty-five years of age; clearly still grieving over someone probably a boyfriend. Ex-military maybe judging by the defensive position she had sub consciously taken in reply to her shock although more likely was an ex-police officer going by her age yet why she no longer continued with her occupation was unknown. She was fit and her pale skin and clear accent told him that she was British yet had probably spent a lot of her time recently in France. And she was clever, at least judging by the normal standards. Apart from that he couldn't tell. This annoyed him.
All this he had taken in from when he had walked through the door, now he stood gazing at her attire, marvelling at the contradictions. Who was she?
Clara felt her blush deepen under his intense stare and forced herself to drag her eyes away from his, she shakily sipped at her coffee.
"Clara, Clara Whitten." She said watching in amusement as his body went slack and he stared at her in amazement before his face went blank.
It had been a long time, 15 years to be exact. And she didn't know how she was supposed to react. Hey, long time no see, what have you been doing these past years? I'm currently unemployed and struggling with a bounty on my head, you know the usual. When did you get attractive?
Each thought swirled around in a tangled mess and Clara bit her lip sharply to keep them from spilling out. Sherlock stood bolted to the floor his eyes filled with a multitude of questions before settling on one.
Reaching out with one slender, pale finger he slipped the silver chain from underneath its restraints. The pendant swung happily to be free, shining in the artificial light.
He let out a short intake of breath.
"How do you two know each other?" John said his eyes darting from Sherlock' focused stare to the woman who was now picking up the shards of glass. He watched in surprise as the all so mighty detective crouched to knock her hands out of the way and scope up the pieces his eyes never leaving her face.
The sound of the police siren echoed from outside and Clara shook her head gently before walking towards the back door. Trying the handle she sighed as she realised it was most definitely locked.
"Where are you going?" John asked. The two men watched as she crossed the room and opened one of the windows that led to a side street.
Clara pulled herself up onto the table, zipping up her jacket in preparation for the cold. Turning to face the two men she gave a little shrug.
"I'm currently not on the best terms with the police and I'm expected elsewhere." She answered pulling one leg over the windowsill, making sure to judge the distance to the ground. She could make it.
"Where?" Sherlock asked, his deep voice startling her.
"Somewhere." She answer cheekily. "I've had someone following me for the past week, I think it's time to say hello."
Clara couldn't help herself as she sent him a wink. Swinging her other leg in one fluid motion she fell gracefully onto the pathway before slipping into a jog. The cool nights air greeting her instantly as her feet pounded the pavement. She couldn't help but wonder if she would see him again. Flicking her hood up she let the rain cool her burning face.
Back in the café Sherlock and John watched the rain enter the now open window and pool on the ground. The tinkle of the bell attached to the door pulled them out of their trance.
"Oh look the freak and his pet beat us, wonder if they did it. I wouldn't be surprised." Sally Donovan called eyeing the two up and down before calling over her shoulder.
Lestrade rolled his eyes before pushing past to stand in front of the crime scene.
"So what do you think happened?" He asked, looking hopefully at the detective.
John turned towards the inspector and nodded a greeting waiting for Sherlock to begin his analysis. Sherlock however stared fixedly at his hands. The pieces of broken glass still cupped protectively between his fingers.
So there we are, chapter one is complete and already i would love to know what you think. In this story i'm going to try my absolute hardest to stick to the true character of Sherlock. So far i've found that the majority of OC/Sherlock stories follow along the lines of 'Hello, let's have sex', which although can be fun ;) they often don't follow the character of Sherlock or the exciting mysteries that we fellow fans adore. I'm going to try to keep this up and would LOVE to hear advise, hell even constructive criticism would be AMAZING!
PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!
Have fun!