Warning: Mild references to verbal abuse, drug use, and attempted suicide.
The Brothers Holmes
This is the tale of three brothers. The Brothers Holmes. The first brother lives a quiet gentleman's life out in the Sussex countryside. The second brother lives a shadowy life in government. The third brother lives an exciting and dangerous life pursuing those in the criminal world.
Once upon a time, they were close. Very close considering the age difference between them. There were actually many differences between the three, and some very obvious similarities. The biggest difference was in personality, the most obvious similarity was intelligence. All three boys were in fact brilliant, a bit arrogant, and slightly impatient with others not as brilliant, which included basically everyone else, as well as their father. But I am getting ahead of myself.
Siger Holmes married Violet Sherrinford in May of 1966, after a long courtship which consisted predominately of Siger's attempts to wear Violet down to the point when she finally agreed to become his wife. Violet was an independent sort of woman, even for the sixties. Extremely strong willed, breath-takingly beautiful and fiercely passionate, she was also a well-known concert violinist. However, she was first and foremost, a practical woman and knew that marrying Siger Holmes as a good plan. He was settled, from a family of landed gentry, and he was fairly good looking, despite a slightly receding hairline. Quite frankly, he was besotted with her. He was also very determined to win her, so she let him.
Life with Siger in the Sussex countryside was a bit dull, but Violet continued her concert touring until April of 1967. Six months later, in October she gave birth to their first child, Sherrinford, who was named for her family because Siger liked the way it sounded and didn't mind the brownie points it scored with his father in law. In June of 1971 their second child, Mycroft, was born. Siger was pleased that he had his heir and spare, and that both boys resembled him greatly, with the Holmes nose and height. Not that he was concerned that Violet may have been unfaithful, that would be absurd, but rather that men should not be too pretty, as in his opinion, it didn't tend to go well for those that were.
Life continued on apace for several years. Violet was a devoted mother, much to the surprise of those people who did not really know her. With her beauty and intelligence, she had a way of appearing stand-offish. Life with Siger had accustomed her to dealing with people with great patience and tact. Siger was sometimes a difficult man. He was prone to outbursts of anger and he disliked immensely when someone didn't agree with him. These outbursts were not pleasant, but they were never physical, merely verbal. In short, he liked to get his way with things and look out if he didn't. This could be arduous on the boys, so Violet did her best to head off difficulties. Her sons were aware of the occurrences when she interceded with Siger on their behalf and they loved their "Mummy" dearly.
Sherringford, the family called him Sherry for short, was a good natured, happy boy, content to be raised to take over the family estate one day. If he had one strike against him, it was that he was a bit shy and timid and would go to great lengths to avoid conflict of any kind. He never stood up to his father. Ever. Siger was very fond of Sherrinford.
Mycroft, whom the family called My for short, was not quite as good natured as Sherry. But he was respectful of his father, directly anyway. Mycroft did not have a problem sharing his occasional irritations with Sherry or Mummy. Mycroft also did not openly oppose Siger, but he was known to anticipate possible issues before they became issues and was usually able to manipulate the way things preceded with the culmination conflict free. Siger respected and rather liked Mycroft.
Such was life in the Holmes family, until January 6, 1978, when Violet gave birth to a third, unplanned son, whom she named Sherlock, and the family called Sherly for years. Siger was not particularly happy about the event, as he felt that with the two boys now of an age to go away to boarding school, he would have Violet back all to himself. If he hadn't known better, he might have thought that Violet had gotten with child on purpose. But these things did happen, so he tried to make the best of it.
Violet had, of course, gotten with child on purpose. Sherrinford and Mycroft were her darling boys, but sometimes she felt that they were more Siger's than hers. Sherlock was going to be her very own sweeting. From the time he was born, Sherlock was different from the older boys. He resembled Violet physically very much: pale skin, dark curls, light green-blue-grey eyes and was as everyone said, an exceptionally beautiful child. He also resembled Violet in personality: strong willed to the extreme, and fiercely passionate about the many different areas of interest that stimulated his intellect. His two brothers doted on him, which Violet ensured by continually reminding them of their responsibility to watch over their baby brother, to protect him and keep him safe. Violet adored her youngest son. Siger tolerated him. Barely.
When he was three years old, Violet introduced the violin to him and within five years, he was nearly as fine a violinist as she was. Sherlock was very intelligent and did not have a problem letting everyone know that he was, but he was also a quiet boy, one who could be very sweet and thoughtful of others. Violet was very proud of Sherlock. Siger, not so much, but he treaded softly on the subject of Sherlock, so as not to upset Violet. It didn't help that Sherlock would defy Siger if he felt it was necessary and his mouth would often get him into trouble. Siger didn't like that about Sherlock one bit. Heads were butted numerous times in the years that Sherlock lived in the family home. But Siger knew he would be right in the end. In his mind, Sherlock would come to a bad ending, with his pretty looks and disrespectful mouth.
In 1986, when Sherlock was eight years old, he was already known in the music world as a violin prodigy. Violet had dreams of going on concert tours with Sherlock, but Siger refused to allow it. He wanted Sherlock to go off to boarding school, but Violet could not yet bear to be parted from him, so he remained at home, going to a local day school, for several more years. When Sherlock wasn't playing his music, he was endlessly fascinated with the world around him and had to know how everything worked. Also at this age, Sherlock began conducting experiments, most often with chemical agents. This alarmed Violet as she was concerned that he would get hurt, but in this one thing Siger indulged Sherlock, as he thought this was a more 'manly' pursuit for his young son. He even went so far as to make over one of the outbuildings into a very nice lab for Sherlock. The plus for him was Sherlock was then out from under foot and he could have some time alone with his lovely wife.
Mycroft and Sherrinford had been away to boarding school, first at Brambletye, then Harrow School, for years now and only came home on the holidays and between terms. Sherrinford, doing well in Upper Sixth Form, was preparing to enter Cambridge in the fall, reading philosophy and art history. Mycroft was also doing very well in his studies, especially in the subjects of government and politics, economics and business studies. At the age of 15, he had decided that once he was out of Uni, he would be going into government work. In fact, he already had a mentor. Violet's younger brother, Richard, who held a powerful position in the government, was grooming Mycroft to be his replacement when he retired in 15 to 20 years. Siger was very pleased.
Several more years passed. By 1991, Sherry was finished at Cambridge and was away touring Europe, where Violet held out hopes that he would meet some lovely young woman he wished to marry. She was so looking forward to being a grandmother…a very youngish looking and beautiful grandmother of course. Mycroft was now at Cambridge and doing exceptionally well. On holidays and between terms, he no longer came back home, except briefly, but stayed in London with his uncle doing no one really knew what, but it suited him and he was very happy.
Sherlock, well, Sherlock was finally away at boarding school, commencing with Harrow at 13, having skipped Brambeletye altogether, and quite frankly, not doing well at all. Violet was forced to admit that perhaps she had made a mistake in keeping Sherlock home with her. Siger enjoyed agreeing with her.
It was the first time Sherlock had been away from home for any length of time and he did not have the prepared background that most of his fellow students had. He didn't know anyone, he missed his home, his lab and though he wouldn't admit it, his parents. He was socially awkward, much more intelligent than his peers, not to mention his instructors, and had a bit of a temper, the one thing he inherited from his father. The other boys tended to bully him, in a crowd of course, and they always seemed to get the best of his temper, so he would be the one who threw the first punch, which naturally had him spending a great deal of time with the House Master.
About this time, when Sherlock was being bullied between the ages of 13 and 14, Siger decided that he should teach Sherlock how to be a man! If he was going to get into fights, a man should know how to defend himself, and how to get the upper hand, so the other guy would fare worse in the end. That winter, Siger had one of the rooms in the east wing cleared out and fitted up for boxing. He, himself, gave Sherlock the boxing lessons for several years, whenever he was home between terms and holidays, until at age 16, Sherlock exceeded Siger's skill and then they hired a trainer for him. At this time, Sherlock additionally took up fencing lessons, which Siger was pleased to see that he also excelled at. But boxing remained the one thing which bonded Siger and Sherlock together with each other. Siger surprised himself by being very proud of his extremely athletic youngest son. Violet worried that Sherlock's handsome features would get scarred and damaged, which they did somewhat, but strangely, it never took away from his looks.
Through the years, Sherry and Mycroft continued to look after and tended to be protective of their younger brother. Mycroft in particular took his duties as older brother extremely seriously. So much so that Sherlock began to feel a bit smothered sometimes. Mycroft always wanted to know where Sherlock was, where he was going, who he was going with, when would he return, etc. This only got worse when Sherlock was at Cambridge and for some reason known only to Mycroft and Uncle Richard, Mycroft seemed to have a lot of time on his hands and would come to "check up on Sherly" three to four times a month and stay for days. Sherlock was perceptive enough to realize that checking on up him was just a cover for something else Mycroft was involved in, but it didn't stop Mycroft from interrogating every move Sherlock made. It also didn't help that around that time, it was the late nineties, Sherlock began experimenting with drugs and it irritated him to have to hide it from Mycroft, who would not approve.
Straight-laced big brother was getting to be a drag. It was always easier talking about his issues regarding Mycroft with Sherrinford, who didn't have a problem with Sherlock doing a little bit of experimenting, as he had done so himself when he had been at Uni. Provided that Sherlock never told their parents about either of their little experiments. Sherrinford preferred for his parents to think he was still the well behaved son, which really he was. Now home from Europe, married to a lovely, if a bit dull girl, Justine, and soon to be a father himself, Sherry didn't want to rock the Siger boat.
Of course, Mycroft found out about the drugs. It was inevitable really. Sherlock was not the only brother who could read a person's life by looking at them. Mycroft also had an enhanced ability to do so, and like Sherlock, he had developed it. Not to the extent that Sherlock went to, but more than enough to, shall we say, assist him in his chosen career. He was in Cambridge one night, when Sherlock for reasons known only to him, but which Mycroft suspected had to do with a certain girl, 'miscalculated' the dosage of his current 'experiment' and Mycroft had to take him to hospital. That was an ordeal. The cover up alone required many called in 'favors', and left Mycroft devastated with the near loss of his beloved younger brother. From that time forward, Mycroft dreaded what he came to call "Danger Nights", the times when Sherlock was emotionally fragile and needed protection from himself.
Sherlock was both grateful and resentful of Mycroft 'saving' him. Mycroft's sense of responsibility to watch over Sherlock became intense, and yet he was often hurt by Sherlock's rejection of his help. Thus began the truly complicated adult relationship between the brothers. By this point, Sherrinford was wrapped up in his little family and his country life, so neither Mycroft nor Sherlock informed him of what had happened, and in the way life tends to move on, the three brothers began to live very different and separate lives.
By 2005, Mycroft was very much established in his government 'accounting' position. Sherrinford was father to three children, and the editor/publisher of a well-respected philosophy periodical. Sherlock was establishing a name for himself as a "consulting detective", a career he invented for himself, to utilize all of his specialized skills. It was slow going at first. He was forced to take small lodgings in a flat on Montague Street, and ate more cans of beans than he would like to admit, waiting for his first big case. Many times he despaired of keeping afloat. Siger refused to support what he considered a ridiculous waste of time, his view of it not as a career, but as a selfish indulgence on Sherlock's part. He wanted Sherlock to become a scientist or something useful. Needless to say, this did not inform well on their already cool relationship.
But it wasn't until June of 2007, that things came to a head. Violet had taken to her bed with a serious depression. The reason for the depression was not talked about within the family, but Sherlock had a suspicion that Mycroft knew something that he did not. And Mycroft wasn't talking. Naturally, Sherlock began investigating certain angles and discovered that his father, the man who had always been so utterly devoted to his wife, had been having an on-going affair with a much younger woman for years. Violet was devastated when she learned of the affair.
Sherlock was angry. At Siger for hurting his mother so deeply, at Violet for continuing to 'care about' and 'love' Siger to the point that it broke her heart, but mostly at Mycroft, who not only knew about the affair, but had assisted his father with some of the arrangements. Sherlock turned a deaf ear to Mycroft's justifications for his actions: that he had tried to reason with Siger, but as there was no reasoning with him, he had decided in the end to help him in the hope that Mummy would not have to know about any of it. Good old Mycroft, attempting to manipulate the situation in hopes of forestalling disaster.
In time, Sherlock's anger with Mycroft faded a bit, but he never forgave his father. Nor could he understand his mother's not only forgiving Siger, but continuing to love him after what he had done. Obviously, Sherlock determined, caring and loving were not advantages. Which only supported his long held view that emotions were unnecessary and a distraction from the important matters of life. It was in fact a huge blow to Sherlock's ability to trust others.
I would like to write that they all lived happily ever after and rode off into the sunset and danced on silvery clouds, but as you already know, that just doesn't happen in the real world. Nor does it in this alternative one.
When Siger died in the fall of 2009, Sherlock did not attend the funeral. It was not until months later that he learned of the stipulation Siger had amended to his will, holding Sherlock's part of the inheritance in a trust to be administered by Mycroft. But that is a story in itself.
The End
A/N: This story is based in part on the comments between Mark Gatiss and Benedict Cumberbatch during commentary for "The Great Game" on the S1 DVD. I found the idea of Mycroft and Sherlock falling out over their father's affair to be intriguing and my twisted little mind took over from there.
Sherrinford was actually the name that ACD gave to his detective character, before he changed it to Sherlock (and aren't we all glad he did). Sherrinford is not a canon character, he is also not my creation. He shows up from time to time in post ACD works. Rather like Nero Wolfe being the son of Holmes and Irene Adler. The story was not meant to be taken as gospel, it was rather meant to be tongue in cheek.
In addition, some of this back story, notably the existence of 'Sherrinford' and the names of Sherlock's parents, are based on the very interesting and often humorous, tongue in cheek biography of ACD's Holmes, Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street: A Life of the World's First Consulting Detective by William S. Baring Gould, one of many Sherlockian/Holmesian scholars who have contributed to the continuing evolvement of the Sherlock Holmes character.