Disclaimer: The characters certainly don't belong to me, for the 21rst century I'm part of it. It's completely AU.
Rating :PG this part.
Pairing and characters : Lestrade; Mycroft; Sherlock
Thank you my dear fengirls88 for the awesomeness of betaing part is my Christmas present for her Love you Honey.
Ghost of Christmases Past
The first time Christmas had been like a real Christmas for him was when he was seven.
His mother had taken him to London with her on December 23rd, by the ten o'clock train. They had gone to Knightsbridge in the afternoon, around three thirty and Gabriel had been struck with admiration in front of Harrods's window decorations.
There were the most extraordinary toys he had ever seen; each window had been decorated with a special theme, and toys and stuffed animals had been on major display in most of them.
The young boy did not believe in Santa Claus, he was seven after all. He had regretted it and had wanted to believe in Santa Claus. Maybe one more year? Why not?
He had asked his mother to wait for her in the street, while looking at the windows while she did what she came to do. Mrs Lestrade was a sweet and caring mother, but she had hesitated before giving her approval; she was concerned about her boy's safety.
"All right Gabriel, but you must be very careful, don't talk to strangers, don't follow anybody, and we'll meet in front of door number 5, in an hour. Do you understand?"
"Yes Mummy," said the boy happily; he shook his wrist showing her the heavy watch on it. "In an hour, I promise, I'll be careful Mummy."
The young boy stood in front of the windows, just glancing distractedly at the more magnificent ones, that didn't fit his tastes. Beautiful dresses, wonderful evening gown and lavish sets.
But when he had reached the corner of the street again, his eyes had lit up. Those windows there were clearly for the children.
One of them was so futurist, a bright white space rocket, an astronaut planting the American flag in the soil. The Apollo 11 moon landing had happened the previous summer.
Gabriel had not be able to watch it, he was with his grandparents, and they didn't have a telly. But he had spent the end of the summer dreaming about stars, and the Moon, and travelling in a spaceship. And had dreamt of those lucky men who had been travelling in the stars.
He had stayed a long time in front of the window, admiring the rocket, the astronaut, the LM...
And then he went to look at the other displays. The following one showed an African scene with a lot of animals, lions and monkeys, gorillas and Tarzan in the trees.
He walked slowly and arrived at the end of the way. The store occupied the whole block, and in the back street there was another entrance.
More private. There were two men wearing green winter coats and matching caps, who were opening the car doors or helping the chauffeurs to pack the bags and the shopping boxes in the cars.
Gabriel stayed a while looking the little dance between the men and the cars, stopping here and leaving again.
A superb dark grey car had stopped, Gabriel could see the small silver statue on the hood. The car was so beautiful, breathtaking, and the young boy fell in love with it in a second.
One of the men came to open the car door, an elegant black boot appeared slowly. The woman who climbed out was very pretty, and Gabriel thought for an instant that she was an angel.
A dark haired angel, tightly wrapped in a long white pelisse, which covered everything but the black boots. A child followed her out of the car. He was as blond as she was dark haired. His round boyish face was delicate and so pale. His haircut left his neck bare, and the helmet of straight blonde hair had been cut just above his ears.
He looked so composed, so serious. Calm and thoughtful. He was wearing a light blue coat and Gabe could see the grey legs of his trousers beneath it, encasing the thin legs.
Gabriel saw the boy turn his face toward him and in a split second he had a strange feeling. As if the boy knew everything about him. The light haired boy tipped his head slightly on one side, then turned his eyes on his mother again; he took her hand, and they disappeared in the store.
Gabriel felt stupid suddenly. He looked at himself in one of the windows, and saw a young boy in jeans, in a multicolored jacket, a knitted hat covering his dark curls. He saw his face, a white oval shape, with two brown holes for the eyes. He felt bad. This place was not for him.
The young boy who was barely four, him, he fitted in here perfectly.
"Gaby!"
He ground his teeth, he hated when his mother called him Gaby. But he turned around and headed for his mother. A last glance at the street. The beautiful car was not here anymore.
The following year, unconsciously, Gabriel had waited impatiently for the trip to London, wondering whether he hoped to see the car again? Or the young boy? He didn't know, but he was looking forward to going back there. Round the back of the big store. And waiting for the pretty woman and the child.
Only eight years old boys think they can influence life by making a wish. But wishing or no wishing, Gabriel hadn't seen the Rolls Royce or its passengers, that year.
He had stood in the street during the hour and half allowed by his mother. Not even glancing at the big windows. And when his mother had called him, he had almost cried.
It was December 22nd.
The Christmases for his ninth and tenth years, he had been lucky enough to come back to London on December 23rd, even luckier to be able to come back to Knightsbridge in the afternoon. Around three o'clock.
Gabriel had thought about it for a year, why he had missed the car. He had concluded the date was wrong. The first encounter had been on December 23rd, he had had to persuade his mother to postpone the trip for a day or two. But he had be right. The date had be important.
Because the Car came back.
Rolls Royce, his cousin George had told him. The silver statue left no doubt he said.
He saw the beautiful woman, whose hairstyle had changed, she wore it long and wavy. Under the snowfall, he had seen her laughing. Both times. She threw back her face and tried to snatch snowflakes, all that to make the boy smile.
The little boy had grown up. He had not changed much. Same haircut, a darker blonde. He was always very elegant. The coats roughly similar from year to year. He was still so serious, but had smiled at his mother's childish antics.
The couple were quite touching. The mother so lighthearted and the child so calm.
Both times, Gabriel had met the boy's gaze. The first year when he had seen him, the child had tipped his head on one side, same gesture as their first encounter. And then had turned his head toward his mother very slowly. But had glanced at Gabe over his shoulder, before entering the store.
The second year, when he had seen Gabriel, he had given a ghostly smile. More a slight pull of his lip, than a smile. He hadn't done anything else. Not even acknowledged Gabe's presence with a nod. But had glanced at him over his shoulder again.
Gabriel had kept his secret rendez-vous in a corner of his head. By chance his parents had moved to London, his father had had a promotion. The good part for the young lad, was that he was old enough to get permission to take the tube alone and go gallivanting in the big city.
So, the Christmas of his eleventh year, he had been able to come and stay in front of Harrods for four afternoons. Even if the 23rd was the right day, he had decided to come just in case...
His impatience had grown during those three days with no sign of the car or its passengers.
On December 23rd, finally, the Rolls Royce had come. And Gabriel had seen the woman. She wore a long leather coat, her hair was shorter again. She had looked tired. She hadn't laughed this year. It hadn't snowed either.
To Gabriel's great surprise, a man had followed her out of the car this year. He was very tall. His coat hadn't been able to conceal the fact that the man was so thin. He had black curly hair. A piercing grey gaze had grazed the young boy for just a second. Gabriel had had the same sensation as three years earlier when he had met the young boy's blue gaze for the first time. The unsettling feeling that the man knew all about him.
The man had put his hand around her shoulder and they had waited a few seconds. The young boy climbed out of the car, Instinctively he had looked for Gabriel and when he had found him, his eyes lit up.
He had grown up. A lot. His coat was not light blue any more, but navy blue now. The trousers were still grey .
Gabe had smiled at him and had seen the boy shake his head slightly. The small group went to one of the men who had opened the door. As usual, the young boy glanced over his shoulder, to Gabriel.
This year Gabriel had time. As soon as the family had disappeared into the store, he had run to the closest door and had entered the big store. He had tried to reach the private entrance. The huge crowd startled him, he hadn't thought about that. He had come a lot of times this past year, he just wanted to know the store by heart to be able to find the young boy easily when he came back for Christmas. And the plan was good, he was could find his way around the store with his eyes shut. But he hadn't bargained for the heavy crowd.
He had a glimpse of the grey coat and the dark curls, and had followed it through the labyrinth of the different floors and shops. He had been surprised to find himself in the toy department, and yet, this should have been obvious.
He had seen the young boy glancing at the displays without interest. The adults had led the way to the educational side of the floor. They had inspected several toys and games.
All of them very boring in Gabriel's mind. He had thought he was three or four years older than the boy, yet he had found all of this very serious. Anyway the young boy had looked happy to be able to choose between those games and toys.
When they had moved to another part of the floor, Gabriel had been able to check what exactly had pleased the mysterious boy. Chemistry set, microscope, detailed and very complex celestial or astronomical map, a telescope, scientific books. None of the toys ( could he still call those things toys?) had been adapted for children under fourteen years old. At least. Gabriel himself had been lost, and hadn't understood anything.
He had looked toward the small family again and had seen the blue gaze on him. The boy shook his head with a small grin.
This was the first smile in four years . And for Gabriel, this smile was a real treasure. He had given a smile of his own, and had rolled his eyes.
The child made a small gesture with his hand and turned back to his parents. And then they took the lift and disappeared again.
The following year Gabriel had missed the rendez-vous.
The snow had fallen and the young blond haired boy, had been disappointed when he had not seen his mysterious friend outside of the store. A greater disappointment because he had decided to speak to him. Had decided to introduce himself.
Gabriel had hesitated about going to Harrods. He was thirteen. Almost too old to dream in front of the magnificent windows of the big store. And stuck with his so-called friends. He had persuaded several of them to come along for his annual rendez-vous. He hadn't been very comfortable. In six years, it had been the first time he had not come alone.
The teenagers had looked at the windows, they had laughed and had acted like all the teens in the world, a bit stupid, a bit impertinent.
Gabriel had been very proud of his leather jacket, inherited from cousin George, he had gelled his rebellious curls and struck an attitude. Had played the " grown up" His heart had beaten wildly in his chest when he had seen the arrival of the Rolls Royce. He hadn't believed it would come.
The pretty woman climbed out of the large car, she was blonde that year and she was radiant. A heavy red coat was wrapped around her like a large blanket.
The young boy climbed down after her. He was taller. Less blond from year to year. Hair parted at the side, but still a short haircut. No coat this year. A leather jacket, mid thigh length. Light brown. Leather gloves. Blue jeans.
He turned back into the car and rummaged inside. The chauffeur climbed out too. That was a first. And then occupied himself at the back of the car. The pretty woman waited patiently.
The young boy stepped back slowly. Something carefully balanced in his arms. When he turned and met Gabriel's gaze, and Gabe had been rooted to the spot. The small bundle in the boy's arms was a baby. Three or four months old maybe. Black curls under the rim of the small white hat. And the baby gave the impression of observing everything around him.
The boy smiled hesitantly. And straightened up, holding his brother proudly in his arms. Gabriel smiled back and raised his eyebrows.
The baby changed hands, and was put in a baby carriage, the beautiful woman and the baby walked toward the entrance of the store. Followed by the young boy. He sent an uncertain glance at Gabriel.
But Gabriel had shaken his head slightly. Not this year. He wouldn't go back into the store.
None of the boys was there the following year. Gabriel had been hanging around with his "friends". At fourteen years old, he had begun to turn bad. He had begun to smoke, had been flirting with delinquency. Had been with girls.
Hadn't found a lot of interest in girls in fact.
The young blond boy had been sent to a prestigious school that insisted on releasing the pupils only on the ultimate day before the holidays. But he had been so happy to be there. In a place where his mind had been carefully cultivated. He had been able to study as much as he had wanted, and the twenty third of December he had had a fleeting thought for his mysterious friend, but had dismissed the idea quite easily.
Gabriel had known that the boy would never come any more when he had seen the beautiful woman with another car. Smaller than the Rolls, a sleek jaguar. She had unfastened the seat belt of the child seat. And the toddler had climbed out of the car.
He was around three years old and seemed to have a determined temper.
His mother was very amused by the child's attitude. Arms crossed on his chest and a pout on his face.
"I don't want to go there Mummy. I'm not a baby and Christmas is boring!" shouted the little boy, shaking his dark curls and stomping his foot on the pavement.
The dark grey coat almost reached his ankles.
Gabriel smiled, this boy would be a real pleasure for his family, he was sure of that. And with a pang of regret he realised that in the nine years, he had never heard the blond boy's voice.
He shook his head and thought it was the end of his childhood. He should grow up now.
End part 1