Summary: Two of the most brilliant minds from France were invited to London for a science exhibition to show off their greatest goal, teleportation. But the jealousy of a certain person forces Dominique to make the worst decision of her life, destroying her own invention. Though she didn't expect the consequences and for that she might not ever see her fellow human beings again but gain a new life.
Dislcaimer: I do not own the character of The Great Mouse Detective though I do own Dominque LaFleur.
Chapter 1 – This Isn't Child's Play
The rocking of the train kept Dominique from falling asleep. The plain green landscapes of England's countryside weren't exciting enough to keep anyone awake. The constant jerking of the cart kept her alert. Her mismatched eyes wondered around the cart to fall upon her father who was out cold and snoring. Some people had all the luck.
The scenery was finally changing. Small country houses surrounded by huge fields could be seen in the distance. They would be arriving in London very shortly and it was about time. An eight hour train ride wasn't very pleasant and it didn't help that they were on a twelve hour ferry ride over the English Channel.
The bright sun of London woke her up when she finally set foot on solid ground at the train station. There were hundreds of people running around, heading to the carts and waiting for trains to arrive. Dominique's father had already run off to check in their load which was in the last cart.
"Dominique," his voice echoed. "Ici! Over here."
The young lady turned around to see her father waving her over to a coach on the other side of the station. She picked up her parasol and quickly walked over to join him. On her way, her eyes couldn't help but wonder to the sights around her. It actually was her first time in England and everything seemed so different. She figured everything would be written in English and she studied hard to make sure she learned it to perfection.
Professor LaFleur, her father, was in London for the beginning of the 20th century science exhibition. He believed he had created a machine that would change transportation forever. His forty years of experimentations had finally gotten him an invitation to Great Britain and he was quite proud of it. He was also very proud to say that his daughter did help with preparations and some of the engineering.
"Where are we going Papa?" she was practicing her English.
"We are going to an old house of mine," he leaned over and told the caddie the exact address.
His daughter's fair freckled face was practically stuck to the window of the carriage. Her honey and emerald eyes moved from one thing to the next. The Professor could remember when he was that age. It may have been a long time ago but those were the best years of his life. It was when he was going through his science education and when he met his love.
The elderly man was off in his own world when the carriage suddenly thrust to one side. There were dozens of screams coming from all around but the cracking of wood over powered them all. Dominique was slowly being pulled out of the crashed carriage and placed on the walkway. She was so confused about what had just happened only a few moments before.
"Qu'est qui se passé?" she looked around franticly. "What's going on?"
"I don't know," he looked around at the accident.
The professor always thought Londoners were the most crazy and dangerous drivers in all of Europe. Before anyone else knew, the professor, the driver and the other passengers were arguing about whose fault it was. Their voices were even louder than the accident itself and they were causing quite a commotion in the streets.
Dominique slowly stood up once she had collected her thoughts. Her eyes leisurely wondered around the streets and they quickly noticed a black figure fleeing into one of the alleys. No one else seemed to have noticed this so she quickly discarded it and walked over to the coach. She reached into the broken compartment and pulled out her parasol and a small cage that was thankfully unharmed.
Inside the small metal cage was a small furry creature that was no larger than her palm. The little mouse had been her pet for a few years and he was a big part in their science presentation. He was the lucky mouse that was going to be transported from one end of the room to the other in matter of seconds.
"Dominique," he father called. "On va maintenant."
"Oui Papa! I'm coming."
Apparently their temporary residence was not far from their little carriage accident. It was quite comfortable looking even if it was identical to all the others on the street. The family noticed right away that most of London was quite petite or compacted compared to their home back in France. They lived on a farm in the open country but only a ten minute carriage ride to the nearest city.
The professor hung up his cloak and rushed over to his life's work which was placed in the living room. He rapidly ripped off the cloth that was covering it and inspected to see if anything was damaged. The young lady smiled at her father as she made her way up the stairs with her luggage in her hand. She didn't bring much with her, only a few fancy dresses, her lab coat and some necessities.
Dominique smiled as she watched her little pet mouse clean its fur and burrow itself a little bed to sleep in. There were loud clashes coming from down stairs and they were shortly followed by swearing. They seemed to be angrier and louder than usual. She put down her books and quickly made her way back to the living room.
"Is everything alright?" her accent was very thick.
"It was damaged!" he yelled with frustration. "The wiring has been damaged along with a few other things."
"Can you fix it?"
"Oui ma chère."
He immediately pulled out a large metal box that was filled with various tools. His hand reached for the wrench and he began to fix his machine. The brunette was constantly looking over his shoulder and handing him tools. She had to make sure he was doing it right. The work was very hard and it took a lot of energy for such little progress. Once and a while, they would switch and share the repair work.
It was late afternoon when all the maintenance was finally complete. The professor was setting up the generator to test if everything was hooked up properly. It was quite a big machine. There were two stations which the object would go in and hopefully come out. Most of the appearance was wiring and metal tubes but it did look advanced for its time.
"Ready?" the elderly man looked over his shoulder.
"Prêt!"
Dominique walked over to the closest port and placed her little pet mouse down in the center of the panel. The rodent seemed to be quite lost but he stayed in the same place as he looked around. The two scientists stepped back as they slipped on their safety goggles. The young lady did the honours of pulling the lever that would start up the whole experiment.
A wide smile crossed both their faces as they witnessed the mouse disappearing with a flash of light. Their hopes were high as ever until they saw one of the more important plugs begin to spark. After a few moments more than one began to spark. The machine was slowly breaking down. Her father ran up and tried to quickly repair it but it was no use. The young lady screamed as she was blinded by a bright light and a small explosion followed.
Light headedness was over whelming once she opened her eyes. It took a few moments for her to remember what had happened before she blacked out. Before she knew it there was a loud knock on the door and it woke her up. She slowly walked over to the door and opened it but no one was there. Her eyes wondered and she quickly noticed the auburn brick at her doorstep. She picked up the brick and saw a white piece of paper attached to it.
Go home now and your lives will be spared.
Dominique didn't need to be English to know what the note meant and it was written in such familiar writing too. She rushed inside and panic flowed into her body. Her father was no where to be seen. The only thing of his was the white lab and goggles. She walked over to pick up the coat when her eyes came across his clothes as well. Everything he was wearing before was in her hands. None of this was making sense to her; the machine going haywire, the blackout, the note and now her father disappearing. It was all too much.
"Papa," she said to herself. "Qu'est qui se passé?"
A whole day passed before the young brunette could think properly. She had spent most of her time trying to fix the machine for the exhibition and to figure out who could have sent the note. A few of the officials from the exhibition had come by to pick up their entry and bring it the hall. She had decided to accompany them to make sure the machine wouldn't be damage in any way possible.
"Is everything alright Miss?" one of the officials tried to made small talk with her.
"Everything is fine," she looked out the window.
"Where is your father? That is if you don't mind me asking?"
"He is out but he will be there tomorrow."
Their conversation quickly ended and the man pulled out the newspaper from under his arm. Dominique couldn't help but glance over and try to read the parts she could. One of the articles on the front page immediately caught her attention. Holmes Solves Another Disappearance. She grabbed the newspaper and attempted to read the rest of the article.
"Pardon me Miss?" he said rudely.
"Who is this?" she pointed to the picture.
"That man is the very talented detective, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," he said proudly. "He is very well known for solving mysterious cases around London."
"Where can I find him?" she demanded.
It actually wasn't like her to be so rude around men but she was desperate to find help. The man looked outside to figure out where in London he was so he could try to help the young lady. He suddenly turned around and demanded the driver to stop. Dominique looked at him as he pointed out the window to the street to their left.
Only one of the houses on the street seemed to be occupied by a residence and it was the house the young lady was looking for. A lovely lullaby being played on the violin could be heard from outside and it was quite inviting. She collected her thoughts before knocking on the door. The lovely song immediately stopped and a pair of footsteps quickly become lowder. The door slowly opened to reveal a short round man who seemed to be over forty.
"Yes… oh," he was shocked to see the young lady. "May I help you Miss?"
"Is Sherlock Holmes here?" her accent was more noticeable. "I need help."
"Come right in."
The house was quite appealing despite the appearance from the outside. There were many books and decorations that weren't from England. There was a blazing fire in the hearth and two comfortable chairs near by. The man gestured for her to sit down and she gladly did. For some odd reason she already felt safe in the house and a whole lot of stress was lifted from her shoulders.
"Who was it Watson?" a voice from upstairs echoed.
"You'd best come down here and see for yourself."
Dominique looked up when she heard the creaking of the wood. A man in about his thirties dressed in comfortable crimson robes strode down the stairs. He was quite handsome and well groomed. He was obviously of high class and very well educated. The brunette stood up but didn't know what to say and he was clearly waiting for her to explain her situation. Within the silence, he had taken out a wood pipe and began to smoke it. She guessed this man was Sherlock Holmes.
"What seems to be the problem?" he looked at her.
"Mon père," she spoke up. "He has disappeared without a word."
"Your French?" he quickly came to the conclusion.
"Oui?"
"Mmm…" he blew a puff of smoke. "Please sit down and tell me everything… in French."
She immediately began to tell her story. She was quite comfortable talking to him in her own language and he seemed to understand everything perfectly. She couldn't say the same to his partner. It felt great for someone to actually know what she was talking about. After her long story there were a few moments of silent before the man stood up to think. Before she forgot, she pulled out the note and handed it to him.
"What is this?" he looked at the paper. "Where did you get this?"
"It was given to me on a brick." He examined the paper carefully and compared it to another he pulled out of his pocket.
"Watson we have our lead!" he exclaimed.
"Quoi?"
The two men were running around the room preparing to leave. They seemed to know what they were doing and she was quite happy about that. Holmes was just about to open the door to leave when his partner cleared his throat. He turned around and noticed the lady was still standing in their living room.
"Don't worry Miss," he said proudly. "Your father is as good as found."
The door swung open and gunshots immediately began to fire. The two men and the girl fell to the ground for cover. As soon as the last gunshot was heard, both the men were on their feet and heading out the door. Holmes had shouted after the men that were shooting at them. Dominique was left alone with another note written in the same familiar writing.
The end is near.
Her heart raced as she held the note in her palm and ran down the street. She didn't know where to go or who to turn too. So she wondered around the streets in high hopes to find the hall where the exhibition was being held. After a few hours she finally found the hall and it was a great relief.
It didn't take her long to find the area where the officials had put her machine. One look at it and she knew there were a few things she had to fix before everyone came. Her little mouse was in its cage eating away a large piece of cheese she had given him before she dropped him off. Before she could think of anything else she started to repair of few of the plugs as the mouse wondered on the panel.
"Well you are up early," said a familiar voice.
Dominique turned around to see a young, handsome man standing a few feet away from her. It had been a while since she had seen that face and she was quite happy to see it. James Gagnon was an old classmate of hers back when she was at university. They were a couple once but that was before he moved away to excel into the sciences in England.
"I wasn't expecting to see you here," he smiled. "I see you are quite successful."
"Not at the moment," she spoke to him in French. "Things haven't been going well since I've gotten here."
"Having trouble with your experiment," he raised one eyebrow.
"Not just that James," she sighed and put down her tools. "Weird events have been happening to me. I'd rather not talk about it."
She stood up straight and fixed her dress to look a little more proper. For some reason she felt a little awkward around her old friend. It might have been over five years since they had last spoken but it just didn't feel right. She turned around for a few moments to put away the tools she had used when she felt a warm hand on her back. She immediately turned around to face James.
"You have become quite beautiful over the years," he pushed away a few hairs from her face. "Too bad it's going to be wasted."
"What?"
Her thoughts stopped dead when she felt the cold metal of a revolver against her temple. Her eyes widened as the gun came into her view. Now the notes made sense. He was the one who had written them but why? Why would he want her father and her dead? It just didn't make sense unless…
"You looked puzzled," he pushed her into the machine. "Is everything going a little too fast for you? For someone who claims to be very smart you sure are pretty slow."
"Why are you doing this?" her hands were trembling.
"Isn't it obvious?" he looked into her eyes. "For too long you have stolen the lime light from me and my father. But tomorrow, I shall be the one being glorified for creating teleportation." He laughed. "And no one will be there to stop me."
He was just about to pull the trigger when Dominique turned on the machine behind her. The mouse on the panel suddenly disappeared and the machine began to break apart like the day before. Sparks began to fly out of the plugs and she braced herself for the explosion that followed. She could feel the heat on her back and it was burning. Suddenly her body was thrust forward and she was knocked out.
Once again she woke up overwhelmed. It was a feeling that she could never get used to. Her eyes took a little while to focus on the area around her. She rubbed her eyes harder when she saw her machine in front of her but a hundred times bigger. Her head wiped around and she noticed that everything was much bigger. Her eyes caught sight of a piece of glass nearby and she reached to grab it. Her heart stopped when she looked into the glass. She wasn't looking at her beautiful youthful face but a face of a mouse.