Chapter 1: Detective and Doctor meet Cat
One month before the return of Moriarty
It was just a normal sunny day at 221B. John was writing his blog, Mrs. Hudson was making the two men tea while telling them that she's not their housekeeper, and Sherlock was shooting the wall once again out of boredom. There were no good cases in sight at the moment and John refused to let him perform any experiments in the kitchen for fear of another explosion. Sherlock heard his phone ping from the desk next to John.
"Take a look at that for me,"Sherlock said to the doctor, who rolled his eyes and took a look at the phone. Bang went the gun. The device pinged again. "They're desperate." Bang. "Maybe it's a murder."
"It's Greg," John informed as Mrs. Hudson brought the two gentlemen their teas.
"Obviously." Bang. The phone pinged again.
"Apparently he found a girl in an alley."
"Boring unless she was murdered." Bang.
"She was found staring at a broken mirror."
"Dull." Bang.
"She is having troubles walking. It is as if she'd never walked on two feet before."
"Unexciting." Bang.
"She behaves very cat like."
"Bland." Bang. Another ping was heard.
"Her name is…several different ones?" Sherlock lowered the gun and turned to John with a questioning look. "I'm just reading what is being sent," John said with a shrug. Another ping. John reads what it says. "Leotie, Snow-drift, Minnie, Clementine, Princess Fluffy, Shadow, Tree Climber, and Mavis. And none of them are nicknames either."
"This child just has a great imagination that will fade away once she reaches her teenage years," Sherlock said, raising the gun again. Ping. "Her real name is Leotie." Bang.
"Sherlock, she looks like she's in her twenties," John said, holding up the phone, a picture of Leotie's human form standing being shown. Sherlock barely glances at the picture.
"She must be mentally unstable, then." Bang. John typed what Sherlock said to Greg. Mrs. Hudson had left by then to return to her room. Ten minutes later, another ping was heard. John heaved an annoyed sigh.
"Greg needs our help. She is being uncooperative now and is scratching any one who comes near her. Apparently she doesn't like being called crazy." John got up to grab his jacket.
"What does Lestrade expect us to do about it?" Sherlock said with his own annoyance of the situation.
"I don't know about you but I'm going to try to calm her down before she decides to scratch someone to death and then I'm going to help the injured," John said as he headed towards the door.
"Why can't we just wait until she murders someone?" Sherlock asked like a pouting little kid. "Maybe we could get lucky and have it be Donovan or Anderson." Sherlock followed the doctor, curious as to how the rolls have switched for today. They made it out of the flat and hailed a taxi to the Yard where Greg met them outside and led them inside to where the girl was. He explained how she was very cautious of everyone, how she refused to sit in a chair, how her nails were sharp when she went to fight back, and how she hurt several of the officers while they trapped her in an interrogation room. They went into the room on the other side of the one sided mirror to watch her. Sherlock observed her as she paced the room, staring at the door with caution and anticipation. The detective found it odd that she stumbled, even if it was barely noticeable now. Her nails were long but didn't really look all that sharp. Her ears were slightly pointed and twitched from time to time, like she could hear them without them having to push the button. Her eyes shifted to the one sided mirror, looking straight at Sherlock. Sherlock became confused when he saw her eyes and how her eyes alone showed centuries of wisdom.
"She can hear us," Sherlock stated. Greg and John looked at him with a disbelieving look in their eyes.
"No she can't," the DI stated. "I don't have the intercom open-"
"Just because you do not use your technology, DI Greg Lestrade, does not mean I am unable to hear you," Leotie stated, her eyes shifting to the DI.
"Who are you?" Sherlock asked. Leotie's eyes shift back to him.
"In which life? With which name?" Leotie asked. "Or perhaps you wish to know my guardian name? Then again, you've already figured that out, have you not?"
"Leotie, Flower of the Prairie." She held her head up with pride when Sherlock spoke her true name and it's meaning.
"Flower of the Prairie?" John asked.
"The meaning of her name," Sherlock informed, taking a quick glance at the doctor beside him before returning his gaze to the woman.
"Deduce me, Sherlock Holmes," Leotie ordered. Sherlock paused for a moment, taken back by the fact that he had just been ordered by a stranger. "Tell me what you see. What is my past and who am I?"
"You are a woman in your twenties," Sherlock started. Leotie didn't stop him because in Cat years, she was roughly in her twenties. "You have troubles walking but from the looks of it, you've fixed your strides swiftly. Based on physical structure, you are very athletic but perhaps you haven't been out much recently, whether by choice or injury is still unsure. And-" He watched as Leotie suddenly breathed deeply and her eyes became Cat-like for a split second before returning human.
"Ahote," she whispered. They were about to ask her to repeat what she said when she suddenly ran for the door and began to try to open it. What they didn't know was that she could smell Ahote in this dimension, he was close, and could sense that he was in trouble. She just needed to get out and help him before something happens.
"Open the door,"Sherlock told the DI. "We'll follow her." Greg did as told and watched Sherlock and John chase after the girl as she zoomed by. Leotie quickly studied her area, taking in her different exits, before deciding to jump out the window. While in the air, she turned herself around and grabbed the gutter drain, making it suddenly snap and slow her fall to the ground. John and Sherlock watched her from the window as she slowly made her descent with the bending metal.
"She could have died," John complains.
"I know," Sherlock said with excitement before running for the stairs. "Clever girl." John just stared after him with annoyance before following the tall man.
"You're enjoying this way too much," the doctor grumbles. The duo make it outside just after she touched the ground. The detective noticed how her running was much more messy and wobbling than her walking and suspected that this was how it looked with her walking before she fell into rhythm with it. He also suspected she was quick to learn because her running evened out a little after a few blocks. She kept running on and on but eventually collapsed on the ground, tired and muttering to herself about Ahote and scents.
"She's going to make a good addition," Sherlock said, smirking at John as they caught their breaths.
"What?!" John shouts in disbelief.
SHJWSHJWSHJWSHJWSHJWSHJW
It has been two days since Leotie has entered this dimension and she has been living on John and Sherlock's couch. She had finally adjusted to being human when John decided to take her out shopping for more clothes since, Sherlock was currently having a meeting with his brother. The two were having lunch before heading home when John started asking her questions that had been bothering him since he first met her at the Yard.
"When we met, why were you running?" John asked. She finished the food in her mouth before wiping it.
"Someone I knew ended up coming over here as well. I could tell he was in danger and wanted to try to get to him but I lost his scent and, not being used to running on two legs, became more tired the longer I ran. I will find him, but it will take some time," Leotie explained before eating more.
"What's his name? Maybe we can help find him," John suggested. She gave him a look as she continued to eat. "His name is just as complicated as yours, isn't it?" Leotie smiled and winked, indicating he was right. John sighed and ate some of his food. "If you're Leotie, what is his equivalent name?"
"Now you're asking good questions. His name is Ahote," Leotie explained. She then tells him a few adventures that she and Ahote have had together, leaving out the bits about them being cats and being reincarnated until she feels secure with him and Sherlock. John asked why she calls everyone two legged instead of humans and she answers with a vague and confusing reply. They would have continued with the Q and A but John received a text from a certain tall man requesting to meet them at a crime scene as soon as they could. So they left to drop the bags at their flat before continuing onto the crime scene where they met with Lestrade, who showed them to the bedroom Sherlock was in.
The case: Kidnapped child.
The consulting detective relays his findings to Leotie and John, informing them that the kid, a boy around 13 years of age, ran away instead of being kidnapped. He also informed him that it was the older brother's fault for bulling the child. What Sherlock couldn't figure out was where the kid had disappeared to. Leotie watched in mild disinterest as Sherlock and John poked around the bedroom. Her ears twitched as she heard John shuffle through the papers left on the dresser and Sherlock crawl underneath the bed. She breathed in a deep sigh through her nose as she mentally prepared herself for a small cat nap right on the floor when she caught the faint scent of something familiar. Leotie sniffed delicately and, padding softly across the floor, followed her nose to the closed closet where the aroma was strongest. Opening the door, she was hit with the intense smell of fresh soil, wild flowers, trees, and sunshine. Without anyone seeing, she layed down on the floor with her face buried in the rug where she could feel a small amount of dirt that had collected there and reminiscing in memories of her times in the woods as a cat. After several minutes, she could hear John asking about her whereabouts in the bedroom.
"I'm over here," Leotie said softly. However, because her face was in the carpet, no one could hear her. The searching went on for several minutes before John finally opened the closet, which had closed on it's own some time ago and found her on the floor of the closest like she was some hidden dead body.
"Why are you laying on the floor?" John had asked, gathering the DI's and Sherlock's attentions to the closet.
"Because it smells like the woods," Leotie mumbled, her voice muffled by the carpet. Then Sherlock joined her in the floor with his tiny magnifying glass and found dirt that, after analyzing it, came from the woods near the house, where they had to track the boy down. It soon really did turn into a kidnaping because the elder brother found out and went after the child. They were able to get the runaway free but the bully was trying to run off in an attempt to escape prison. Thankfully by this point, Leotie was almost perfect at walking and running on two legs, although she still wobbled from time to time. Being in the woods, however, just made it easier for her to run, whether it be from her Cat past or because she feels more confident in the woods she didn't know. She tackled the criminal within a few minutes, not allowing him to get very far from the police. He struggled and tried to fight and push her off but soon stopped when she accidentally let a warning predator-like growl loose and let one of her hands rest on his throat. The only movement from the older brother after that was his fearful shaking. John and the DI had to rip her off the terrified boy until she calmed down. Leotie mentally went over what had just happened and realized, with annoyance, that she still had her aggressive feline side from the time she was a mother lioness with a cub that always got bullied.
SHJWSHJWSHJWSHJWSHJWSHJW
Leotie has been staying with Sherlock and John for the past week and has become a great help to them on their adventures. Albeit, it's only been ten cases so far. For poor John, living with these two made him frustrated. Leotie talked in riddles and acted like a cat nearly all the time and Sherlock talked madness and shoots the wall. Currently, Sherlock was playing the violin while Leotie was curled up on the couch with her eyes closed, which was her form of meditation. John was thankful because this was the most peaceful day he has had with the two, meaning he was able to drink his tea and read the newspaper in his chair peacefully. He was determined to enjoy the peace before either of them decided to open their mouth again. Neither males noticed one of Leotie's ears twitch just slightly.
"I can smell Mycroft and Greg coming up," she said, not moving from her spot or opening her eyes, just listening. However, she soon became confused when she only heard one pair of footsteps instead of two. Sherlock made a sour note on his instrument but otherwise didn't move. Yes, Leotie did happen to meet Mycroft once during the week after the kidnapping case. Sherlock got payed for solving cases, John got payed because of the hospital he worked at, but Leotie had no degree for a job which means no income. So now she is working as Mycroft's spy to keep an eye on the younger Holmes while she splits the money with the other two males.
John sighs as he folds his paper and gets up to open the door before Mycroft decides to enter without knocking again. Leotie half opens her eyes and stares at their guest, confirming just the one guest. She got up as Sherlock, John, and Mycroft did their usual greeting and walked over to the door to investigate and smell around. She could smell the DI but could not see or hear him anywhere. She followed the scent to Mycroft before she finally understood why she could smell Greg.
"My mistake. Your smell has just changed," Leotie stated as she returned to the couch to curl up and rest while the boys played. Sherlock leaned forward and smelled his brother, who tried to flick his younger brother away, to see what Leotie was talking about. Sherlock dodged the flick as he realized that he smelled nothing out of the ordinary on his brother.
"What are you talking about, Leo?" John asked while the two Holmes argued. Leo was the nickname that John had given her after the kidnapping case, he said that she reminded him of an angry Lioness defending her cub, and he would use it when he felt calm and not under pressure of a tight situation or a case. Leotie looked over to the doctor and smiled sweetly at how dull his senses were compared to her own.
"Cats rub their smell on their property. Whether it be living or not," Leotie said cryptically. Mycroft suddenly goes rigid but smooths out just as quickly.
"Humans can't smell as finely as cats," Mycroft scolded her. Her eyes closed as she enjoyed the warm couch.
"Do say hello to DI Greg Lestrade for me when you see him again," she said softly. Mycroft tensed as Sherlock gave his "you'll never hear the end of this" smirk to his brother. Mycroft's visit ended shortly after that.
"I'm glad you kept her," John said, glad that the sibling rivalry was at a minimum today due to Leotie and her sharp senses.
"I couldn't agree more," Sherlock said, his teasing look slowly becoming a questioning one. "Although I am still curious as to how your senses are so sharp. I couldn't smell anything different." Leotie opened her eyes again to stare at the two men. She'd never tell them, at least not anytime soon, but John and Sherlock do tend to gravitate towards each other more often than not. She just needed to wait for the right time to tell them of her observations.
"The unnatural and the strange have a perfume of their own; You two leggeds are unable to truly smell the hormones of others," Leotie said before closing her eyes once more. This time with the intention to nap. The detective and the doctor looked at each other in hopes that the other understood what the humanized feline meant.