Okay guys let me start off by thanking the reviewer: sherlocksbluebox who told me the last attempt at writing this chapter got turned into a complete jumbled mess. I appreciate it! Secondley I wanted to tell you how sincerely sorry I am for not being able to post in so long. My Fiancé was involved in a motorcycle accident which left him very injured and me doing my best to play nurse. Everything just got so hectic, I didn't have time to think straight. So I hope this makes up for it. Enjoy!
Morning came too soon to Baker Street and before any of the occupants wanted Mycroft's umbrella was tapping at the door. Mrs. Hudson let him in after just setting out the morning tea for her favorite tenants.
"Oh, good morning, Mycroft. Come to see the family?" She greeted cheerfully.
"Yes, Mrs. Hudson. And if you don't want to know all the gory details of the last few years of Killian's life you may want to vacate the premises." Mrs. Hudson squared of her shoulders in defiance.
"Mycroft Holmes, this is my home and before you go bombarding poor Killian with questions she's going to have a decent cuppa and some toast. The girl needs her nourishment."
"Here here." Sherlock agreed as her past them into the kitchen where he helped himself to a cup of tea and grabbed a piece of bread before smearing on some jam. "Mrs. Hudson wake Killian would you?"
"I'm not ya house keeper." She reminded Sherlock, but that didn't stop her from walking across towards the room Killian was staying in.
"No need, thank you though Mrs. Hudson." Killian smiled slightly as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes letting Sherlock's dressing gown trail after her. John came down dressed and ready for the day to see everyone collected in the kitchen drinking tea and eating toast and biscuits.
"Good morning, everyone. How'd everyone sleep?" He asked everyone but John was looking to Killian.
"Fine." Killian said simply as she bit into her toast. He didn't have to be Sherlock Holmes to see that the bags under her eyes meant that she indeed hadn't slept fine, but he didn't say anything as he help himself to a cuppa tea.
"Mycroft, I didn't expect to see you here so early." John nodded.
"Well, this isn't the only meeting I have to attend today, so if you all don't mind having this discussion in the living room where you can all continue with your meal and we can get this over with." Mycroft knew he sounded harsh, but he wanted to get his answers so he could start his search.
As they passed Mycroft into the seating area he placed a hand on Kili's shoulder. "How are you healing?"
"Just fine, Mycroft. Keep that umbrella away from me and they'll heal even faster." She answered with a tight smile.
"Right." He wore the same smile she did as he followed her into the living room where she sat next to Sherlock on the sofa.
"Thank you Mrs. Hudson for everything, the boys and I do appreciate it." Kili smiled while Sherlock mumbled something and John gave a sincere thank you. She didn't mean to dismiss the woman, but she didn't want her to be around for the next conversation. The woman seemed to understand and gave the girl an encouraging smile which did nothing to quell the raging beast inside whenever the thought of this awful interrogation came to mind.
"So Killian, how would you like to begin?" Mycroft asked seemingly too detached.
"Can I pass?" Mycroft scowled as Killian lifted a brow but held up her hand when she saw she was about to get one of her oldest brother's favorite lectures. "Alright, alright." She took a deep breath and let it our slowly. "I don't remember everything." She admitted. "Or in what order it was."
"Just do your best." Killian gave a small smile at John's kind words.
"No, Killian." Sherlock countered. "The information you give us needs to be as precise as possible so we can track down the men responsible." John glared at Sherlock but Killian knew he was right.
"I hadn't heard from Sherlock in a few days and Lestrade has just informed me there was a case. So I went to your office My…"
"Yes, I know that part Killian. Skip ahead if you will." Mycroft interrupted.
"Well I just left your office Mycroft and I went in search of Sherlock at his usual hideouts." Mycroft gave Sherlock an accusing glare from across the room to which Sherlock was returning with a scowl of his own. "But I didn't make it there."
"What?" Both Mycroft and Sherlock said as their heads whipped to look at their little sister.
"I didn't make it." She confirmed. "I was taken about a mile from the office."
"That can't be right Killian, we have surveillance of you miles away going through slums looking for Sherlock all night. You were taken looking for him." Killian put her ring and pointer fingers to her temples closing her eyes so she could think back clearer.
"Oh, of course." She said quietly opening her eyes. "It's why they took my coat and my ring."
"I'm sorry, I'm lost." John admitted.
"No, they needed us to think that Killian was still out there when in fact she was taken from a very safe district of town. There's not as many cameras, not as many people. They wanted it to look like a random abduction when in fact this had been planned long ago. They wanted us to think that she'd been taken from some dingy alley way to be sent off as a sex slave when really she was taken because of who she was." Sherlock stopped his rant and let his mouth hang open for a second. "It really wasn't my fault." Killian gave a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"I told you it wasn't." Sherlock raced up to his sister and kissed her on both cheeks making her giggle. "Thank you, Killian Holmes." He said with every bit of sincerity he had in him.
"Did you really blame yourself all these years?" Sherlock sighed in defeat resting his forehead on hers.
"All of the evidence pointed to you looking for me when you were taken." He shrugged taking a step back.
"No, the evidence pointed to what they wanted you to believe." Killian countered before turning to Mycroft. "Mycroft, do you still have the footage?"
"Of course." He pulled out his phone and with a click of a few buttons handed it to her. She looked lost for a moment before gingerly touching the arrow on the screen, she nearly jumped as it started to play.
"Touch screen technology? I guess that's one of the perks of running the government, all the new toys."
"Actually practically everyone has one now a days." John turned on his screen to show her.
"Interesting, technology certainly does move quickly." She gave a small smile, but behind it Sherlock saw the pain. It was just another thing that Killian was going to have to get readjusted to.
"Killian?" Mycroft called to her bringing her back from her thinking. "The video?"
"Right, of course. Sorry." She smiled sheepishly while John showed her how to rewind by dragging her finger back. She gave him a thankful smile before looking back on the screen. She could see herself walking down the stair case towards the street. The screens changed to different camera following her on her journey until she took a turn and the screen went blank for just a fraction of a moment before the camera's picked her back down the street about a quarter of a mile from where it lost her.
"That's not me." Killian confirmed.
"What do you mean it's not you?" Mycroft still had his suspicions about the two Killians. He thought she may just be trying to protect Sherlock.
"That's not me, watch." Killian set the video back to before the camera stopped following her. "Here's right before the blind spot. You can clearly see the aggravation in the way I'm walking. I'm nearly stomping my feet, my shoulders are stiff and you can see where I'm scuffing the toe of my boot because I'm not paying much attention to my footing." She pointed out. "Now you can see here." She said once the cameras had caught back up with her. "Here this Killian is still stiff in the shoulders but she's walking like I normally do. Hell, she's almost gliding. No scuffing of her boots, no stomping, and where my hands were stuffed in my pockets hers are out showing off my ring." She showed her hand to the boys where it now rested back on her finger.
"Whoever took me knew where the gap would be in the surveillance cameras and exactly what I was wearing. Look, the boots, the trousers, they're exactly the same. Someone went to a lot of trouble to find someone that looks like me too. Same height, weight, they at least did their hair to look like mine. It's uncanny how much it looks like me," She looked up at the boys. "But it's not me." She shrugged handing the phone back to Mycroft.
"So all these years we've been looking in all the wrong places." Sherlock shook his head. "I'm so sorry I let you down, Kili. I should have seen the differences. I should have noticed, I always notice."
"I'm thinking you weren't at your best. Besides, you probably didn't want to see it. People see what they want to see, you taught me that."
"What happened next, Killian?" Mycroft asked.
"I don't know after that. They injected me with something and everything went dark. The next thing I know I wake up in this cell. It's all white and bright. There's a cot, a toilet, and that's it. I could tell there was a camera in the corner watching me, but it was up so high there was nothing I could do about it. They brought me food and water, but nothing was ever said. They slid it in the little door and was off. I don't know how long I was down there before they finally came for me. It was hard to tell time there, they always left the lights on, meals didn't seem consistent. I think the whole thing was set up to confuse me."
"What happened when they did come?" Mycroft urged. Killian sighed.
"They brought me to this room and asked me some questions."
"About?" Mycroft continued.
"You." She answered looking in his eyes. "They wanted to know everything they could about you and what you were doing in the government."
"And what did you tell them?"
"Nothing, what could I have told them? I never got involved in your work, remember?"
"And did they believe you?" Mycroft continued to probe.
"Not at first. Once they were done beating me a few times I guess they figured that out. I thought of lying to them, giving them some false information, but I didn't know if that would result someone's life. I thought for certain that I was dead once they realized I really didn't have any information to give them. Every time I heard the foot steps outside my cell I thought they were coming to kill me, instead they just gave me a meal and left. I don't know how long I was there, but one day I heard a commotion from down the hall. Yelling, beating, stomps, grunts, and this man threatening and cursing at the guards in the most inventive ways possible. I swear it was the first time I smiled since my capture." Even looking back Killian couldn't help but smile as she thought back, but it was soon replaced by a frown. "And then I heard the Taser, more like a cattle prod really, and then it was silent. They tossed him in the cell and left as soon as they could.
We ended up becoming friends and I believe he helped me escape. But there was no one there when I woke up. I figured he must have been captured, but I can't be certain of anything."
"What was his name?" Mycroft asked when Killian had gone silent looking at the carpet but seeing something else entirely.
"I'm not certain."
"You spent three years with the man and you never asked his name?" Mycroft asked disbelievingly.
"I don't remember whose idea it was, but we never exchanged names. Not our real names. He called me red bird, I called him…" Sherlock's eyes narrowed when his sister's voice cracked. "It doesn't really matter." She rushed.
"Killian." Mycroft scolded. "If this man could-"
"The fake name that I gave him won't help you find him." Killian interrupted him. "Anyways." Killian said calmly. "They held me captive for a long time like that. He was the only person who ever talked to me. My abductors didn't seem as interested in me as before, I guess they realized I didn't know anything, but they weren't going to just let me go. What I didn't understand is why they didn't just kill me. I was no longer any use to them, but they kept feeding me. It was always the same runny porridge for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I'd talk to… the other prisoner, eat, and try to make sure I was keeping fit. It all somehow became a routine. And then one day the routine was broken.
"There was a lot of yelling, screaming and then gun shots and explosions. A guard burst into my cell, I tried to fight back, but I wasn't strong enough. He put a bag over my head and put a syringe in my neck and the next thing I knew I was being thrown over his shoulder like a sack of spuds."
"That must have been when we had found you." Mycroft jumped in. "We'd gotten a lead on you and we went full force, but by the time we got in there was no sign of you."
"They took me somewhere else. It wasn't like my old cell at all. The first compound I went to was technologically advance with cameras, thumbprint access, and retina scanners. This place was literally a hole in the ground. I woke up on soft dirt. It took me a long time to realize that my eyes were open. Once I realized they were indeed open it took me longer to come to the conclusion that I wasn't blind. I was just in some type of a cave somewhere. But I wasn't alone this time. He was there, no cell wall dividing us. The two of us became very close.
"You fell in love with him." Sherlock concluded. Killian gave her brother a small watery smile and nodded.
"I did." Killian looked down at her hand but seemed saddened by what she saw. "I fell in love with him, and he with me. After some time, I became…" Killian stopped and let out a shuttering breath. "I was…" Killian couldn't find a way to say what she desperately needed to.
"Oh." John said for the first time breaking his silence. "You were pregnant."
"Don't be absurd, John." Sherlock dismissed him.
"That's preposterous!" Mycroft agreed.
"He's right." Killian said looking at the doctor. "I became pregnant with that man's child."
"You what?" Mycroft bellowed.
"What happened to the baby? Did the baby survive?" John asked her as the brothers stared on in shock.
"No." Killian answered with tears in her eyes. "They let me carry him the nine months, even gave me extra food and supplements, and then one day they came down and got me. They put me to sleep as always, and the next thing I know I wake up back in the cave but I can't feel my baby anymore. They… They cut him out of me." Killian couldn't stand it any longer so she stood and sprinted into the bathroom. The men could hear her retching from the living room but no one could move from their spot.
Sherlock just kept looking at the spot that Killian once sat and stared as if he hadn't realized she had gone. His brother was up in arms about the whole thing and was shouting about responsibility and such but no one was listening to him.
"Sherlock, maybe you should go see if she's okay." John suggested.
"Is she upset about losing it?" He asked looking to his flatmate since he couldn't comprehend.
"By 'it' do you mean the baby?"
"Yes." Sherlock confirmed.
"Yes, Sherlock I think it's a safe bet to think that she'd be a bit upset about losing her child." John answered trying to keep the anger from his voice.
"But why? She couldn't have gotten attached to it yet, she hadn't had time to form a bond."
"Sherlock she carried that baby for nine months. That's plenty of time to form a bond!"
"But she couldn't have, she didn't know it yet."
"Him, Sherlock. She had already planned a life for him. She fell in love with that child the moment she found out about him."
"But…"
"No, never mind. I'll check on her, you and your brother stay here." John snapped as he left the room.
As he came to the bathroom he saw that the door was still open so he knocked on the wall next to it. "Killian?" Killian was sitting with her back against the tub her legs pulled to her chest. Her eyes were puffy from crying, her hair a mess from not having the time to fix it that morning, and part of her breakfast that she had brought back up was now on her shirt.
"My mother is going to disown me." Killian mumbled miserably. "I'm sure Mycroft is already on his mobile giving her the news that her baby girl messed up again." John walked in and wet a wash cloth.
"I doubt your mother will disown you, she just got you back." John smiled handing her the cloth. She gave him a small smile in thanks before she wiped at her mouth.
"I just wish I knew what happened to them. Both of the men I had fallen in love with in that prison are either missing or dead, and I have no idea how to find out all answers to the questions I have."
John sat next to Killian, his back to the tub and took a deep breath. "I don't know what you've gone through, I won't pretend to understand, but I can tell you that your family loves you and they'll do everything they can to help you get whatever you need to get you better. Especially your brothers."
"I know they will. It's just hard dealing with them at times. They're my family and I love them dearly, but it's hard being the daughter of a brilliant mathematician, and the little sister of the astounding Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes. With Him, I didn't feel like he was comparing me to them all the time. I didn't have to dumb myself down, or try to show off my knowledge, or act 'proper', I didn't have to worry about getting a lecture for showing emotions." Killian bit her lip, she knew she should swallow down her next thought. She knew she shouldn't say it, but she couldn't deny it. John could see she was struggling with something.
"Killian, you can talk to me, I won't tell them anything you don't want me to. Patient doctor privilege." He nudged her giving her a small smile.
Killian took a deep breath. "For the first time in my life, I didn't have to be a Holmes; and I don't think I've ever been happier."
So there's finally chapter 4. Thank you so much for all who have stuck with me and I will continue writing more now that he is back on his feet. I hope you continue to enjoy Killian's story.
