Oh. My. Goodness.
The amount of support I got for this chapter was super exciting! Thanks to EVERYONE who reviewed, or has started following this story, you guys deserve a huge round of applause! As a result I am posting the next chapter a day early, as well as the following chapter by tomorrow afternoon, at the latest. So I hope the wait was worth it.
Again, thanks to everyone so much!
Disclaimer: I don't own BBC's Sherlock. I do however own my OC's so respect the creativity.
-X-
His auburn hair is slightly mused from the outside wind. His cheeks pink from the cold, his viridian eyes narrowed into slits. He wears a long jacket, a nice suit, and carries tucked under one of his arms his small travel bag and an umbrella.
"Who the hell is Jimmy?"
She has both hands on the door, going to slam it shut, but he's quicker and places his foot there first. She can't budge it shut and the wooden floors are suddenly slick under her stilettos. He places one firm hand on the door, and gives it a hard shove.
The high heels keep her unbalanced and she can't keep the necessary pressure on the door to keep it shut. His hard shove throws her off and she stumbles back, barely maintaining to keep herself upright as she catches herself on wall.
He's through the door, past the threshold, slamming the door shut with the heel of his foot. He enters the apartment and begins to observe all her things as if to find something incriminating about the polished wood and old leathers that he finds.
She can only gawk at him, "How the hell did you find me?" she shouts angrily.
His eyes are narrowed once more, his lip curled into the semblance of a half-snarl, half-frown combination that only he has ever been able to pull off.
"Don't glare Jackie it makes your eyes tiny!" she spits the familiar childhood retort.
He snorts a cold laugh, "I've been worried out of my mind for the past few months about you? Did you know that? Did you even care?" he snarls angrily.
She pinches the bridge of her nose in exasperation. Steady, Lily, steady.
"Of course I care Jackson!" she replies gently, her voice still tense with anger.
"Oh yes, because an email about you not being dead really shows the depths of your emotions Lily!" he snarks back.
"Your right I shouldn't have sent anything at all!" she shouts back, throwing her hands in the air in exasperation.
"No! Look I-" he groans and flops back on the couch, "Look I didn't mean that you shouldn't have emailed, I just...wish there had been more..." he grumbles turning to face towards the windows.
She loses all of her steam there. He's suddenly not the raging overprotective younger brother, but the wide eyed, red haired nine year old who cried and tried to pick a fight with the cops when she was getting arrested for a pick pocketing charge.
God, their mother had not been happy about that.
"How did you find me Jackson?" she inquires of her younger brother quietly.
He sighs, and rolls his head around to face her. "Your friend Irene...Something, called me and told me you had gotten into trouble, gave me your address told me to thank Sherly- whoever that is" he replies, the previous anger gone from his voice.
Sherly...Sherly?...Sher...Sherlock? OH GOD DAMMIT! I'm going to kill them, Irene Adler and Sherlock Freaking Holmes!
"Why did you leave?"
It's an innocent question, nothing damaging and he's not yelling it at her, which makes this question all the more dangerous.
His eyes are sad, and he's looking at her like she just spoiled Santa for him all over again.
"Because of that" she finally allows, sinking into the couch next to him.
"What?" he blinks at her in confusion.
"Your guilting me again, trying to make me feel terrible about what I've done" she replies quickly, nervously wringing her hands through the black fabric of her gown. "I like what I do Jackson, I like the life I have, it's not perfect and by no means something that I ever want you or your kids involved in but this is what I do" she explains softly.
"Are you sure you don't just think you like it? You don't have to live like a criminal anymore Lily, I mean, why can't you just do something else? Hell, don't do anything at all, I can take care of you now" he takes her hand and gives it a small squeeze.
She looks away and takes her hand with her, she's close to crying. Dammit, please don't cry.
As much as he says he understands, that he'll try to accept it, he never will. He will never understand.
Do something else? What else is there? She tried normal, she tried to live a clean life and look where that got her. Stuck in Irene Adler's house with the cops busting down the front door while she cradled an incapacitated Detective.
Don't do anything? Oh yeah, because that works sooo well for everyone else, it has to work wonders for her.
There's a quick rapping on knuckles on her front door and she rises quickly, "Wait! Lily!" Jackson calls after her in surprise.
She doesn't turn, she can't face him, because she'll scream and yell, probably cry. She'll say things that she means but will later come to regret because maybe she meant it at the time but four bottle of wine later and she'll be agonizing over it next to a toilet as she spews her guts.
"I'm going out, you can stay the night, we'll talk later" she's glad her voice doesn't waver, maybe he'll leave her be now.
She opens the door, and forces a smile.
It's not Jim, it's Sebastian.
She has to say that she's rather glad it's not the dark eyed possible-a-psychopath because she's pretty sure her smile is way to wide to be natural and her eyes are way to watery to blow off as a stubbed toe.
At first Sebastian's smile is calm, a little amused. Maybe he plans to make fun of the fact that she eventually agreed to take the 'goose-chase' that she so vehemently turned down the first time they met.
However, his smile drops suddenly upon taking in her slightly tearful expression and the fact that Jackson's on her heels, reaching for her. There's a sudden change of stance that catches Lillian off guard and before she can stop him, Sebastian's pushed past her. Grabbed Jackson by his outstretched arm and twisted it behind his back, pinning him hard to the wall.
"Seba-?" she cries in alarm.
"Did he hurt you?" Sebastian cuts her off calmly, applying a little pressure to Jackson's arm. Jackson cries out at the intense pain that shoots up the joint and squirms, but doesn't get far from his attackers iron grip.
"No!" Lillian tugs at Sebastian's arm, trying to pry the man off her younger brother. "We were just arguing, a little sibling tiff!" she cries angrily.
Sebastian immediately releases Jackson, and the man's pulled away quickly, cradling his injured appendage and glaring daggers at Sebastian. He makes a move, maybe to throw a punch at the man to regain some dignity, but Lillian steps in his path.
"Stop it!" she orders sharply. He does, slightly surprised at the severe tone she uses with him.
"Siblings?" Sebastian's voice inquires curiously from behind her.
Lillian forces a scowl onto her lips, spinning on Sebastian. "Apologize!" she orders angrily. She's playing on dangerous ground here. Sebastian carries a gun, Sebastian works for Jim Moriarty, if anything he could kill them both and walk away totally unaffected, maybe even get away with it.
"Excuse me?" Sebastian's voice echoes his shock.
"You have two perfectly good ears Sebastian, you heard me!" she replies hotly. "Only three people in the world have ever attacked my brother, two of them no longer have use in at least one of their appendages, the other is me, now apologize!"
Sebastian blinks at the small girl before him, before he chuckles softly, a smile touching his lips as he turns to the younger sibling. "I apologize, it seems I assessed the situation wrong" his voice is still tinted with a bit of his laughter but she has a feeling this is the closest to a real apology she'll get from the man.
So with a sigh she gathers her clutch and her coat. "Alright, let's go" she mutters softly.
"What? Lily? You're not seriously going with him? Dressed like that?" Jackson demands from behind her, surprise in his tone.
"Yes, Jackson, I am."
"What? No! No Lily! I can't let you-" Jackson starts to protest.
"I believe your sister has already made her choice" Sebastian cuts in calmly, his voice sharp.
Well hell, this was most certainly turning into a giant shit ball of a night.
"It's just dinner Jackson, I'll be back in a few hours, stay in the guest room, I'll see you in the morning" she promises calmly.
Sebastian helps her into her coat and then they're moving down the hall. But Jackson has followed, he stands in the middle of the hall just outside her apartment door.
"Lily!" Jackson's voice is sharp with anger, it makes her pause with a sigh and turn around.
"Jackson, go back inside, we will talk later! You can yell then!" she whisper shouts down the hall so as to not wake the neighbors.
"He's bad news, whoever this Jimmy guy is he's also bad news" Jackson yells angrily. Well hell there goes consideration for the neighbors. "If you go with him Lillian, if you go with him your choosing this life, of running and crime, over your family!" he snarls.
She thinks her heart breaks.
"What?" her voice is soft barely a whisper, she thinks she's about to faint, is that why Sebastian is steadying her?
"If you go with him Lillian, I don't want you near me or my family ever again" Jackson states sharply.
Yep, definitely broken, the shards of her heart poke and prod at her chest. It hurts, it really hurts. With every breath it sears her lungs and makes her want to curl into a ball and just cry for hours. That's when the first few tears fall slowly down her cheek.
"You...your making me choose?" she whispers brokenly. He doesn't say anything only stare at her.
She thinks of Eloise, a slender brunette who had stolen Jackson's heart. The day they married she'd been maid of honor, because Eloise didn't want Lillian to feel left out. She'd been so kind and through it Lillian had genuinely come to think of the young girl as another addition to their family.
She thinks of Oliver and Elisabeth, the two five year old twins whom Lillian often babysat for. How they called her Auntie and curled into her bed during the night despite the great lengths she went through to build them a fortress of pillows and sheets.
She thinks of Jackson, the boy she practically raised, despite the fact she had been in and out of the system and on the run since she was in high school. She thought of how his wide toothless grins use to always cheer her up, and how he use to think that she was some kind of Super-hero from his comic books.
She thought of their smiling faces, and then of the dead man that had been lying in a ditch somewhere.
This is what her life had become, something dangerous and just... not good. Something that she would never want to expose her family to. So, even with the sharp pain in her chest, she forced a soft smile onto her lips.
"Goodbye, Jack."
And then she boards the elevator with Sebastian, she had a dinner to attend.
-X-
Okay a depressing little chapter, and probably something not a lot of you were expecting. Don't worry it gets better I promise! Everything will work out so please don't skin me or yell!
There is a Method to my Madness!
It will get better, and yes, the much awaited dinner is next.
The AnonymousTypist
