Chapter Eleven: Danger
"He's taking me next." The words rang in Sherlock's ears, over and over. "He's taking me next." He looked down at Annalise, the little girl to whom he had grown so attached over the past month, her soft red hair, her bright blue eyes, that skinny little body he couldn't help but love to hold, to carry around. How could he manage without that child? What would it be like, waking up every morning and not seeing her little face, not hearing her voice throughout the hallways? And all of a sudden, he was filled with ice and fire. How dare he, that Jim Moriarty, how dare he threaten to take Annalise?
"Sherlock? Earth to Sherlock..." Sherlock pulled himself away from his thoughts to see John attempting to get his attention.
"What?"
"What are we going to do? To protect Annalise, I mean."
"Right, yes... we should call my brother, I suppose..." Sherlock's hands began to tremble at the thought of having to protect the little girl.
"Oh, no," Annalise murmured. "Oh, I'm an idiot."
"What?" Sherlock looked down to see Annalise, her little hands shaking. "Annalise, what happened?"
"Oh, I can't believe I didn't see this! Oh, God, Sherlock, I'm an idiot!"
"What? What are you talking about?" Sherlock placed a hand on Annalise's shoulder, trying to steady her. "Annalise, what's going on?"
"Mycroft doesn't text, not if he can talk, am I right?" She looked at Sherlock expectantly.
"No, he doesn't..."
"Then tell me this, Sherlock Holmes... how come Mycroft has been texting me?!" She shoved the phone at Sherlock, who quickly read over the texts supposedly from Mycroft.
"These aren't from Mycroft," Sherlock said softly. "I know Mycroft, and these aren't his texts."
"Moriarty," Annalise said angrily. "Moriarty's been texting me this entire time. And I've been texting back." Tears formed in her eyes.
"Oh, Annalise," Sherlock murmured, hugging her gently. "Shhhh... don't cry. We'll figure this out. I promise. He's not going to hurt you." With a single graceful motion, he lifted Annalise into his arms and sat down in his chair again, placing her on his lap. "You're going to be okay, Annalise." He began to rock her back and forth, slowly, gently, his arms wrapped gently but firmly around her tiny body.
John sat quietly and watched his flatmate comfort the little girl. This was a very different side of Sherlock, one he had never seen before. Sherlock had never shown care for another person, and yet he cared so deeply about this small child. His hand drifted to his pocket to take out his phone and take a picture, but for some reason, he stopped. This wasn't funny. This was unthinkably serious.
Unfortunately, Donovan and Anderson found it funny. They walked into the room to see Sherlock, holding Annalise, and they both burst out laughing.
"Sherlock Holmes, comforting a child, now that is a sight," Donovan jeered. "Where did she come from, eh?"
"Yeah, who'd let Sherlock Holmes near a kid?" Anderson nearly bent over laughing. "Whose is she, even? We should probably track down her parents, because anyone who'd let Sherlock Holmes near her needs to be reported."
Sherlock's nostrils flared. He was quite sick and tired of these two imbeciles mocking him, but this was on a whole other level. And yet somehow, he said nothing. What they were saying meant nothing to him. All that mattered was Annalise, still softly weeping in his arms, and Anderson and Donovan weren't going to come between him and Annalise... his Annalise.
John, on the other hand, lost control. He stepped right up to the two offensive officers. "You two just listen," he seethed. "I don't know who the bloody hell you think you are, but you have some nerve, to just walk into this room, having no idea what's going on because you two were too busy on a coffee break, and just go off on your usual bullying. It pisses me off enough that you torment Sherlock day in and day out, despite the fact that he helps you with every single one of your cases, but to mock a five-year-old child is absolutely unacceptable, especially one who is crying for reasons you don't understand. Now, you have a choice: You can shut up, get your heads out of your asses, and be helpful for once in your pathetic lives, or you can leave the room. But I won't tolerate another second of your utter ignorance and inability to act like adults."
There was a moment of silence. Nobody said anything. Even Annalise stopped crying for a moment. And then Donovan and Anderson turned and left the room in a huff. Another few moments of silence, and then Lestrade began to slowly clap.
"That," he chuckled, "was bloody fantastic."
"It's not funny, Greg." John's voice was still icy cold. "I said exactly what I wanted to say. And if you find that funny, you're no better and you can just leave."
"Right," said Lestrade. Just then, his mobile rang. "Oh, sorry, I'll just get that..." He picked up the phone. "Hello?" He turned and left the room.
A few moments later, he returned. "This is odd," he said. "All the kids that were taken... they've been returned."
"What?!" John nearly choked.
"Yeah. All of them. Returned to their homes completely unharmed."
"You're kidding," said John.
"No, I'm not. Every single one of them has been brought home safely."
"What's that about?" asked John.
"Attention," Sherlock said softly, playing with Annalise's red hair.
"Attention?"
"Obviously. The whole thing was an attention ploy. The abductions were to get Annalise's attention, but now that he's got it, he's giving the kids back. He has no need for them."
"But what does he want Annalise's attention for?"
"I don't know... But it doesn't matter right now. What matters is keeping Annalise safe. I'd say the best course of action is to have her quit school, so I can keep an eye on her all day and every day."
"Nice try, Sherlock," John rolled his eyes, "but no, we aren't taking Annalise out of school because of this."
"But any of the teachers could-"
"Sherlock, I don't really want to quit school," Annalise interjected, looking up at the man holding her. "It's annoying sometimes, but I like it too. I've got Maddie, and we're good friends. If I quit, I'd lose her. And besides, if I quit school, that just tells Moriarty that we're scared of him. And we don't want to do that." She laid her head on his shoulder, finally not crying.
Sherlock was completely shocked. "You... you don't want to quit school?!" His silvery blue eyes widened to the size of the moon.
Annalise giggled. "Nope! Sorry!" Her little face lit up with a smile, her first smile since they had arrived at the Yard.
"Well, that settles it," John chuckled. "Annalise will stay in school. But we will find ways to protect her at all times. Annalise, I want you to stay in your classroom. Don't leave to go to the bathroom-"
"I don't have to. Kindergarten classrooms have bathrooms in them."
"Right, perfect. And also, no going home with anyone but me. If you're going to go to Maddie's after school, I'll pick you up and take you myself. Moriarty might send someone in and have them try to pick you up or something, so even if someone else tries to, you don't go with them."
"Got it. Now can we go home? I have to pack to go to Maddie's." Annalise and Maddie were having their first-ever sleepover tonight, and Annalise couldn't wait.
"Yes, definitely. Greg? We're going to go home."
"Right. Sherlock, I'll text you with any updates or anything, okay?"
"Yes, fine; come on, Annalise." Sherlock placed the child on the ground and stood up, turning up his coat collar when he put it on. Taking Annalise's hand, he walked out of the room without a goodbye.
"There he goes again with the bloody coat collar," muttered John. "See you, Greg." And he too left the room.
Hey there guys! This chapter is dedicated to Anouk, a reader here on FanFiction! Anouk left a lovely review on my last chapter and on this one! It's kind people like Anouk who get me to keep writing. Thanks, Anouk! And let this be a reminder to y'alls to REVIEW!
Thank you as usual to livvykitty for being awesome and supportive with every new installment of Spark, and for helping me title this chapter. While I didn't take LK's specific suggestion, I did use the idea of a simple chapter title.
As always, I'll remind you to enter in the Oneshot Sweepstakes (details in chapter 6) by PM'ing me or emailing me: kathrynwilla at "google-mail" dot com. (the danged thing makes me talk in code) The deadline is June 1st, and I only have two entries. So please, please, please enter!
Thanks!
Love always,
Kathryn-Willa
