Hello! How's the New Year been treating you so far? Not too bad I hope. Anyway, I know why you're all here, so let's crack on, shall we? My thanks go to Cereza101, The Nihilanth, miskamimi, tangle. of. Ivy and Guest and to all the other lovely readers who favourite and alerted. Thank you! Thank you so much! You have no idea how happy you made me!
Reply to Guest:
I'm so pleased that you like my story so much that you got hooked, hehe. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. The rest belongs to me.
Disposing of Giselle was an easy task.
All he had to do was send her to a bookstore to pick up some books that he had ordered a couple of weeks before and ask her to leave her brother behind. He disregarded both the indignant huff she sent his way and the scowl that materialized on his request.
He knew that she was getting tired of him asking her to go on errands, but he needed her away from her brother at that particular point.
As soon as the blonde woman was out of the house, he called for the boy, who immediately bounded over to the detective, who was seated on the tiger skin rug. Ed sat down next to him, folding his legs as if he was about to meditate.
"We have to discuss a very important matter, Elmer." Sherlock said gravely. The boy blinked, his face solemn as his fingers interlaced themselves. "You are a very intelligent young man and will go on to do great things in your life."
The child smiled at the compliment he received, giving a toothy grin to the detective. However, Sherlock did not smile back.
"However, that possibility will fly away and disintegrate if we do not act on it."
Ed's smile faded and slowly withered away from his young face.
"Do you want to act on it?"
The boy's eyes flickered over to the tiger's glassy eyed stare and sharp teeth. Ed's fingers unlaced themselves from each other as his index finger stroked one fang. He nodded as he looked back up to the detective. "I want to make Sally proud of me." He said.
The dark haired sleuth offered a small smile to the blonde boy. "My brother knows of a small private school for special children; very intelligent children. It is quite expensive and only accepts a small number of students. Mycroft, who is my brother, managed to secure a place for you. However, this will only remain available for a short while. Now, my question, young man, is this: Would you like to attend this school?"
Ed's green eyes, which had slipped back down to the tiger, slid back up to Sherlock again.
"But...shouldn't we ask Sally first?" Ed said, his innocent green eyes wide.
"Edward, you are a young man. Since you will be the one to attend this school, don't you think that you should be the one to make the decision?"
"I just.." he stopped and stroked the fur of the rug with his finger. "I just don't want Sally to be angry with me."
"Do you think that she would be angry if you go to school and learn?"
The boy shook his head.
"No, she always wanted me to go to school and learn new things."
The detective nodded at the boy. "There is one thing, which might be a problem." Sherlock said. "This school is a boarding school."
Ed blinked, a confused expression on his sweet young face. "What's a boarding school?"
"It's a school where the students don't leave. They sleep there."
The child's eyes widened in panic. "So I don't get to see Sally everyday like normal schools back at home?"
"I'm afraid not. This is a very serious and very strict school, Elmer. Education is their top priority. I also have a secret to share with you, if you can keep a secret. Can you keep a secret?"
The boy's expression changed from panic to curiosity as he nodded his head. "I promise," he said, extending his little finger. The detective offered him a small smile as he entwined his own little finger with the boy's.
"I was also teaching your sister a lot of new things, but lately...there were several distractions that did not allow her to learn as much as she can."
Ed's confused expression slowly morphed into a crestfallen one. "Because of me?" He whispered, tears pooling at the corners of his eyes.
Sherlock's heart ticked. He had not intended to make the boy feel as if it was his fault. Without his knowing, the boy had managed to create a small niche for himself like Watson and Giselle, only his simplicity, innocence and zeal for knowledge allowed it to form at a much faster rate.
The detective's large hands enclosed the boy's smaller one.
"Not at all, my dear boy. Giselle loves you a lot, and her duty was to take care of you. But that way, neither you nor her will learn much. As much as she loves you, she does not know how to teach you. In fact, she is still learning herself, how can she teach another person? Do you understand what I mean?" Ed nodded his head, the dejected look still in his eyes.
"Now, if you go to this school, you will be learning as will Giselle. You will still get to spend the holidays here, so you will still get to see your sister. And you can write to her as much as you want to as well."
"Can't you teach me like you're teaching Sally?" Ed asked, the tears in his had almost dried up.
"I'm afraid not. Not because I don't want to, but because I don't know how to teach young people such as yourself. And I wouldn't be able to help you become a doctor. The teachers at this school will be able to help you a lot more than both Giselle and myself combined."
The boy looked away, biting his lip.
"Sally won't like this." He warned.
"No, she won't. However, she will realise that this is the best course of action, in time."
The boy sighed and nodded. "Okay. I'll do what you say. I just..." He stopped and glanced back up at the detective. "Sally will be proud of me, won't she?"
"When she gets to know what an intelligent brother she has and how much he's learning, she'll be the proudest sister in all of England." Sherlock smiled as both he and the young boy stood up.
"Now, how about you meet Dr. Watson and you go and get your uniform with him?"
Sherlock held Edward's hand as they both went down the stairs and out of 221B, where a hansom cab was waiting. John Watson was standing by the door. He smiled as soon as he saw the young boy.
"Hello. You must be the young man I heard so much about, Edward Elmer. Am I right?"
Ed nodded his blonde head, his eyes wide in wonder. "Are you really a doctor? Like Dr. Morrow?"
"Indeed I am. Come on, we have lots of new stuff to buy for you!" He said, holding his hand out for the child to take.
Watson's eyes slid over to Sherlock. The detective did not need any words to interpret what the doctor wanted to say. 'She's not going to like this.' The doctor's eyes slid back to the boy, the smile present on his face once more.
"Do you see that lady over there in the cab? She's Mary Morstan, she's been waiting for so long to talk to you!" He said, leading Edward away.
Giselle climbed the stairs to their floor, humming a song to herself softly. Her fingers were drumming against the books that were in her arms. She tapped Sherlock's door lightly with the heel of her boots before she pushed it pushed it open with her hip.
"Boys? I brought something for both...of you," she said, her voice's volume lowering itself towards the end. She frowned as she saw the detective focusing on a slide that was mounted on the microscope.
"Where's Ed?"
"He's with Watson." The dismissive tone in his voice nurtured a frown on the young woman's face.
She did not like this. She had no idea why, but she did not like this at all. She knew that John Watson would have warned her beforehand if he had made plans for her brother, which only meant one thing.
The idea had been Sherlock's.
She wondered why the detective had sent her brother away with the doctor, not that she was worried about both of them, of course. She just couldn't grasp why Sherlock had insisted that Ed remain with him if he was planning on getting rid of him for the duration of the errand he had sent her on anyway.
Which only meant one thing, he had been planning on sending Ed away with Watson all along. But why? And to what end? She had no clue.
"I didn't know that the doctor was going to take my brother out." She said. Silence greeted her words as Sherlock replaced the slide he had been viewing with another one.
"Where did they go?" She kept her tone light, however she could not help the slight hint of suspicion that had laced her voice.
The detective looked up, his eyes fixing on the young blonde woman. "Watson took Edward to a shop to buy his new uniform and school supplies."
She chuckled nervously, taking a couple of steps towards Sherlock. "Ed doesn't go to school, not yet anyway." She said.
He nodded at her words, standing up from the stool he was sitting on and turning towards her. "That will only remain correct for today. As of tomorrow, Edward starts his scholastic year."
The books slipped from her hands, landing with a dull thud on the floor. Her breath left her lungs in a rush, her mouth working furiously to express the words stuck in her throat.
"B-but...wh- I-I mean, how?"
"I signed him up." The detective's words felt as if they were coming from a distance. She could hear her blood rushing in her ears as her heart thudded with the force of a hammer.
"What?" She couldn't even hear her own whispered word; however, it seemed as if the detective had heard her.
"Yes, there is a particular boarding school that owes Mycroft a favour. It is reserved for highly intelligent children and your brother is a very bright young child. The headmaster was highly impressed when my brother described Edward's mental prowess. If we deprive him of his well deserved education, we'll only be-"
"What have you done?" Her words were whispered. However, as she sucked in a deep rattling breath, her voice increased in strength.
"You have no right! He is my brother! Mine! Do you hear me? Mine!" Her fists flew towards his chest, her eyes almost spitting sparks in her rage. However, Sherlock's larger hands quickly circled her wrists, bringing her attempt at attacking him to a quick stop.
"Giselle, please, I implore you to try and-"
"Don't you dare and try to 'Giselle, please' me! This is your mess and you will sort it out! I want my brother back!"
Her insistence at refusing to think about his words irked him; however, he controlled his emotions. "Giselle, stop and think for a moment, your brother is-" " I DON'T CARE!" She screamed, as she tried to tug at her hands.
Sherlock's fists only tightened around her wrists.
"You're jealous of my brother because you have to share my attention with him! Let me go!"
Her accusation at his jealousy stung. Whether because it was unfair or because there was an element of truth to it, he did not dare find out. Nevertheless, it angered him.
His fists tightened around her wrists even more as he yanked her forwards. She stumbled towards him; however her eyes did not lose an ounce of her rage.
"Haven't you been listening?!" He hissed at her. "Edward is a very intelligent boy, possibly even more so than you, especially when you refuse to think! This is exactly the reason why I settled his education without consulting you! He adores you! Even worships the ground you walk upon! He wants to prove himself, make you proud of him! Are you really selfish enough to deprive him of a glittering future just because you want your brother to cling at your skirts?"
His words shocked her.
The blonde woman stopped tugging at her hands, her eyes wide.
"No." She said, shaking her head.
"No, that is not what I meant. I am not selfish with my brother. How dare you even- no." She shook her head again, her blonde curls bouncing around her head.
"Then why are you refusing him this opportunity?"
"I-I'm not refusing him any opportunities. I'm angry at you for doing this without telling me. I could have taught him. I know I would have been able to."
"You know very well, as do I, that you are a very good student, not a teacher. You're forgetting you're still learning yourself."
"So I was right! You want my attention focused solely on you!"
Sherlock's hands which had started to slacken tightened again.
"ENOUGH!" His loud voice reverberated against her eardrums, driving down her anger and exposing her true emotions.
The panic which she felt clawing at the edges bloomed with its full force. Her eyes widened as her breath caught in her throat, her heart fluttering in her chest. She felt her stomach crumpling in on itself, her cheeks going white. Her lip quivered as her eyes glistened with the tears she refused to let fall.
"But what if something happens to him?" She said, her voice trembling.
Sherlock's anger quickly dissolved as she turned from a fuming siren to a broken woman in front of his eyes. "Nothing will happen to him. He will be quite safe, I assure you."
A single tear fell from her eye, running down her pale cheek.
"But I just got him back." She whispered, choking back tears.
A breath escaped the detective's lips as he let go of her wrists, gathering her in arms instead. She buried her face in his chest, her shoulders shuddering as she cried silently.
"He's all I have." She said, her voice a broken image of its usual proud version. He sighed as he tightened his arms around her, feeling her tears soaking through his shirt.
Her words felt like a sharp sting.
He didn't know why he cared so deeply about what she thought, but he hoped against hope that what she had just uttered was simply her grief talking and not what she truly thought.
What he said next was something that he had neither planned nor given himself permission to voice.
"You know that is not true." He whispered.
So, *rubs hands* a lot happened in this chapter, emotion-wise. What do you think of Sherlock's actions? Do you think he did it because he cares about Ed? Or do you agree with Giselle that he was getting jealous? Or maybe you have another theory?
And finally, their masks are starting to slip, if you know what I mean.
Let me know what you think in the reviews!