"Ultra Infirmitatibus Meis"
Chapter 7
"Shattering the pretense."
AN: Ladies and gentlemen, this the moment you've all been waiting for! The faithful confrontation between the world's worst couple of parents, and the broken, frozen shell of a man they once called 'son'.
Prepare yourselves, lovelies.
They are about to face the consequences of their actions.
It didn't take long for the Holmes parents, Siger and Violet, to pry information out of a grief-stricken Sherlock and show up unceremoniously on their eldest son's doorstep, demanding to see him.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Holmes." Anthea, the person sitting outside Mycroft's office, didn't sound apologetic in the least, as she looked at the furious mother before her, looking more than just a little unimpressed with what she saw. "But Mr. Holmes is busy with a delegation from France right now, and cannot be disturbed."
But Violet was having none of it.
She slammed her hands on the desk the PA was sitting at, fire in her eyes and anger in her voice.
"Tell him it's Mummy." Ms. Holmes practically hissed out. "And believe me when I tell you, he'll come running."
'Like a dog beckoned by its master' went unsaid but Anthea still heard it. So confident was the mother of the troublesome Holmes siblings, of her hold over her elder son. The PA's own eyes narrowed, glaring at the elderly lady with all the hate she could muster without making it obvious.
"Yes, Ms. Holmes." Anthea responded, voice icier than thought possible as she got up from her seat and marched over to the door she was tasked with guarding.
With a few well-placed knocks, she was allowed inside.
After a minute of tense silence, two sharply-dressed men left the room and the Holmes parents were signaled in.
With a huff, Violet marched into Mycroft's dark domain wanting nothing more than to set her boy straight. Expecting the man to flinch and curl onto himself from her thunderous expression alone, like every other time he was about to be punished for something wrong that he did.
But he remained as he was seated, eyes narrowed and back straight as a stick.
For a moment all they did was stare at each other in complete and utter silence, sewing in the disappointment that hung in the air like a particularly nasty fog.
Before the Government himself decided to speak.
"I thought that I told Sherlock the situation is out of your control." His voice was low and dangerous, tones it never took when talking to his mother.
Violet was scandalized.
"If you thought we would just stand there and watch you murder our daughter, then I afraid you'll just end up disappointed!" She slammed her fists on the dark oaken desk, much like she did back in the hallway. "If you do not reconsider your decision regarding your treatment of Eurus we'll-"
"You'll, what?" Mycroft raised an eyebrow and leaned back in his seat, looking far too calm for the elderly woman's liking. "Please, do continue with your threat. I so long to hear what you have planned for me if I do not follow with your demands."
'He's mocking me.' Ms. Holmes thought, furiously biting her bottom lip. 'Why that disrespectful little-'
"We'll make all of this public!" She retorted, voice raised and filled with anger. "The island, the treatment of people locked up in there… everything! And, with that amount of exposed secrets, don't think you'll be able to retain your job!"
For a moment all Mycroft did was blink blankly at her, face an expressionless mask.
Before he responded.
"I'm sorry," Violet calmed down a bit at that, thinking things were finally falling into the usual order. "At some point I must have given you the impression that my occupation is minuscule enough for me to lose it." He placed his hand over his heart in a mocking gesture of how serious he was being. "Please accept my heartfelt apology."
Both Holmes parents blistered back, shocked by the raw sarcasm in his voice. It was a tone that their eldest never used when addressing them, as he was always respectful when talking to his parents.
A tiny voice at the back of Violet's head whispered that he had every right to be angry. That maybe if they gave him the chance to explain himself way back when, then none of this would be happening right now, but she drowned it with her own disappointment and rage.
Mycroft threatened one of her children…
His feelings right now are incomparable to the peril he placed his sister into.
'But isn't he your child too?' The voice returned, a bit stronger this time.
Once again she ignored it.
'No. Right now he isn't.' She replied in thought, eyes sharpening again.
She came here to scold her eldest and make sure none of her foolish kids lose their lives in the process.
"Mycroft what you are about to do to Eurus is… it's inhuman!" She growled like an angry lioness. "How can you even think about doing something like that to her, when all her actions come from spending most of her life in the Hell you created?!"
The fox-haired man's eyebrows rose.
"I see…" He said slowly. "It seems you are more delusional than I had previously thought."
Violet blistered.
"I beg your pardon?!" Siger, who up to this point allowed to let his wife handle the situation, demanded looking just as offended as Ms. Holmes.
"You seem to have convinced yourself that all this is my doing, my fault." He leaned forwards, resting his shoulders on the wooden contraption in front of him and subsequently taking on a similar pose to that of his younger brother when in thought. "But could I really be held responsible?"
"Of course!" Both parents spoke up this time. "You're the one that took her away and lied about her death!"
"What Rudolph Holmes and I did, was respond to the given situation to the best of our ability." Mycroft retorted, voice cold. "Perhaps if you didn't bluntly disregard your own involvement in the matter, you would have seen what it really was."
"You dare accuse us of-"
"Oh I dare, Ms. Holmes." He smirked, before turning serious once more. "I dare because there is no one more at fault here, than you two." Now Mycroft's voice was loud and dominating, a concerning combination when confronting a man who no longer had the boundaries keeping him from hurting others. "From what I've read in the files, you had your chance to prevent her actions from escalating to this level when an institution for troubled children offered to give her much needed rehabilitation, after one of your sons raised awareness to her strange behavior." He looked at them, accusation clear in his sharp eyes. "The only reason you refused take it, is because your delusional outlook on the world prevented you from seeing that institution for what it was, preferring to think of it as a prison that will permanently dispose you of your child if you accept their help." His mouth contorted into a sneer. "Had you been the 'responsible' and 'caring' parents that you clearly believe yourself to be, you would have done what was best for your child, regardless of your irrational fears and concerns." His eyes turned colder than the Holmes parents ever saw them. "Seeing that you did close to nothing to help your troubled daughter, preferring to either ignore the problem or throw it on someone else's shoulders when it became too overbearing, makes me question how any of your children remained in your care as long as they did."
Shocked into silence the two elders simply stared at the man before them, trying to find the child they raised somewhere inside the uncaring eyes looking back at them.
But they could find nothing of the sort.
Only an impenetrable coat of ice.
Violet swallowed thickly, deciding to switch tactics.
"Please Mycroft… reconsider your decision about Eurus. She was acting out because of the isolation you've placed her in, and I'm sure she'll be more than happy to cooperate if you just give us the chance to speak to her." She sobbed, finally releasing the tears that threatened to fall the moment Sherlock gave them the news. "We've already been tricked into believing one of our children has died twice in our lifetimes. I do not think we can bear going through that pain again."
The Mycroft she raised would have agreed to this.
No…
The Mycroft she raised would have never allowed anything bad to happen to any of his younger siblings in the first place.
For a moment, all the elder Holmes son did was watch them with a blank look on his face…
Before he erupted in laughter that sounded hollow and completely devoid of mirth, catching both parents off guard.
They stared at him, hugging each other in fear of what he may say or do next, until he finally spoke.
"You selfish, selfish people." He shook his head, still chuckling. A second later he stood up and leaned over his desk, cold fury in his eyes. "How dare you come here, threaten me and then demand I fix your mess to your favor?! How dare you stand here and suggest sparing your daughter's life, without taking into consideration all the mothers that lost their children to her psychotic mind?! How dare you defend her and blame everyone, but yourself, for her actions?!" He glared at them, angry and obviously insulted. "What gave you the right to do any of this?!"
Violet pressed herself closer to Siger, fear finally getting the better of her.
This wasn't the son she watched grow up.
"You do not have to answer, it doesn't matter at the moment." Mycroft continued, sounding calmer now. "You came here to discuss what is to be done with Eurus Holmes so, against my better judgement, we shall commence right to it." He pressed a button on his desk. "Send them in, Anthea."
"W-Wait, who else will be joining us?" Siger finally gathered enough courage to speak. "This is a family matter-"
"That involves many other families, and not just yours." Mycroft retorted, sending the older man an icy glare. "They should have a say in how Eurus Holmes is supposed to be dealt with." His expression softened and he shook his head regretfully. "They deserve as much after everything she put them through."
Violet swallowed, hugging her husband tighter.
Soon the door opened, and five elderly couples and one lone woman that looked older than the rest, entered the dark room either holding hands or hugging themselves for comfort.
When he noticed the lone woman, Mycroft stood up from his seat and walked up to her.
"I am glad you found the strength to attend this meeting, Ms. Anders." He spoke softly as he led the elderly lady to the chair behind his desk. "Hopefully this will put a satisfying conclusion to this horrendous mess." He added quietly, shaking his head.
The lady, much to Violet's confusion, smiled at her son and gently patted him on the chest.
"Of course I came, dear boy." Her smile faded a bit. "My son would want me to, after all…"
Mycroft looked at her and then at the other grieving parents.
"I'm so sorry I didn't manage to prevent all this from happening in the first place." He sighed lowering his head in a rear sign of humiliation. "My duty is to protect the people of the United Kingdom and instead I allowed your children to be murdered by a psychopath, here on my turf. This… this is an enormous failure on my part."
"Now my boy, none of that, please." Ms. Anders said sternly, gently pushing Mycroft's chin back up. "From what I've heard, you did all you could. It is not your fault you are physically incapable of keeping tabs on everything that can go wrong." She gave him a soft smile. "No more blaming yourself about all this, okay?"
The other grieving parents also came forwards to ease his guilt, much to the Holmes couple's surprise.
It appeared they had no ill will towards Mycroft, even with his direct connection to the murderer of their kids.
"Ms. Anders is right, you know." One of the elderly men said, patting him on the shoulder. "Even after… the atrocity," He swallowed thickly. "has been committed, you did all you could to make sure we had everything we needed. Took care of the funeral procedures, got us medical help, paid our bills when we weren't able to focus on the real world because of grief, and checked up on us yourself whenever you had the time." He smiled. "Even if we had held you responsible, which we didn't, you've more than earned yourself our forgiveness."
The other couples humed and nodded in agreement.
Violet and Siger watched this open show of affection, stunned.
Apparently Mycroft feels responsible for Eurus's actions, at least when it came to those she hurt. So much so in fact, that he tried his hardest to make sure they didn't have to deal with the enormous pain alone. He was there for them in more ways than one, it seemed, never able to apologize enough for the misery his little sister caused.
This showed he really cared about those under his protection, and that he takes seeing them hurt as a large failure on his part.
Realizing that, something lifted from the Holmes parents' eyes, and they looked at their eldest son as if this was the first time they truly saw him.
"Mycroft…" Violet whispered under her breath.
Hearing all the approval around him, the red-haired man smiled a smile that would have been genuine if it wasn't for the fact that the spark that usually accompanied his eyes when he was truly happy, was absent.
"Thank you all for your kind words." He nodded his head in thanks. "But, regardless of my feelings towards the situation, we are here to discuss something that needs to be resolved quickly for all of your sanities, and peace of mind."
The mood immediately turns serious, as they all nodded and turned to the Holmes couple that has been ignored ever since everyone came in.
Siger and Violet shrunk under their penetrating gazes.
"As much as I would like to solve this in my own way, you all deserve to discuss between yourselves what kind of punishment would suit the crimes Eurus Holmes has committed against you." Mycroft then backed away from the desk, voicelessly giving up his say in the matter and communicating to them that he'll agree to whatever they decide was the best course of action.
For a long while all they did was look at each other in silence, before suggestions begun flowing between the gathered elders.
Violet couldn't believe this was happening.
Here, in this very room, right in front of her… people were discussing how to best punish her daughter for all the wrongdoings she has committed…
And she couldn't do anything about it.
There was never a moment in her life during which she felt more helpless than right now.
'This is it…' Ms. Holmes thought, tears falling freely now. 'They are going to kill her…'
After what seemed like ages, Ms. Anders spoke up on behalf of the group.
"We came to a conclusion, Mycroft." She was addressing the older Holmes brother but her wise, brown eyes were glaring at Violet and Siger.
In the corner of her vision, Ms. Holmes saw her son nod.
"And what would that be?" He asked, voice quiet and ready to accept anything.
"As easy as it would be to simply… dispose of her." The elderly lady's eyes softened. "We are not savages. We wish only for Eurus to be punished, no one else. Not you, not Sherlock and not her parents."
Violet swallowed thickly.
Another nod could be seen in Mycroft's corner, signaling for her to continue.
"So if it is okay with you…"
"I already told you I will do whatever it is you all agree on." The fox-haired man shook his head. "This has been your decision to make from the beginning, not mine."
"We would like you to simply ensure that she will never hurt anyone ever again."
Mycroft frowned at that.
"I'm afraid keeping her in prison hasn't worked so far…" He spoke up softly. "She has already proved that with her recent… stunt."
"We're not asking you to lock her up once more, Mycroft-dear." Ms. Anders spoke up locking her eyes with his. "We're asking you to dispose of the one thing that allows her to cause harm."
Violet and Siger flinched at the harsh tone, as well as the indication of what she means.
Mycroft stayed silent for a moment before nodding.
"I shall make the necessary preparations." He then looked at the elderly people gather around his desk. "Anthea will make sure you all have a safe return to your homes."
And with a few last goodbye hugs from the concerned elders, both them and Mycroft exited the room.
Leaving the Holmes parents alone with their thoughts, with nothing but their beating hearts to keep them company.
AN: I hope this lives up to your expectations ;) Thanks for reading