— ii. trust.
Khalista. A name as silly as the rest of them. Mycroft, Khalista, Sherlock… and Eurus.
Khalista always said that Eurus was never really there. Since the day Eurus was born, a year after her sister saw the light of day, she lived inside her own world with no emotional connection to her family whatsoever—that's why she was never really there.
And she didn't bother to rip her sister out of that state of isolation, no, her mind always twirled around something else, someone else.
As she walked down the halls in Sherrinford, the woman's heart was pounding recklessly. She didn't know if it was because of the reunion that would come or the reunion that already happened—maybe a mixture of both. Mycroft stayed in his office, nonchalantly avoiding any contact with Eurus. Luckily, she wasn't afraid of her. If she was, her big brother had to come with her to hold her hand, just like he did when they were younger.
Now he wore gloves so he wouldn't have to touch her.
At the end of the long hallway, three men armed with heavy machineguns guarded the elevator to Eurus' cell. Khalista knew the procedure, she had been here several times already. After being checked for any dangerous objects, she entered the dreadful elevator. That one specific elevator conditioned her into getting weak legs every time she entered one.
Eurus was already standing in the middle of her cell, anticipating what was to come. When the doors slid open, a small grin formed on her face and for the first time that day, Khalista was thinking about how this could have been a very bad idea.
"Blonde doesn't suit you," Eurus immediately snickered.
Definitely a bad idea.
For now, she didn't answer. Quickly Khalista searched for a camera and focused on it. A swift hand gesture suggested whoever was behind the screen to turn it off. But the red light kept blinking. She did the gesture again, this time more aggressively.
"Don't think I'll let you talk alone," it rang through the intercourse.
"Seems like big brother is watching." Eurus's head also turned to the camera.
"Oh come on… Just turn it off already!"
"Not in that tone!" Mycroft exclaimed in anger.
A slight quiver hushed over Khalista's dark red lips as she batted her lashes. "Please, Mycroft. Ten minutes are enough."
"Do not disappoint me." The red light on all four cameras in the cell disappeared.
"After all those years, you still have him wrapped around your finger."
In the matter of a second, Khalista's lips curled into a devilish grin, her presence becoming somewhat more dominant. It seemed as if someone turned the lights off in her eyes. "Of course." Her voice was as hypnotic as always, magnetic even.
Eurus stepped closer to the glass, her face adorned with the same mischievous grin because, in some way, she felt special. Khalista would only take her mask off when she was alone with Eurus. Her pure blue eyes scanned her sister's face, mainly focusing on her hair. "Why are you trying to give him a bad conscience?"
Khalista didn't answer, instead, she also got closer to the glass.
"The wig. You wanted Mycroft to think that you didn't want to associate with our family anymore."
"Oh." She shrugged, eyes wandering aimlessly through the cell as if she was watching imaginary butterflies that floated in the air. "I like to make him feel things to remind him that he's not made of ice once in a while," Khalista explained.
"What about Sherlock?"
"I don't care about Sherlock."
"Of course you care about him."
"You know nothing about these things, how could you know? Real trust, warmth… love."
"No, I don't," she declared confidently. "You could have been immaculate. But compassion makes you weak. It's sad, really."
"Believe me, I've tried to rip that useless heart of mine out several times already." The smile on her lips vanished, leaving her face as a blank canvas. "But still I yearn," she said, her voice breathy and melancholic.
"Does it hurt?"
"More than anything. But I'm afraid that is not our topic. What is the matter with Sherlock?"
"I just want to keep him busy, give him some mysteries to solve. I'm bored. He's bored, you're bored."
"Disappointing,"Khalista said.
Eurus obviously tried to hide her bewilderment but the slight shudder of her right hand gave it away. To be fair, she already knew what she was referring to. Khalista wasn't gifted in the same way her brothers were, her deductions were different. She could pick apart the human mind like Mycroft picked apart the government, or Sherlock his crime scenes, so it was obvious that she knew something wasn't quite right. She could identify lies at an instant, even though she wasn't quite certain when it came to Eurus—she was just too skilled in hiding the full truth. "Not only mysteries, but he'll live."
Khalista sighed, shuffling her feet a little. "What do I do then?"
"I can't leave this place yet if I want to make this work so I'm going to get someone to play along with us. He will set everything up, the only thing that you need to focus on is that Sherlock stays alive. The man I've chosen seems to be reliable, but it's just in case he gets carried away."
"The role of an angel doesn't really suit me, does it?"
"No it doesn't, that's why you're not going to be an angel in this game. You just do what you usually do—control from the inside. Maybe some manipulation, hypnosis even."
Hypnosis. Internally, Khalista laughed at that statement. Surely, she was a therapist that focused on hypnotherapy, but that didn't mean that she could make people bark like dogs or forget their names with a pendulum and the flick of her wrist. "You know, that only works on willing minds after several sessions of preparation and trust."
"Then make them willing."
"It is easier said than done, my dear. Anyways, how will you get in touch with that man?"
"I get to talk to him as a Christmas present. Only five minutes though."
"Well, I figure that is enough for you to manipulate that poor thing", Khalista said before her grin reappeared on her face. Slowly, she got so close to the glass that her forehead almost touched it.
"You can trust in me."
"Good. Now shoo, our brother is probably ready to tear his already thinning hair out. The pawn will get in touch with you soon."
Eurus' word choice amused her quite a bit and if she was completely honest, Khalista loved talking to her. It was mostly because of her—unfortunate—interest in broken minds. "Goodbye then," she said, a tiny bit of grief lingering in her voice in the form of a merely noticeable voice break.
It was awful to step into the elevator and go down but it was even worse to get into the elevator and leave. She hurried back into Mycroft's office, trying to adjust her mentality back again.
Mycroft's usual poker face turned into a worried frown as she entered the room again. "What does she want?"
"I think I can start writing my testament." Khalista just watched as his expression worsened. "I'm joking. Everything is fine, it was just the usual, insults and mockery," she lied nonchalantly.
Mycroft let out a sharp breath before laying his hands over his face. "Do not joke about that…"
"Would it matter? You don't even look at me properly. Maybe you would if you had to identify my body."
With a slight self-defensive smile, he knitted his brows in confusion. "What kind of statement is that sup—"
Before he could finish his sentence, Khalista grabbed the front of her wig and pulled it over her head. After also removing the nude wig cap, luscious black waves fell over her shoulders. They were a little messy and scrunched up due to the cap, so she slowly ran her fingers through her hair to tame it. Since there was no reaction from him, she just threw the blonde wig onto his desk. "Nothing to say?"
"You're an insufferable witch, I hope you know that," he spat after realizing why she had done it.
Khalista just smiled lightly while stepping closer to the desk. Slowly, she sat down on the edge, slightly shifted across from Mycroft. He rolled the office chair back so that her legs had enough space and didn't have to lay against his own ones.
"I missed this," she whispered.
"What about this is worth missing?"
"You."
"Oh, stop it! I think we have already used up every available drop of sentiment."
"You're starting to sound like Sherlock. How scary."
"I'm sorry, my beloved sister," he smiled rather provocatively. "Please excuse this misbehavior of mine."
Gradually, she leaned closer to him. "You shall be forgiven," Khalista whispered into his ear before gently kissing his cheek.
"There is something on your mind, isn't it? You wouldn't be mocking around like this if there wasn't."
"…Yes. I thought the end would cease the fire but… It's still there."
Luckily, Mycroft knew her well enough to encrypt her shrouded metaphors—she always had a thing for being dramatic but, admittedly, they all had.
"Leaving isn't really the end and you knew that from the beginning."
"I had no other choice. I couldn't control myself, leaving was for the better, for all of us."
"It wasn't the best for you, I'm afraid. To be completely honest, it wasn't for me either. Not being able to help tore me apart."
"Everything is okay now. These terrible thoughts still linger inside my head, but at least I can keep my hands to myself."
"Thinking about it is tolerable just as long as you don't act on it."
"Do not worry, Mycroft. You can trust in me."
A/N
I'm sorry it took so long! The holidays were unexpectedly stressful. Also, I changed the cover back to the one I had on the first draft of the story, maybe one day I'll make a good one.