(sniffling) Oh, hey everybody. Sorry, I'm still a little emotional after last chap. Unfortunately, this chap is probably going to be even worse, so make sure you're as prepared as I am. (pats full box of Kleenex)
Sorceress of the Nile: I've also read fanfics that make Basil his last name (where the name Sherringford came from I has no clue), and that's probably how it was meant to be in the original stories, seeing as Sherlock Holmes was called Holmes by most everybody, even by Dr. Watson and it makes sense that Ms. Titus would make her rodent Holmes Expy follow the same...but to be 100% honest, I've always just made Basil his first name and made up a last name that kept changing every time I thought about it (for a while I even had his last name be Brisby and made him the great-grandfather of Jonathan Brisby from The Secret of NIMH), and I'm too lazy and/or set in my ways to change it now! And hellz yeah, Vincent Price is STILL a god!
FairyTales and Pixie Dust: I agree, it'd be nice if they had made up, but unfortunately any patching up they could do would be greatly hindered by the fact that Ratti is now deceased. Believe it or not, this chapter's going to probably make you sadder.
Devilgirl123: That is one fangirl's personal theory as to how he went bad, yes. It's nice to meet you, too. I do not have a deviantART account, but I do visit there often to look at artwork and I will be sure to check out your profile next time I'm there.
Prepare your tissues and hankies, folks. As always, I do not own The Great Mouse Detective.
Basil sighed. "And that's how Ratigan and I became enemies. After my wounds healed I resigned from Scotland Yard to become a consulting detective. I figured that I would have more time to search for him if I were working as my own man."
"Oh, Basil, that is the saddest tale I've ever heard," Dawson responded.
"Aye," Hiram agreed. "It's devastating."
"And now do you understand why I can't be in love?" Basil asked.
"No, not at all," Dawson answered. "I mean, what happened to your fiancée was horrible, and I can see mourning over her for some time, but seventeen years? I'm sorry, Basil my friend, but that does seem a bit absurd."
"Time can heal many wounds, Dawson old chap," Basil replied. He sniffed as he turned to face the window. "But it can't heal the hole that Evelyn's death left in my heart. And suppose I DID fall in love with Danielle, but then she somehow dies or leaves me. I don't think I could survive ANOTHER hole." He hung his head. "THAT'S why I can't be in love."
The others all gathered around Basil to offer their support. What none of them noticed was that Danielle had heard every word of his story from the other side of the bedroom door. She was crushed. After their wonderful night together, Basil still couldn't love her. Not that she blamed him; if she had lost a beloved fiancé in such a terrible manner, she doubted that she could ever find it in her heart to love again. No, she understood perfectly Basil's reasoning...and she understood what she had to do.
Later that night, once everyone else had gone to sleep, Danielle crept downstairs to the main room and opened the front door.
"Danielle?" The girl jumped a bit and turned to see Hiram standing there. "Where are you going, dear?"
"Thank you for your kind hospitality, Mr. Flaversham, but I'm afraid I have to leave now," Danielle replied.
"LEAVE? Whatever for?"
"I overheard what Basil was saying, about how he could never fall in love again after what happened to him." Danielle sighed, a tear coming to her eye. "He loved my Aunt Evelyn desperately, and he doesn't want to be hurt again. I can see where he's coming from." She chuckled a bit. "Besides, it would never work out between us. I mean, he's Basil of Baker Street, the world's greatest mouse detective, and I'm Danielle Ratigan, the daughter of his sworn enemy. We're naturally incompatible. It'd be best for everybody if I just left."
"It wouldn't be best for ME!" came a small cry. Olivia came running up to Danielle and hugged her. "Please don't go, Danielle. You're my big sister. I love you."
Danielle looked at the child, then at Hiram smiling at her, then back at Olivia. "I love you, too, Olivia." She picked her up and hugged her back. "You're right, I can't leave you. I'm staying right here with you."
"How sweet," a sinister voice spoke up. The three mice practically screamed to see Wallace and Jenkins standing at the front door.
"But unfortunately, Miss Ratigan must come back to London with me," Wallace continued. "We have a wedding to plan."
"I've told you before, Wallace," Danielle told the villain as she set Olivia down, who now ran behind her father. "I'm NOT going back to London with you, and I'm NOT marrying you."
Wallace smiled. "I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice, my dear." He grabbed Danielle by the wrist. Danielle started punching him with her free hand, until Wallace slung her into a wall. Danielle fell to the floor with a thud, knocked out.
"Danielle!" Olivia screamed. Jenkins tried to grab the unconscious girl, but Olivia jumped on his back and started kicking and punching him. "Get away from my sister!"
"Well don't just stand there taking it, Jenkins!" Wallace ordered his butler. "Throw her off!"
"I can't, she's just a little girl," Jenkins refused. "She might get hurt if I threw her! And besides, she has an excellent grip!"
"Oh for God's sake, man, do I have to do EVERYTHING?" Wallace grabbed Olivia by the collar and threw her onto the floor. The little girl landed on her rear and bounced, dazed but awake. Wallace then pulled out a gun and pointed it at her.
"NO!" Hiram cried out. He ran over to his daughter and quickly jerked her out of the way of the gun...only to be shot in the chest himself. He fell to the floor.
"DADDY!" Olivia got up and ran into the next room to get help.
"Master Wallace, she's getting away," Jenkins pointed out the obvious.
"Let her go, Jenkins," Wallace dismissed it. "We've got who we came for. Let's just take her back to London." Jenkins picked Danielle up and slung her over his shoulder and carried her outside. Wallace started to follow, but then spotted Olivia's cap on a hat rack. He grinned as he took it and stuffed it into his pocket, then followed his butler outside.
A few minutes later, Olivia led the Baker Street mice into the main room. "And then that horrible Wallace shot my daddy!"
The adults gasped to see Hiram laying in a pool of blood. "Oh my goodness!" Mrs. Judson exclaimed.
"Please, Dr. Dawson, you've got to save him!" Olivia pleaded with the surgeon.
Dawson shook his head. "I'm afraid he's lost too much blood. I can't do anything. I'm so sorry, my dear." Olivia began to cry.
"It's all right, my bairn, it's all right," Hiram weakly tried to comfort his little daughter. "Everything is as it should be. I'm going to go be with Mummy again. Just promise me to be good, all right?" Olivia sniffed and nodded. "That's my girl." He looked over at Dawson and Mrs. Judson. "Take care of my daughter. You're the closest thing she has to family."
"Of course we will, Hiram," Dawson agreed.
"Thank you, friends." Hiram then shifted his gaze to Basil. "Danielle overheard what you told us. She was going to run away before Wallace kidnapped her." He grabbed Basil's hand. "Find her. Rescue her. Do what's right." With that, Hiram Flaversham slumped over, having spoken his final words. His hand slipped from Basil's. He was gone.
Olivia buried herself into Mrs. Judson's skirt sobbing. As she did, Basil looked over at the still wide open door. "I can't believe she heard what I said..."
Danielle moaned and rubbed her head as she regained consciousness. She sat up and looked around. She was laying in a cot, on a moving train, in the middle of the night.
"Ah, you're up," a voiced startled her. Wallace was sitting next to her. "Good. I need help picking what kind of flowers to have at the wedding."
"What wedding?" Danielle asked.
Wallace chuckled. "It seems your recent bump to the head has wiped out part of your memory. OUR wedding, my beloved. The wedding that shall commence tomorrow, once we're back in London."
Danielle frowned. "I wouldn't marry you if you were the last rodent on Earth!"
"Oh come now, darling, must you be so difficult?" Wallace asked. "I'd hate to think that killing that worthless toy maker was all for naught."
Danielle's eyes widened in horror. "You killed Mr. Flaversham?!" She kicked him in the side. "You monster! I'd sooner DIE than marry you!"
Wallace grimaced as he rubbed the side that Danielle had kicked, then regained his composure. "I had a feeling you would say that. That's why I took the liberty of gaining some leverage over you. You see, when Jenkins and I took you from Flaversham's, we also took the little brat."
"You...you have Olivia?" Danielle clenched her fists. "I swear to God, Wallace, if you've hurt so much as one hair on her head..."
"Calm yourself, my temperamental beauty. You have my guarantee that she is perfectly unharmed." Wallace stood up. "Seeing as I am a compassionate mouse, I am willing to make you a deal; agree to marry me, and I'll have Jenkins release the Flaversham girl and send her to a nice orphanage. Refuse, and let's just say that I fear for her safety."
Danielle frowned. "This is a trick! You don't really have Olivia!"
"Perhaps I don't." Wallace took Olivia's cap out of his pocket, making Danielle gasp. "But are you REALLY willing to take that chance?" He threw the cap, making it land on the floor next to her. "You have until we reach London to decide what means more to you; your life as a bachelorette, or the girl." He started to turn away to leave.
"WAIT!" Danielle cried. Wallace turned to face her. "All right, I'll do it. I'll marry you. Just please, please, PLEASE don't hurt Olivia!"
Wallace grinned. "Excellent choice, my love." He left the room, leaving Danielle to pick up the cap, hug it to her chest and cry.
And thus we've reached the character death I promised you last chapter. No, I don't hate Hiram, I'm just an evil bitch who enjoys making the characters in her fanfics suffer (laughs wickedly). Don't worry faithful readers, I swear by Princess Celestia's multi-colored mane that this is the last character death you'll see here.
OK, now I REALLY want to strangle Wallace here! Anybody else with me?
Thank you for staying with me. I promise things will be getting better from here.
All my best, DiscordantPrincess.