Chapter 11
After Laura was put to bed, which took a surprising amount of time, the three men set about comparing notes.
"I trust you have found your room's comfortable? " Mycroft asked, sitting back and sipping his tea.
"Adequate. " Sherlock said, noncommittally.
"Yes. Very nice, Mycroft. " John smiled, flipping open his notebook.
Mycroft smiled an arrogant smile and grabbed a file.
"Although... " John cleared his throat. " You might do something about the walls. "
"The walls? What is amiss with the walls? " Mycroft lifted both brows in question.
"Nothing. Nice walls. Just a bit...thin. " John shrugged and decided his notebook was QUITE fascinating, and a far better thing to concentrate on than the glare he was receiving from his best friend.
Mycroft caught the exchange, but thought it best not to ask.
" So, there are abnormalities in Laura's blood, that disappear at will. " Mycroft said, flipping through the paperwork. " I have sent some of my people to speak to the ones who ran her blood work when she first came into state custody, as well as those when she was in hear as a newborn. " Mycroft started,
"We need to speak to the woman...Mrs. Deborah Lennox, who released Laura to Miss Dettle. " Sherlock added
"I already tried to arrange that, right after I got the DNA reports back. "
"And? "
"And I'm afraid it is impossible. Mrs Lennox was found dead in her apartment. Apparent overdose the day after Miss Dettle retrieved Laura. "
"Did she have an addiction that anyone knows about? An overdose of what? " John asked.
"Mrs. Lennox was sixty years old, a widow and apparently the very definition of temperance until then. The overdose was...morphine. " Mycroft supplied.
"She stole it from the hospital, then? "
"They looked into it after her death. There was none unaccounted for. "
"Morphine, not an easy thing to acquire. "
"No. And this was definitely medical grade. "
"Murdered, then. " John felt bad for the poor woman.
"Obviously. " Sherlock spoke up for the first time. "She had to have been threatened before hand. But was it by Moriarty himself, or someone else? "
"He doesn't like to get his hands dirty. " John added.
"True. So, that is a dead end, literally. " Mycroft sighed
"When will we hear from your men? " Sherlock asked, his leg starting to bounce.
"Soon. "
"Define, soon. "
"Soon. Patience, Sherlock. "
Sherlock stood and started to pace.
"Patience is something I seem to be in small supply of lately. And all of it must be reserved from my daughter. Not for men grown men who bloody well... " Sherlock's voice was raising.
"Sherlock... " John cut him off. " I know you are worried. But you have to calm down. For Laura's sake. You can't afford to get upset and possibly miss something. "
Sherlock took a deep breath and nodded.
"Ok. " John breathed a little easier. " So, it is likely that whatever is popping in and out of her blood stream has to have gotten there somehow. Gloria had said she had this sleep issue the whole time she worked with her. She had it here, and in London. But we are back here, and she's sleeping normal instead. Why? "
"That's the question. " Mycroft said, his eyes distant.
Sherlock resumed his pacing. Then froze.
"She had been having nightmares. For some reason, often just putting my coat over her soothes her. Moriarty had told her that a prince would take her to a far away land. Stands to reason he was going to introduce me to her existence at some point, in London. But what if we have read this story all wrong? "
"What do you mean? " John asked.
"What if Moriarty isn't the prince. Just the fairy god father like he told Laura. The fairy god father...mother... always leads the princess TO the prince. The fairies in Sleeping Beauty looked after her until the prince saved her. Do you see? "
Mycroft kept silent, John was rubbing his temples.
"Argh! THINK! Moriarty wasn't the prince. I AM. All along, the princess always waits for someone to come who will love her and take care of her. Protect her. But there is always something hidden. Some hurdle he has to climb. "
"Maybe we can find more from the belongings in storage. " John said.
"Maybe. But it will be just more puzzle pieces. We will need them. But I think the key is going to be whatever is in her blood. The blood is what ties Laura and me together. And I believe that whatever she has is not natural to her. "
"Meaning? " Mycroft leaned forward.
"I really have to explain this? " Sherlock groaned. " Darcy was homeless and pregnant. We can assume that Moriarty found her and brought her to New York and tucked her away. He probably had men looking after her. Likely hooking her up to IV's. Administering God knows what into her. I think that's how the heroine got into her too. "
"But she had been an addict already. " John added.
"I hadn't seen her before that last time in quite a while. During that night, she didn't use at all. She seemed clear and focused. "
"Rehab? "
"Very possible. She never wanted that kind of life. But she was strong. I truly think she would not willingly put any child at risk for it, especially her own. She didn't even want me to use it that night. She looked hungry. I know she could have used the money. But none of that is either here nor there. The point is, that the drugs and whatever this other element is had to have been put there deliberately while she was pregnant. I imagine in smaller doses. Just enough. "
"But she died having Laura. Must have been more than a little. " John said
"I have doubts. I believe the official cause of her death is that she outlived her usefulness. She'd given Moriarty what he wanted. "
"Which is? " Mycroft asked.
"Me. Someone he could use against me. Someone with my genetics to play with. He told her had plans for her and her mind. "
"Like a Venom to your Spiderman? "John asked half joking.
"Who? "
"...and another movie to add to the list... " John chuckled.
"Lets stay focused. " Mycroft broke in. " First priority is obvious. Moriarty has been dead the better part of a year now. Laura, until today, is still having this issue. So, how is it getting into her system now without any of us noticing? What's the link? "
The three men sat in silence, pondering.
"The fairies. " John finally spoke. " Assuming they are Moriarty's henchmen, they must still be getting to her some way. Until today that is. There are three. Perhaps one is here, another in London. Which leaves the third. "
"Yes. " Sherlock sat back down. " But who? "
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
The next day, the men went through everything Mycroft was able to obtain. Not much of consequence. They boxed up all papers, letters, books, electronics...etc. Sherlock found a few scattered photos and placed most of them into a box. The ones of Laura, he tucked into his pocket. Also as an after thought, he packed few of the movies hoping to do more research through them. He already had the copies of Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. They were VHS, which he found an odd choice at that point. Instinct told him they would hold something.
Mycroft had them loaded onto the plane, and the three set off for the flight back to London.
During the flight, Laura did sleep again. Not surprising. Her thin little body had been bounced about in time differences the last 36 hours. She slept with her upper half laying in Sherlocks lap. Her tiny hands folded under her face, her lips in a soft pout.
"She's beautiful, Sherlock. " John said softly, watching the baby sleep.
Sherlock couldn't say more than thank you. Fighting his emotions was getting more difficult by the day.
Suddenly, Laura's limbs went stiff and she started trembling.
"Laura? Wake up, sweetheart ... " Sherlock said softly. The sound of his voice was usually very soothing to her. Not today.
"No! " she cried out. " No more! I don't like this game! Its so terribly dark! "
Sherlock started to shake her more forcefully. She just started thrashing about. He motioned for John to toss him his coat. WHen he put it around her she threw it off.
"Laura! You must wake up. NOW. " Sherlock said in a firm voice.
Laura finally sat bolt upright and stared unseeing around her. Her eyes finally settled on Sherlock and she threw her arms around him.
Sherlock held tight to her, his hand rubbing her back.
"There there, sweetheart. Its alright now. I've got you. "
"It was so dark. I couldn't find you. I could hear you but...but... " She was still trembling almost violently.
"I'm here, you can see me now, right? Feel me holding you, keeping you safe? "
She nodded against his shoulder as her breathing started to even out. He could feel her starting to fall back to sleep and rocked her gently. He wasn't sure he wanted her back to sleep, but the fit had obviously quickly exhausted her. Laura's small hand reached up a little and wrapped one of Sherlock's thick curls in her hand, and she tugged gently at it. In a barely audible breath, Laura whispered as she started to fall back to sleep.
"I love you, daddy. "
Sherlock felt his lip tremble as he placed a kiss on her head, gripped her tighter and whispered back.
"Thank you. "
He didn't let her go the rest of the flight. When he was sure she was deeply asleep he turned to Mycroft.
"These fairies... "
"Yes. " Mycroft responded, not needing the rest of the statement.
"What? " John asked, lost.
"The fairies... " Mycroft explained, " the henchmen who did this to her. We will find them. Sherlock and I concur completely on one thing. "
"And that is? "
"We are not going to find them for capture. They will die. "