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Cheers, SweetSilentSteps :)
Chapter Four; The Nightmare
As Maria's eyes fluttered shut, for a moment in time she thought she may have at least some good dreams. But, this of course was not so. She flinched and rolled onto her side as the nightmare took hold on her subconscious. She grasped the blankets tightly within her hands as she flinched slightly. She could remember it all clearly; the dream was all too real for her.
The sound of the gunshot's firing, the explosions in the distance, the way time seemed to slow down as she looked up to see the sniper aimed at her. The last moment of pain as the bullet dug itself firmly within her leg, the sniper being knocked at the last moment. It was lucky, had he not been hit, she would probably be dead. Sometimes she wondered what it would be like to be dead, there would be no more pain…but…she knew that death was never a way out.
The silence of the night was broken by a scream. Not a blood curdling one, but more one by a terrified woman who'd just woken up from a horrible nightmare. There was the sound of something heavy coming down the hallway in a hurry before Maria appeared at the door to the living room. At the sound of her scream, Sherlock had dropped his violin onto the couch and had started to head for her, but she however got to him first.
She was panting, the sweat on her face clear even in the dying light of the outside street lamps. She ran a hand through the red tangled mess that was her hair then leaned against the door frame.
"Oh God…." She said. She was so far out of it, the nightmare rocking on her already unstable nerves. The impact of being home and safe was not enough to ease her into a state of calmness. Tears formed in her eyes as her knees buckled and she landed on the ground. Within a heartbeat, Sherlock was there, next to her on his knees, bringing the woman into his arms.
"Sherlock…" She whimpered, pressing her face into his warm chest.
"I've got you," He murmured into her auburn hair gently rubbing comforting circles on her arm with his thumb. 'Damn fool! You should have known about this happening!' Sherlock swore at himself as he held Maria closer to him. Maria bit down hard on her lip, forcing the tears to stop before they could fall. She was not going to show her weakness in front of Holmes.
"I…I…" Maria stuttered out and Sherlock hushed her. He moved and kissed her forehead before resting his own against it.
"What do you want me to do?" Sherlock asked his voice low. He would do anything she asked of him; she made him feel needed and wanted. Maria bit her lip, pressing her face back into his chest for a moment. Finally she mumbled;
"Stay….stay with me….please…at least until I fall asleep…"
Sherlock abided. Gently he picked her up bridal style, with strength Maria had no idea where he stored, and carried her back to her room. He placed her down back on her bed, before turning out all the lights. He returned to her and sat on the bed beside her. Maria wondered for a moment if she was selfish for asking this of him but she was partly too tired to care. Sherlock sat up against the headboard, Maria cuddling into his side. She closed her eyes again as the low thrum of his voice sung her to sleep again.
Sherlock waited until he was sure she was asleep before he moved. He leaned down and pressed another soft kiss to her head before he returned to the living room. He wouldn't sleep; he knew this already so he got himself a drink before returning to the lounge room to being sorting out paperwork and cleaning the place up a bit, for Maria's
sake. It came around to 5am when he picked up his violin again and began to play.
The National Art Gallery – 5:00am
The guard strolled down the white-washed walled corridor, with artworks hanging in regular intervals on either side. His shoes made a 'click-clacky' noise as he walked along, flashlight swinging left and right in his slightly swaggering walk. A small noise made him stop and turn for a moment, but nothing appeared to be there. He turned and kept going, not noticing the shadowed figure coming up behind him.
The guard paused at the end of the dead-end corridor and turned to go back down again. He didn't have a second to comprehend what was going on, before his throat was slashed and his dead body hit the floor with a thunk. The figure looked down at their work before removing a painting from the wall and setting it neatly on the ground before pulling out another painting from their bag; hanging it in the empty place on the wall. After finishing their work, the figure left, leaving the body to be found.
Back at 221b Baker's Street, Maria woke to the sound of a violin playing far off. She groaned softly before rolling onto her back and forcing herself to sit up. She glanced over at the clock on the wall, on which she could just barely make out the time.
"Sherlock, its 5am!" She shouted before putting a pillow over her face and collapsing back onto the bed. Sherlock stopped playing and wandered into her room.
"I apologise Maria. I will need time to get used to not living alone," He said as she removed the pillow from her face to look at him with an evil look.
"Normal people need sleep,"
"I'm not normal, and neither are you."
"Make me some coffee and I may forgive you then." Maria said and he laughed softly before moving off to fulfil her request. She pushed herself up, throwing her pillow back before she got up and followed him out into the kitchen. She went to the fridge and opened it, her eyes half focusing. Her eyes suddenly snapped into focus and she slammed the fridge shut again.
"What?" Sherlock questioned, glancing over at her as he made her coffee. Maria didn't speak for a moment.
"There's a head in the fridge. A human head in the fridge…." She emphasised looking at him. "Why is there a head in the fridge?!"
Sherlock blinked at her.
"It's an experiment." He said simply before pouring her coffee and setting it down on the table. Maria sat down and quickly picked it, blowing away some of the steam before taking a sip.
"I swear Sherlock," She said before she laughed. "Only you could answer so causally about something like that…" She broke down into more laughter and Sherlock looked slightly confused.
"Lack of sleep does not suit you well Maria," He commented. Maria looked at him. He wasn't wrong about that. When she got tired, she got really giggly about everything, even a head in the fridge. After a few moments, Sherlock glided back out into the living room to return once again to his violin. He started off playing a wonderful melody, the likes of which Maria had never heard before. But as time wore on, he turned to plucking at the strings, seeming just to keep himself amused.
Maria had finished up her coffee and plonked herself down haphazardly in a chair in the living room, playing around with the settings on Sherlock's phone, setting a ringtone for herself when she rung him. Suddenly in her hand the phone buzzed and up popped a message from Lestrade.
"Incident at the art gallery, hurry, LS." Maria repeated to Sherlock who looked over at her.
"It must be important for him to text me this early in the morning." Sherlock said rising to his feet. Maria offered him his phone which he took before walking off to his room to get dressed. Maria pulled herself from the chair and straightened out her clothes. She hadn't brought anything else to wear so her jeans and loose shirt would have to make do.
She had to wonder though, what kind of incident could this possibly be? She was curious of course. She picked up Holmes's coat off the couch and absently threw it around her shoulders, putting her arms through the sleeves. It was so big on her that the bottom of it dragged along the ground when she took a few steps. But it smelled just like him, herbal tea mixed in old parchment. She smiled faintly.
Maria turned to examine the painted smiley face on the wall, which looked like it had been shot at several times. She didn't even want to know where he had gotten a gun from. That was when Sherlock cleared his throat from behind her. She turned around and grinned at him.
"I believe that is my coat," He said walking over to her. Maria just grinned like a child at him.
"It's so big," She said before taking it off and handing it to him. He pulled it on before his trademark scarf. He glanced at her.
"You'll need your coat." He declared picking it up from the back of the chair she'd throw it over. Maria looked confused.
"What?"
"I want you to come with me Maria. I know it may be too much to ask of you, but I want you to solve cases with me, I'll need you to help me deal with all the dogs." Though it had always been his intention to keep Maria out of danger, no-one else could keep up with him like she could. Maria looked at him for a moment, weighting up her thoughts. Then she smiled and took the coat.
"Let it be like old times right?" She said with a grin, slipping into her coat and buttoning it up. "Let's go."
