Author's Note: Hello. Thanks for the lovely reviews last chapter. I get so relieved when talk-a-lot chapters are well received. Now this chapter. Oh boy, this chapter… Whatever you think about it lets admit that there is no way I could write something like this two years ago. I'm not talking length, I'm talking this type of chapter. I wouldn't have even known where to start. So I'm starting this already with a thank you to you guys for helping me grow as any type of writer. Please read, review, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: Clearly I don't own Sherlock. The show is the baby of Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, while Sherlock Holmes itself is the creation of Arthur Conan Doyle.
The First Time Eurus Wanted To Play A Game
Anthea hated this. She hated every part of it from the beginning. From the moment she was called to a bombing at Baker Street to find Mycroft, Sherlock, and John barely made it out, to Mycroft telling her the plan while getting out of a singed jacket, to him kissing her like it was the final time he'd get to and getting in the car to leave for the airstrip to go to Sherrinford. She hated every small detail. She hated that Eurus could have killed them but the three idiots went waltzing into a place worse that hell practically skipping and holding hands. She hated that she was left in this stupid big empty house feeling like she could be sick again at any minutes. And she was furious that all communications with Eurus had fallen off the face of the Earth. When Anthea didn't want to talk to her she was everywhere, now there was nothing. That could only mean she was more interested in her current play things.
Okay. I get it now. I know who you are and why you were so curious to get to know me. Want to tell me how stupid I was for not working it out on my own? – A.
Eurus is a pretty name. It's better than Myc's name. – A.
Come on, I know you have a mobile on you. Answer me. – A.
Are you playing the good patient? – A.
I've played the good assistant many times. There's always time to sneak a look at your phone. – A.
Eurus. What is you game? What do you want to accomplish? – A.
Is this part of it? – A.
You want to be my friend? Then this is a great chance to start. Tell me something, anything. – A.
Are you lonely? I know what lonely feels like. You can talk to me, you know? It doesn't have to go to back to Mycroft. – A.
So we both know that is a lie. But come on, Eurus. Stop playing this game. I saw Baker Street. This isn't a joke. None of this has ever been a joke. Answer me. – A.
Damn it. I really hate you Holmes' sometimes. You're all so stubborn, dramatic, and stupid. – A.
Since sending that last message Anthea's phone had been sitting on the coffee table with her staring at it, willing it to go off. Waiting for someone with the last name Holmes to contact her.
Anthea hadn't gone to work that day. She'd been ill not long after Mycroft left and the last thing she felt like after that was sitting in one of those offices by herself. She'd rather house – it might be empty but it was her home. So she sat on the couch with her laptop on her lap and tried to do some work, the television on the news in the background. She wasn't getting any work done with thoughts bubbling away in her head and not letting her focus. If she was still distracted in an hour she'd make a cup of tea and call Jamie. See if the blonde could distract her for half an hour.
And she did end up having to call Jamie. Her best friend wasn't very much help in the matter, all she could do was listen. In fact when she found out about Eurus her reaction was 'the smartest and the prettiest, huh? Good genes, except the crazy thing.' It had been funny and frustration at the same time. James had just been relieved at such a laid back reaction.
"Ali, you do so much waiting around for people to contact you. This should be easy for you." Anthea could hear Hope gurgling and squealing in the background.
"But this is different." Anthea said, wringing her free hand. "This is-"
"Life threatening? Like half the stuff you do these days?" Jamie cut her off flatly. "Just because it's family doesn't make it any worse." Anthea shook her head even though she knew Jamie couldn't see.
"No, but that's the problem. Family. Em, Eurus, she knows what she's doing. If anyone could stop them."
"Yeah but it's two against one. If Myc is like three quarters as good as she is and Sherlock is half, then you have one and a quarter of her against her. Then you've got John for common sense. And it's a prison. There's guards and stuff, you know." She had more faith in them than Anthea did at this time. Jamie hadn't seen how wrought Mycroft was or how unsure Sherlock was.
"I don't know…" Anthea sighed.
"Are you still drinking tea?" Jamie asked. Anthea hummed in confirmation. "Maybe that's it. Maybe you're having coffee withdrawals." Anthea scrunched her nose and this time hummed in disagreement. The idea of a strong coffee right now made her stomach growl in disagreement.
"What I need is for you to agree with me."
"Fine, Ali. You're right. It's going to go disastrously. Everyone is going to die and we'll never be able to continue our lives the same again. Better?"
"Much. Thank you."
Skype began ringing on Anthea's laptop.
Skype.
Skype.
On her laptop where she kept no passwords ever remembered her Skype had apparently logged in, gone off silent, and began ringing.
The most significant thing to note here was that Anthea didn't have Skype. Only Alice had Skype in order to stay in contact with Robbie and their friends from university. Not one contact on Alice's contacts knew Anthea. Only Jamie and that was because Jamie's details were imported from the days of Instant Messenger. This is significant as Anthea knew better than to leave that logged in in any way shape or form. She had people message her if they wanted to talk on Skype so she could log in. The fact that this was happening… It didn't make sense.
Worse yet the contact was not a name she knew. Anthea exited the call. Ten seconds passed and the person rung again.
Anthea opened her phone and ran the name through her contacts. She didn't have it. She checked her email list. She still didn't have it. Anthea hung up.
It rung again.
Anthea sent the name to James.
That's the governor of Sherrinford. – James.
Anthea felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise as she read the message again, that typical Skype noise playing in the background, blocking out the sound of the quiet T.V. Of course. She knew something like this was going to happen. She told Jamie she had a bad feeling, and after all these years she had to have developed some level of intuition. She hadn't trusted herself with Emily and look where that got her. Stupid familiar and comfortable Holmes genes throwing her off.
First of all, why would the governor have Skype on at work? Secondly, Alice didn't exist in the government world. She was a non-entity who owned a really old car that Anthea drove and rented a flat in an empty building where lots of nonentities apparently lived. How, in the entire world, would the governor of a secret prison get the number of a woman who worked at home for a tech company? No, this smelt of Eurus. This had Holmes fingerprints all over it, and it wasn't the boys. If they wanted her they'd call her. She doubted Mycroft even knew her Skype name. Which again, had nothing to do with Anthea and was connected to an old university email she used for social media.
This was gross. Everything about this was off and tarnished the air. Yet, what was the point in hanging up if they were just going to call again? What if this was Eurus' game? What if this was her equivalent of texting back, just proving she still had the upper hand?
Anthea clicked the green answer button.
The screen bursts to life as a video chat feed began playing. Choppy and delayed at first but only moments and it was crystal clear. There she was the way she was supposed to look, sitting in a comfortable office chair. Familiar but colder steel blue eyes, long wavy dark brown hair, expression completely void of emotion despite the smile she tried to hold lightly on her lips. Eurus Holmes, all dressed in the whites of a hospital patient. She truly was a Holmes.
"Eurus." Anthea greeted in a low voice, holding herself firm and together. Eurus' expression twitched but still reflected nothing.
"Hello Alice." She sounded like a machine as she spoke – one that didn't quite understand syntax. "It's refreshing to be able to call each other by name for once." If she truly did find it refreshing there was no way to tell.
"What are you doing, Eurus?" Anthea asked. Eurus leaned back and placed her feet on the desk, crossed at the ankles. She looked a lot like her brothers when she did that. There was no denying who she was now. Now Anthea could see it, it was all she could see.
"Nothing special, playing a few games." Eurus twiddled with a remote in her hands.
"With your brothers?" Anthea asked cautiously. Eurus hummed and nodded, looking a little like a small child as she did so. The answer was chilling. Games? What games? What was she doing?
"We need another player." Eurus said. She raised her eyebrows and cocked her head to the side. "Want to join in? You don't have to come here to play, we can play like this." Anthea gritted her teeth. She looked down at her phone and unlocked it quietly.
"Why do you want me to play?"
"Oh no, don't do that. Don't message James or Carol." Eurus sat back up with a frown. "That's against the rules and will get you immediately disqualified." Anthea dropped her hands to her lap and Eurus' strange empty smile returned. "I told you, I like you. You're funny and you're almost as good at these games as my brothers are. James is good, but he always follows the rules. People like you and John. You two will bend the rules if you have to. Those are the people I want to play with."
"Why would I want to play with you, Eurus?" Anthea asked calmly. "After everything that has happened, what makes you think I want to play?" It was then that Eurus' smile finally filled with some level of delight as she laughed a single time in her throat.
"Because my games have great stakes." She said. She picked up something, presumably a laptop. She placed it on her lap and adjusted the camera to see her face again. Then she swivelled around in her chair and behind her came a wall of security cameras. The small screens were all different angles of a cell that held a person. The larger screen was a close up of the inmate. Mycroft. Anthea's stomach dropped and for a moment she almost threw up in her mouth. The man looking dishevelled as he comes was pacing around the room, inspecting the glass in place. This had to be Eurus' cell. Eurus pressed a button.
"We have a new addition." She said, her voice echoing. She was speaking on the facility's speakers. Mycroft looked up at the noise. "Say hi to Alice, Mycroft."
"Don't be ridiculous, Eurus." Mycroft chided the way he'd chide Sherlock. Despite everything Anthea's mouth pulled into a smirk and she sniffed. "This is you and I. Sherlock was the one to play games, I would rather be straight forward with you and be honest. Is there really any need to continue this?" Eurus' face crinkled up.
"Honest? Like when you told me they were only taking me a way for a little while? Or moments ago when you tried to convince Sherlock that you were horrible to shoot you instead of his friend?" She asked. Anthea perked up in her seat. She looked between the images of Eurus and Mycroft to trying and gauge something out of them. What dangerous games was Eurus playing? What was going on? Mycroft rolled his eyes exhaustedly. He placed a hand against the glass and leaned on it, hanging his head.
"I was sparing both your feelings in those scenarios." He huffed. Eurus nodded.
"Sounds like playing games to me." She said. "Say hello to Alice, Mycroft." She repeated hasher. Mycroft closed his eyes and winced.
"Hello, my dear." He tried to sound calm and sweet. Anthea could hear right through all his walls.
"Hey." Anthea said, she could hear her own voice echoing through the speakers. "When James said Silence of the Lambs I didn't realise how literal he was being." She sniffed a laugh again. Mycroft looked up at one of the cameras and smiled.
"See she's funny." Eurus said. She hadn't laughed or smile, though. She just said that. "Even to you, she's not afraid to make a remark. I like that. It reminds me of all those snarky comments you made to Sherlock and Victor. But never to me." Mycroft dropped his face again. Eurus seemed upset but to Anthea it made sense. If Mycroft was afraid of setting Eurus off he wouldn't be rude to her – he wanted to keep her calm and as safe as possible. "Back to the game." Eurus smiled at the camera.
"I don't want to play." Anthea said. "I want to know where John and Sherlock are, and I want you to let Mycroft out."
"Never mind them, they're safe to play with later. Sherlock is the best for games so I'm saving him." She waved Anthea off with a flick of the hand. She was such a Holmes. "For you. Since you're like my parents and such a patron of the arts I thought we'd get a little theatrical. You liked participating in school productions, didn't you Mycroft?" Mycroft said nothing. Neither did Anthea. "Now that musical you like. Phantom of the Opera. As tedious as it is compared to the book, I did take inspiration from the climax. How does that go?" Anthea and Mycroft clicked onto what was going on at the same time. Mycroft looked at the camera and Anthea looked at the screen.
"Which part?" Anthea asked hesitantly, dragging her eyes off the screen in background to Eurus.
"Raoul, Erik, and Christine. The boyfriend comes in and is the final piece to Christine's choice." She said. Anthea took a breath. She thought. She hummed a bit to herself quietly. She didn't like this and had never wanted to sing less.
"Misuser I bid you welcome, did you think that I would harm her?" Anthea sung quietly. Eurus closed her eyes and nodded. She gestured with a small conduction of a bar for Anthea to continue. Anthea got the sense that Eurus enjoyed it far more than she had originally said. "Why should I make her pay for the sins which are yours?" Eurus hummed again. When she sung a little bit she had skipped far into the scene.
"The tears I might have shed for your dark fate grow cold and turn to tears of hate." She smiled the warmest smile she ever had at Anthea. Had she managed to memorise it all in one watch? "Is that your line or Mycroft's?" She asked curiously and happily. Mycroft looked somewhere between sympathetic and sick as he looked up at the screen in Eurus' cell. "Oh well. Too late for turning back, etcetera." Anthea shook her head and tucked hair behind her ears with both hands.
"Right. The ending." Anthea nodded.
"Before the ending." Eurus corrected. "I'm talking that moment of the three delicate melodies singing over each other in what I'm lead to believe is anguish from all three parties." Anthea nodded as she listened, unsure how to act yet.
"I'm not a musician, but I like that bit." Anthea said. Eurus seemed to sparkle a little.
"What do you think, brother?" Eurus asked over her shoulder. Mycroft raised his eyebrows and took a deep breath. He was searching for the right answer, too.
"I'm not one for musical theatre,"
"L'Ofreo." Eurus interrupted with a roll of her eyes. Anthea would have smiled in any other situation.
"But," Mycroft continued. "Similar to you I imagine, sister, I can appreciate composition."
"Both the book and the musical have ultimatums." Anthea brought the subject back to the point. She wasn't here for a friendly conversation. "What's yours to get me to play your game?" Eurus' brightened further. She looked like there was actual life in her eyes now.
"That's the best bit. Just like Christine must throw her life away to save Raoul, you too must decide how much of your life you'll throw away to save Mycroft." She seemed so eager to play. Anthea was far darker. A laugh escaped her throat.
"Are you trying to tell me that like the Phantom you're in love with me?" She asked sarcastically. Eurus actually laughed a little.
"His name is Erik in the book. We're using real names today, remember?" She quirked her eyebrows like Sherlock. "So, will you play?" Anthea opened her mouth to speak but Mycroft spoke first.
"Don't be ridiculous." He spat. "You think I would allow that? She won't play. I don't care what you plan to do with me, Eurus. She's not playing."
"Oh, he's playing his role well." Eurus hummed but kept her eyes on Anthea. "I'm going to blow up the entire cell block if you don't play." Eurus explained flatly. Anthea's expression dropped and Eurus nodded.
"It doesn't matter." Mycroft answer. "Alice," He chose a camera and looked into it. "Your life is so carefully constructed. People like us don't live forever. Forget it. Don't give into talks of terrorism. Not from my sister." Anthea looked into his eyes. The same steel as Eurus' but so different. Mycroft's were full of sparks of life and deep compassion for his girlfriend.
"Okay, Eurus." Anthea shrugged, defeated. "What do you need me to do to stop?" Mycroft dropped his head and hit the glass with his fist he was leaning on.
"This is simple, this is a very, very easy task and I think you'll do it well." Eurus said. "I want you to compose an email, on your phone so you may show it to the camera before and after you hit send, to your lawyer boyfriend and tell him you want to hand over your grandmother's house back to your uncle and as an apology for getting in the way." There were no words to describe the feeling that overcome Anthea. A mixture of fear and loneliness, with a little bit of anger came close but didn't quite communicate it. She had no time for this, not with Eurus' games. She had no time to fear and reflect. But her grandmother's house? That Mycroft had gotten back for her? All his hard work to get her a piece of her family back.
"Eurus, that's-"
"Not even fair." Mycroft cut Anthea off again with a scoff. "I don't know who you think you're dealing with, sister dear, but if you think Alice is going to give up a family home for me you are more insane than I ever thought." He folded his hands across his chest. "Humans are run by sentiment and nostalgia, and as you and I know, sister, family comes far before others." He was right. His words were completely right. Family came first. Who was more family at this point to Anthea?
"Alright." Anthea spat. She picked up her phone and began composing an email.
"What?" Mycroft asked.
"Excellent." Eurus cheered.
"Ali, think about what you're doing before you do it." Mycroft used her preferred name to get her attention. Anthea ignored him and continued typing the email to Tim. She knew exactly what she was doing. When she was done she held it up to the camera on the laptop for Eurus to read. The dark haired woman squinted as she read. Satisfied, she leaned back in her seat once more and nodded.
"Great. I've one last detail for you to add and then I'll like you to send it. Add the email attached to this account so I may confirm you didn't trick me." Anthea looked and the icy stone eyes.
"What?" She asked.
"Tell him, your lawyer, the truth. Tell him you never loved him." Anthea's breath hitched. Mycroft said nothing.
"But I did love him." Anthea cleared her throat when she heard the panic in her voice. "I was with him for years, I did love him. I just was never in love with him."
"So there is a difference?" Eurus cocked her head. She shook it and looked back at the screen. "We know blood relatives are after you. Let's see about one of her precious exes." Mycroft sighed.
"The lawyer is a work contact now. Any bad blood with him can't be productive." He muttered. Eurus' face light up and she looked at the monitor showing Mycroft with curiosity.
"You lost a lot of your determination that time. My you must hate this attractive little barrister." She said. Mycroft scowled faintly. "Look Alice. Mycroft or Tim. This is your choice. Love or in love, it matters not to me. Just say it." Anthea swallowed her feelings. She shut them off and started her little P.S. at the end of the email. She added Eurus' fake email and pressed send. She dropped her phone like it was a hot coal and hugged herself.
"There, done." Her voice was quiet. Eurus leaned forward. There was some clicking of keys.
"So it is." Eurus leaned back. "Well done, Mycroft. Two for two. Although given how badly you love to sacrifice yourself for others maybe its zero for two for you." Anthea wasn't even looking at her laptop right now. She was too busy pitying herself uselessly. She needed to stop but just for a moment it couldn't hurt. It kept her human against an inhuman enemy.
"That's enough, Eurus." Mycroft said. "She's played your game. I'm here, willing to play with you. Let her go on her way now." Anthea heard Eurus hum in disagreement. She looked back into to see the youngest Holmes shake her head.
"Not done, yet. No. Half way." She said. So this is what a cold sweat felt like. Mycroft looked so tired he might drop dead any second. He was done. So done. He continued to look around the space he was contained in. "What's next in your little life?" Eurus looked up at the roof and began humming a song to herself in thought. As Anthea listened she realised it was All I Ask of You. There was something sad and very morbid about that. "Oh yeah! Your new parents." Eurus stopped humming, looking back at Anthea. New parents? What new parents? Anthea frowned. "I believe you are in possession of a family heirloom that was supposed to be mine." Oh, those parents. Mycroft groaned loudly.
"Eurus, no." He moaned. "Eurus, you're going to far now. Please, leave her be. I'm the one you're mad at. Please, not this." Anthea's brows furrowed,
"You mean the broken doll?" She asked Eurus. As Eurus nodded Anthea's heart did flips in her chest.
"Eurus." She breathed. The woman held up a hand.
"Stay calm. The last thing we need is for you to work yourself up in a state. I don't want to be blamed for anything I didn't intend to do." She said. It seemed very odd and out of place. "Go get the doll for me, please? I'd like to see it."
"Alice. Don't. Ali, don't go get it. Please." Mycroft's voice pleaded as Anthea got out of her seat. She went to the spare bedroom to get the doll.
Anthea held the beautiful fragile thing in her hands and stroked its face with her thumb. She loved this thing, it meant so much. It was hers. It reminded her of her home as a kid and of Mycroft's family. Anthea could feel her eyes beginning to grow heavy. She would not allow herself to break before anything happened so she took a deep breath and steeled over. It was meant for Eurus. She returned to her seat holding the doll in one had to wave it in front of the camera. Eurus seemed pleased to see it.
"That's the one I thought it was." She said. He steel eyes looked the doll over almost like she was admiring it and taking in every detail. Almost like she loved it. "Now break it." She said. Anthea inhaled sharply. She held the doll close to her chest.
"Eurus!" Mycroft called out. "Don't. If not for me or Alice, then for Mummy." Eurus rolled her eyes and rolled her eyes.
"I didn't ask her to shatter it." Eurus hissed. "I just want to her to break it into two or three."
"If you want it," Anthea said, "I could send it to you." Eurus pursed her lips in thought.
"No. I'd rather see it broken again." Anthea's hand tightened around the doll.
"Eurus, it's more than a doll." Mycroft said.
"I know." Eurus pulled a face at him. "That's why I'm doing this. Aren't you supposed to be at least a little smart?" She turned back to Anthea. "Drop it on the ground or push it in where the glue is getting weak. Those are my recommendations." Anthea could feel the fabric of the doll's pretty dress. She loved this doll. Then she looked at Mycroft in all the monitors. She could see the concern all over his tired features.
Anthea sighed heavily. She stood up on the coffee table, closed her eyes tight as she held her hand out, and dropped the doll. She heard the break as it hit the floor sooner than she was prepared. Anthea carefully stepped off the coffee table to inspect the damage.
One of the doll's arms had broken, its thumb nowhere to be seen, probably under the couch. There was an indent in its forehead that reminded Anthea of the cut in her head when she was kidnapped. It was not irreparable. It was already a fixed piece of nothing but sentimental value now so a little more glue and it wouldn't really look any different. Still, it was a fragile and beautiful thing. It was Violet's and Mycroft's, and it was so sweet, and Anthea had just purposely broke it.
Anthea sat back down on the couch. She buried her head in her eyes and sobbed silently. She didn't care if Eurus could see her or not, she'd done the job. She was allowed to feel bad about it.
"Good, good." Eurus applauded. Anthea sneered to herself before looking back up. She picked up the laptop and placed it back in her lap as Eurus continued talking. "What one must do for love, hmm?" She looked like she might smirk at her own joke but it quickly faded away awkwardly.
"I should think you've proven your point, sister dear." Mycroft said with a shaky voice. "Perhaps we should let our new playmate go."
"The game isn't over yet, brother." Eurus didn't look at him. "One more round. Are you up for it, Alice?" Anthea lazily shrugged, starting to feel the way Mycroft looked.
"Sure, hit me." She said.
"Oh, good." Eurus said. "Then the next target I believe is Jamie."
"No!" It must have sounded like an echo to Eurus. Mycroft and Anthea spat the word loudly at the same time.
"Eurus, no." Anthea shook her head.
"Do you know what you are asking? It's impossible. Are you so blind to human bonds?" Mycroft said at the same time Anthea began talking.
"Do whatever you want to me." Anthea leaned into the screen. "But leave Jamie alone. I will not touch Jamie's life in anyway. She doesn't deserve this."
"You don't even know what I want you to do." Eurus said.
"It doesn't matter." Mycroft hissed.
"I won't do anything to Jamie or Hope." Anthea shook her head. "Never."
"It's Jamie or Mycroft." Eurus sighed. Anthea ran her hands through her head.
"No." She said. "No. I won't. I won't choose." She couldn't find the right words. She could barely find words at this point. "Jamie is innocent in all this. Not her."
"That's the rules of the game." Eurus sighed again.
"What? And if I refuse to play by your rules you just blow the place up?" Anthea asked. "No. I won't do it. No. You like that I bend rules well here I am. Not playing along." She folded her hands across her chest even if they were shaking. Eurus chuckled.
"Just because we are incapable of such bonds, sister dear, don't mean they don't exists. Stop playing." Mycroft spoke darkly. "That's what you wanted, isn't it? To disprove the null hypothesis? To prove that we aren't capable of those relationships." He asked as Eurus began smirking. "Just like how Sherlock will not sacrifice John for me, nor will Anthea sacrifice Jamie for me.
"You're right." Eurus turned the screens to address Mycroft. "I am done playing now." Anthea relaxed into a pool of nothingness. Her panic for Jamie fluttered away to be replaced with something close to relief. "But the nun hypothesis wasn't proven. Sherlock would rather die himself than lose you or John. Similarly Alice said 'do anything you want to me', not whatever I want to you. She too is willing to sacrifice herself before you and Jamie. If you and Sherlock make these bonds with each other and others outside of the family what does that say for me?" She tilted her head. Mycroft's expression softened. "Why am I the only one? When you are the closest living being to me, why aren't you the same?"
"Eurus-"
Click. Anthea turned off the speakers and monitors.
"Come get him." Eurus cut Mycroft off. She whipped around and addressed Anthea once again. There was no more echo. She was no longer projecting her voice into the facility which meant Mycroft couldn't hear them anymore. Anthea, panic returning, leaned forward. "You may bring all the agents you wish, all the police you wish, to Sherrinford. In one hour I'll have everyone stand down and you may take control of the place. But leave home one minute before an hour is done and I'll let the cannibals have Mycroft and give them permission to shoot all helicopters and boats that come close to the island. Do you understand?" Anthea nodded furiously.
"One hour." Anthea repeated. "I will not move off this couch for an hour." She suspected Eurus was leaving Sherrinford. They'd deal with that later. Right now all that mattered was getting Mycroft back and if she had to go along with Eurus for a little while longer she would.
"Do yourself a favour and use the time sit with your head between your legs before you faint." She rolled her steel eyes.
"Why?" Anthea questioned her. Eurus shook her head and signed. She was dismissing it the way any Holmes would. It meant the topic was over.
"Goodbye, Alice. It's been fun. Come get your boyfriend in an hour." There was a strange sadness in her words that Anthea didn't expect to be there. And her words about relationships. Was that half her problem? She didn't know how to bond with people? She couldn't comprehend bonding with people? Was she just a lost little girl? A dangerous little girl, a little girl who should not be on the loose and was safer in her cell. But maybe the people at Sherrinford should have paid attention to that. Maybe her uncle should have noticed that. Maybe he uncle should have allowed visitors.
Eurus leaned forward and clicked a few times, she was getting ready to end the program. Anthea got the sense it was dangerous to let Eurus go feeling completely alone and lost. They didn't know where Sherlock and John were and if she was convinced she was all alone Eurus might hurt them… more than she intended. If Eurus liked Anthea, however twisted it might be, maybe Anthea could help John and Sherlock, and by association Mycroft, with just a little bit of kindness.
"Goodbye, Erik." It was a snarky remark in part but it was also that little bit of lightness that Eurus might respond to and therefore keep Mycroft just a little safer. Anthea saw Eurus smirk before the Skype call ended.
Author's Note: Oh, man! What do you think? I am both extremely nervous and incredibly excited to hear your opinions on this chapter. Should I mention that 4000 words of this was written in one afternoon? I didn't even want to write that day and then I just sat down after lunch… and this happened. This chapter makes me tired thinking about it. I've had it in my head since The Final Problem aired and I was so nervous to actually put it to virtual paper. I really, really, hope you… got any type of anything out of it! Thanks to our guest reviewers last chapter: Madalina, Guest x2, B, Eiranna4ever, Christie, and Guesswho. Thanks to all of you! I can't wait for reviews! Now I'm going to go sleep for eternity. See you in 5 days if eternity is less than that…