"Not today, boys." he said locking the door. The older boys groaned, a mixture of muttered curses and hisses. "This is crazy, Nikolay," the tallest grunted, in his thick Serbian accent; the accent still sounding near foreign to his ears, but his boss had relayed the language to him, so many times that he was sure he'd be speaking in Serbian in his sleep.
If he made it that long. His bosses, boss was not known for sympathy, nor mercy.
"He knows nothing. We kill him now." The tallest continued, he used more words, and Nick had been fairly sure that he caught a swear word or two, but the general message was there.
"Leave him be. Baron, will be here to interrogate." he grunted out. The boys gave him filthy looks. He had a feeling he'd be needing more coffee, by the looks of it, they may decide to shiv him in his sleep. He gave a short nod, to dismiss them, before quickly walking down the hall.
The passed a few officers, and a general, his eyes were solely fixated on the hat. Bumping into him, the two, staggering to their feet. He bumbled out a few attempted apologies, slipping the slip of paper into the man's, inner coat pocket.
The taller, man with the fur hat gave him a withering look, that made him want to wet himself. Giving another curt nod, and a few more apologies, he half ran to one of the supply closets, pulling out the small phone taped under one of the cupboard.
"Hello?"
He almost collapsed on site, thank god, that Mr Moran had picked up. "It's done sir," he whispered. "Good." the boy said, the sound of footsteps sounding, in the background. "It's done." Mr Moran repeated. "Understood." said another, male again.
"Sir?" Nick started. "When-"
"I'll call when I've been given further instructions." Will Moran said, cutting the call, just as Tim had closed the door of his office. Tim made a beeline upstairs, knocking twice on the door.
"I wouldn't bother her." Reyes said, from the couch outside, Ally's office. "Why not?" Tim asked, dropping his hand. "Mr Dorman." Reyes said, stretching himself out, blowing a thick puff of smoke into the air, making Tim purse his lips.
"Bet ya, 20 quid, one of these days she's going to turn him into a new vase." Reyes chuckled. "Prissy piece of shit."
"Dr Dorman?" Will asked, leaning against the railing. "Apparently." Tim said, taking a seat on armchair. Will scoffed, Reyes letting out an amused snort, Tim shaking his head at the two them.
"Someone tell me, how I have three idiots outside my door like this is a damn therapist office?" she snapped, making all three of them jump. Ally leaned against her doorframe, her short dark hair, tickling the edge of the doorframe.
"Sorry, ma'am." Tim said, jetting up like she set a firecracker underneath him. "Hghum, Kiss ass." Reyes 'coughed'.
Tim darkened, a deep red colour. Will smirking, looking down at his shoes.
"Fine. What is it?" Ally said curtly, straightening up, tucking her hands in her pockets. "It's done." Tim said, licking his lips, seeming to choose his next words her carefully. "Mr Holmes is in our custody."
Will was looking at her, not looking; staring. He was looking for some reaction, some change, a micro-expression that would have been missed.
She wouldn't give it to him.
She met his gaze. "Wonderful."
2 MONTHS EARLIER:
"What do you mean, you're not?" Ally snapped, pacing up and down her office. Will and Reyes watching her from the corners of the room. Will sitting on the counter, biting his lip. A nervous tick, one born of nerves more so than habit. Reyes on the couch, resting his feet on Ally's coffee table, something born more out of habit than anything else.
Will bit his lip, watching her, her short hair whipping around, practically screaming her annoyance. "Look, I-Yes. I am aware of-You made a deal! -Okay, listen to me, I don't want this to get ugly, so, I will give you a reasonable compensation. I'll throw in a new, isolated location…by the beach, maybe you could breed doves." Ally said, rolling her eyes at Will and Reyes.
Reyes snorted, taking another long drag of his cigarette, making the cloud of smoke drift around the loft, making Will's jaw clench. He hated that smell.
Ally swayed in her spot, furrowing her eyebrows. "I'm sorry, are you…laughing? Mrs Connell, are you laughing at my proposal?" Ally said, the tip of her tongue touching her front teeth.
The woman said something, making Ally laughed lightly.
He knew better. It was a dangerous, vengeful sort of laugh. The sort of: you-are-screwed-t he-devil-may-be- merciful-but-I sure am not, kind of laugh.
"Okay, Mrs Connell, I want you to listen very closely." Ally said her voice going softer and darker with each passing word. "You are going to be fulfilling the terms of your deal. You are going to give extra compensation for my trouble of calling you myself."
"And I'd get your affairs in order. You are going to die in 12 hours. Don't even start grovelling. It doesn't work with me." Ally said calmly. "Have a pleasant evening." she said, cutting the call, tossing it onto the couch.
Ally sighed, running her hand though her hair. "Give Rossi a call, tell him Code Blue," Ally said to Reyes. The man glancing at her as she spoke, still letting out puffs of his near finished cigarette.
"Confirm of kill 12 hours or less." Ally said, massaging her hands.
"Got it, Janie." Reyes said, putting out his cigarette in the ashtray, pulling his phone out, walking to his room.
"You really going to kill her?" Will asked tiredly. Ally looked up, her short hair ticking the top of her neck, the purple in it, illuminating in the low evening glow.
"You really just asked me that?" Ally said, stretching out, shaking her head out. "Paris, will be mine by dawn. I want you to get Stanley, I want her to help Priya. She'll need some protection when she's handling Paris." Ally said, picking up a pen, twirling it in her fingers.
"I also want Bev and Andy to be moved to Serbian." she said, biting the end of the pen thoughtfully. "Baron's useless. Also, remind me to call Tim and I need our tickets for London, booked and our packages accounted for. We leave in three days."
Will sighed giving her a nod, jumping off the counter.
"Problem?" Ally asked, setting the pen down, her calculating eyes, turning their full attention onto him. You, was the first thing that popped in his head, but he wisely shoved it down. "No."
Ally hummed, looking him over. It was eerie, it was like she had a sort of x-ray vision, except she wasn't seeing your bones, but your soul, that she was just picking apart piece by piece.
"I hope you know," she said, walking past him, picking up the small clear pill bottle from the counter. "You're a shit liar. Pack," Ally said, his eyes fixating on the bottle, just as it vanished from his view.
"Now."
It was an odd place to meet.
His brother's grave.
But, Ally had requested it, a simple meeting him and her. No security (in her case assassins) and no foul play (more on her part after she blew up their safe house in Albania; after she refused to come visit him for Christmas.)
"Mycroft." Ally greeted cordially, from behind him. Mycroft turned, looking her over. It had been some time since he'd last seen her. Her dark hair (darker than it had been in her youth) was short and choppy; just above her shoulders, tinges of purple that bounced on and off in the morning light.
Despite the cold, she was in her usual: dark leather jacket with her white shirt (two buttons undone at the top) with a decorative pattern sewn onto the collar of the shirt. Dark jeans with a pair of boots, with a small heel. A possible attempted to look older or taller on her part.
She looked like Jim Moriarty. It was almost unnerving. It was almost heart-breaking, there was no chance of getting back little Alvina Holmes.
"Nice of you to show up. Like my venue?" she drawled out, leaning on her right leg looking at him.
Her eyes scared him. They weren't…bright, like before. Not filled with wonder or excitement. When she was young, her eyes always shined no matter what; he remembered the way they danced, when she used walk around his office. The light that would flicker mischievous, when she would pick up a file or something she wasn't supposed to touch, and make him chastiser her, simply for his attention whenever Sherlock was on a case and she couldn't be. They would flicker with something either excitement or joy.
They were empty now. Despite everything they had been though in the last two years, that was what hurt him the most. She lost her light.
"I must say Alvina, you did an excellent job of filling your father's shoes." he said, twirling the umbrella.
"I know." Ally half-sung, folding her arms staring at the gravestone. "How's the diet?"
"How's the criminal network? Or have you changed to another self-destructive activity." Mycroft shot back, looking at her from the corner of his eye. Ally stiffened; not much, but noticeable enough for him. "I'm not self-destructive."
"I think your recent endeavours might disagree."
"You smoke. You treat nicotine like its oxygen. Don't whine to me about self-destructive."
"Your sixteen, Alvina." Mycroft replied. "Am I? Really?" Ally said, turning to him for the first time since she came. "Since when?"
"Why did you call me here, Alvina?" Mycroft asked, turning to her, moving his umbrella to his other hand. "If you don't want to listen to me."
Ally sighed, looking back at the gravestone. "There's going to be a terror strike on London."
"What?" Mycroft said sharply.
Ally nodded, a light gust of wind blowing through her hair. "It's going to happen in the next three months. By a group, that is not associated with me. I'm too busy to clear up your problems or start wars. So, me telling you should give you enough time to get your spy out of the ditch and back in London." Ally said, scratching her ear. "To stop it, you know…that sort of thing." she added awkwardly.
Mycroft nodded, rubbing his hand over the head of his umbrella. "Why are you telling me this?"
Ally shrugged. "I quite like London. Pity to see it go up in flames that I didn't start. I mean, more than half world is burning my name, if London doesn't…" she mumbled, turning around glanced at the entrance of the graveyard. "It's just embarrassing." she said, her phone buzzing.
She glanced at it, tucking it back into her pocket. "Have to go. I'll see ya." Ally said trudging up the path.
"221B Baker Street?" Mycroft called over his shoulder. Ally snorted. "Not in this lifetime."
Mycroft's sighed. "You remind me of your father."
Ally paused, turning around, her lips twitching. "I don't know whether to be disgusted or pleased." she said, biting her lower lip, the short strands of hair waving out in the wind behind her.
Mycroft paused. "Both would be adequate." he decided. Ally nodded in agreement, turning around. "Ally." Mycroft said, Ally paused looking back at him.
"I am sorry."
"For what?" Ally asked. "Life of the Criminal and the Detective. The Consulting Assholes, right?" she said cheerfully, giving him jazz hands.
Her smile was wide, her tone and body language cheerful and relaxed, to most it looked genuinely happy, close to fool almost anyone; but it didn't meet her eyes.
"You're not them."
Ally smirked. "Then who am I?"
So? Did you miss me?
Till next time...
