An Agent of Chaos (BBC Sherlock Fan Fiction)

2. The Offer

2. The Offer

            Jim had been really pressing his luck lately, and I couldn't understand why. He was trying to be riskier, coming back to the house earlier than expected. A few times I swore he was going to get caught by Dean, leaving me to explain why I was housing someone in secret. I was housing Jim for a much different reason than Dean. While Dean had showed up to protect me, Jim had come to ask me for help.

            Looking back on that day, I wondered why I'd agreed to begin with.

~*~

            An annoying sense of déjà vu crept up on me when I heard a pounding on the door. I looked to the front door strangely. It was night, so Dean couldn't be back. He'd just left for work. A little wary, I grabbed a rolling pin from one of my drawers and headed to answer the door. The person before me looked a bit taken aback by my defensive stance.

            "Expecting someone else?"

            His accent caught me off guard. It wasn't often that I heard people with different accents. I placed his as Irish after I thought about it for a while.

            "You're not the first stranger to come knocking on my door," I said lowly, still keeping a tight grip on the rolling pin.

            "Oh, so you're that kind of girl." He chuckled.

            I scowled. "Hardly. Look, I'm not one for people hanging around my house, and I don't know you, so you better leave before I call the police."

            "I'm not doing anything to you."

            "You're bothering me, for one thing. You're also trespassing. That's motive enough to have you arrested."

            "Listen, Ms. Whitmore, I came to you to ask for your help."

            My eyes widened, I stood more erect. "How do you know me?"

            "I knew your father."

            "Bullshit."

            "A woman with some fire in her. I bet your sister has the same."

            "You better leave now." First this guy knew my name, supposedly knew my father, and somehow knew I had a sister. He wasn't exactly earning brownie points.

            "Just hear me out, please. I'm not here to hurt you; I came here to ask a favor of you."

            "Why?"

            "The person who was after your father may be after me."

            "Tough luck for you. Do you live around here?"

            "No, I live in England, London to be more specific."

"That's a long way to travel."

"Your father's murderer has a lot of connections. I have no doubt he'll start coming after others like him, including me."

            "Why would you come to me? I was told I could be in danger from his murderer. Why would you want to come to me if you're in the same danger?"

            "I didn't know where else to turn. Please, Raine, I knew your father. I know you and I don't know each other, but I'm willing to bet you're like your father."