The Side of The Angels (A Sherlock Holmes Fan-Fiction)

Chapter Thirty-Six: The Story

We headed back to Scotland yard as quickly as we could. Greg met us upon arrival.

"This fax arrived an hour ago." He handed it to Sherlock. Hand written on a sheet of paper where the words 'Hurry Up, they're dying'. "What have you got for us?"

"We need to find a place in the city where all five of these things intersect." Sherlock handed him the paper.

"Chalk, asphalt, brick dust, vegetation...What the heck is this? Chocolate?"

"You're most likely looking for an abandoned sweets factory." I told him.

"We need to narrow that down. A sweet factory with asphalt?"

"No, no, no. Too general. We need something more specific, chalk, chalky clay. That's a far thinner band of geology."

"Brick dust."

"That'd be a building site. Bricks are from the 1950's." I said.

"There's thousands of building sites in London."

"I've got people out looking." Sherlock replied.

"So have I!" 

"Homeless network. Faster than the police. Far more relaxed about taking bribes." Just as he said this, his phone beeped. "Addlestone!"

"What?"

"There's a mile of disused factories between the river and the park. It matches everything." Sherlock said.

"Come on. Come on!"

~~~
We burst through the doors with a fleet of officers.

"You, look over there. Look everywhere." Donavan commanded. I took off on my own, torch in hand, checking all of the little nooks and crannies that a child could hide in. I shined my torch over a corner to find the girl, the boy laying in her lap, both of them covered in chocolate.

"I'VE FOUND THEM! OVER HERE!" I shouted. I crouched down beside the girl. "It's alright, sweetie. You're safe now." Once the other officers got there, the girl wrapped her arms around my neck and clung to me like a monkey in a tree as the officers tended to her brother. "It's alright...everything is alright." i stroked her tangled hair.

"We have to get them to the hospital." Greg told me. I nodded.

"Claudette, you've got to let go of me." However, this news only made her hold on tighter, so I ended up just picking her up and carrying her out of the factory. I began talking to her, to keep her calm. "Claudette is a lovely name. Not unlike mine. I'm Claudia."

~~~

Once we'd gotten her cleaned up, Sally and Greg started conducting their interviews. She still wouldn't let me leave, and said she wouldn't talk to anyone unless I was there. They finished up and went outside to send John and Sherlock in. I tucked her hair behind her ear, whispering softly to her when the door opened and Sherlock and John came in.

"Claudette, I-" Sherlock couldn't get the words out because at the sight of him Claudette started screaming. "No, no, I know it's been hard for you-" She kept screaming, grabbing my arm and pointing at him until Greg came and forced them out of the room.

"Get out!" He pushed Sherlock out the door and Claudette attacked me once again, wrapping her arms around my neck and refusing to let go. I pulled her into my lap, feeling rather confused as to why she reacted to Sherlock the way she did. 

~~~

Once I managed to calm her down, she gave me the ok to leave her with an officer. I got up, walking out of the room to see Sherlock looking out the window.

"Makes no sense." John said.

"Kid's traumatized. Something about Sherlock reminds her of the kidnapper." Greg explained. 

"What's she said?" This question was directed at me, as I had been with her the most.

"She hasn't said another word. She just nodded when I asked if she'd be ok with someone else." I replied, wrapping my arms around myself.

"And the boy?"

"No, he's unconscious. Still in intensive care. Well, don't let it get to you. I always feel like screaming when you walk into a room. in fact, so do most people." I glared at my brother.

"Was that your attempt at being helpful?!" I asked, walking over to Sherlock. I put a hand on his shoulder. He looked down at me.

"Come on." Sherlock grabbed my hand, pulling me out of the room. Sally was still there.

"Brilliant work you did, finding those kids from just a footprint. It's really amazing." She said.

"Thank you."

"Unbelievable." I stopped, my hand tightening around Sherlock's.

"Claudia-"

"No, Sally, what's really unbelievable is that you still feel as if anyone values your opinion. You would think, after being a proven inferior mind time and time again, you would figure out that no one cares what you think and they never will. So sit down, shut up, and do your job...or Anderson. Whichever comes first." Her jaw dropped and I pulled Sherlock out of the room.

"You're becoming more and more like me every day." Sherlock muttered.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" I asked, not looking up at him.

"Depends who you ask."

~~~

When we got outside, John hailed a cab.

"You ok?" He asked.

"Thinking. This is my cab, you two get the next one."

"Why?" 

"You might talk." He got in and the cab took off without us. I looked at John.

"That was weird." I held up my hand, waiting for another cab.

~~~Sherlock~~~

I sat in silence in the back of the cab, thinking of what could have triggered that reaction from Claudette. My thoughts were interrupted however, by the telly screen coming on.

"...nation, this stunning eveningwear sent from us here at London-"

"Could you turn this off, please?" I asked the driver. He did nothing. "Can you turn this off?!" The commercial flickered, and Moriarty's face flashed onto the screen, a cheesy cloud wallpaper in the background.

"Hello. Are you ready for the story? This is the story of Sir Boast-A-Lot. Sir Boast-A-Lot was the bravest and cleverest knight at the round table, often accompanied by the brave and Beautiful Princess Claudia. But soon, the other knights began to grow tired of his stories about how brave he was and how many dragons he'd slain. And soon they began to wonder...are Sir Boast-A-Lot's stories even true? OH, no. So, one of the knights went to King Arthur and said, 'I don't believe Sir Boast-A-Lot's stories. He's just a big old liar who makes things up to make him look good'. Soon, even the king began to wonder. He knew that his sister, Princess Claudia was telling the truth, as he had grown up with her bravery. Was it possible that Sir Boast-A-Lot was a fake? Just using the Princess' know how to make him seem real? But that wasn't the end of Sir Boast-A-Lot's problem. No. That wasn't the final problem. The end." 

"Stop the cab! Stop the cab!" The cab stopped and I got out, going to the driver's side window. "What was that?! What was that?" The driver looked at me, revealing that it was Moriarty.

"No charge." He pulled away and I chased the cab, coming to a stop in the middle of the road. All of a sudden, a pair of hands grabbed me.

"Look out!" A man pulled me out of the road, and I pushed him into a post.

"Thank you." I said. I shook his hand, and then three gunshots rang out. He fell to the ground, dead, blood seeping out of his chest. I jumped, wheeling around, looking at the surrounding buildings. A cab came to a stop a few feet away, and Claudia and John ran towards me.

"Sherlock!"