Now
They were lying in the grass together surrounded by hundreds of flowers. The sky above them was cloudless and crystal clear. There was no noise to interrupt their peace. She stared into his eyes, brown and full of warmth and love. Softly she raised her hand to stroke his cheek.
"I miss this," she murmured, making him smile.
"The same goes for me too, love," he replied, taking her hand and kissing her knuckles. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I guess. I mean, I'm not dead so I guess that's a good thing," she replied with a shrug. He chuckled softly, the sound echoing all around them.
"Here's hoping it'll stay that way, yeah?" he said.
"Yeah," she sighed, snuggling closer to him.
"I miss you, John."
John smiled sadly, his thumb moving in circles over her hand.
"I know."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Teddy's eyes fluttered open, realizing that the ringing that had interrupted her dream was still going. With a groan she rolled over to find her phone sitting on the draw next to her bed, the screen lit up and her ringtone blaring. She reached over and grabbed it, answering the bastard that had ruined her dream.
"Talk to me."
"They're on the move."
Teddy inhaled sharply, suddenly awake. She sat up slowly, eyes narrowed. Quickly she looked towards the bed next to hers only to find it empty.
"Where are they? How long do you think we have?"
"I'll text you the details. Your window of opportunity is slim, sister mine. You've got until tomorrow morning at the latest and then they'll be back in hiding, although if you do miss this chance I don't think you'll have to wait long for the next."
"Still, the sooner we take them out the sooner this whole thing is done."
"Exactly, so I'd advise you to leave now. Tell Sherlock, it's time to move."
"Okay," Teddy replied, before biting her lip. She couldn't help it, she had to know.
"Hey, Mycroft?"
"Yes?"
"Is John...?"
There was a pause on the other side of the line for a moment but then-
"He's fine, Thea. He's living with his partner now. Things seem quite serious between the two."
"Is he happy?"
"Yes. He's doing what you asked of him. He's fine."
"O-Okay. I just had to make sure. Bye, Mycroft."
"Goodbye, Thea."
Hanging up and placing her phone on the draw Teddy sighed, staring at her brother's empty bed. It was a rare thing for her brother to get up before her, he usually slept in longer than her. That wasn't the case today, though. His jacket and shoes were gone so obviously he had gone out, probably with Cosette. Teddy couldn't help but feel sad for the pair. They had connected extremely well in the past three days, though Teddy put that down to the fact that Sherlock finally knew the truth. She remembered that morning when she had woken up and found Sherlock sitting on his bed, lips thin and eyebrows drawn in thought. When she had asked what was wrong he had stated that he knew.
Teddy didn't press further, but she knew he was quite shocked by the new information he had learned. After processing the shock, though, he had changed. He seemed to orbit around Cosette, making sure that she was happy, especially yesterday after her mother Margot had gone to go see her sister. By doing this he became happier. He laughed more and smiled more and they were closer than ever. Thinking about how she would have to break the news to Sherlock- that it was time to move on- pained Teddy but she knew it had to happen. Standing up and stretching she began packing her stuff up along with Sherlock's, hoping that he would be back soon, wherever he was.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
She had come into his room early that morning, telling him that she wanted to take him somewhere. At first, due to sleepiness, he didn't know what place she was talking about. In a sleepy daze he had changed and eaten before following the quiet Cosette out of the house and towards the waiting cab. It wasn't until he noticed the flowers in her hands that he realized where they were going and suddenly all grogginess left him. Suddenly he felt out of place and... a little scared. He couldn't believe it at first. Why was he scared? What was he to fear? Asking that question to himself, though, didn't help his mood. In fact, it made him feel worse. What was he to fear? Only the painful emotions that normal people felt. Only the crushing sadness that would most likely come to take he and Cosette hostage.
The drive was a quiet one which took half an hour but soon they had arrived at their destination. The cab pulled into the area, coming to a stop beside the footpath. Cosette asked him to wait before climbing out of the car and waiting for Sherlock to follow suit. For a moment Sherlock wondered whether or not he should just wait for Cosette to do her thing. After a few seconds, though, he realized he couldn't, for two reasons. The first: Cosette had obviously wanted to show him something dear to her heart, something he had not confided in him at first. He couldn't chuck it back in her face! Not something like this. And the second: He wasn't sure if she would be able to find it without his help. The area was quite large and navigating it looked difficult, even with Sherlock's fully capable eyes. He hated to think what it was like for Cosette.
So without a word Sherlock got out of the cab and came to stand beside Cosette, looking down at her for a moment with a frown on his face. Her eyes stared straight ahead, her attention not on him. Without a word she slipped one arm around Sherlock's before taking a deep breath.
"Look to ze third row down from ze tree. White 'eadstone. I theenk 'e ees still ze only one in zat row with a white 'eadstone."
Sherlock peered towards the area that Cosette was talking about and even from this distance he could see it; a beacon of white surrounded by grey stone and black marble. Swallowing Sherlock began to lead Cosette over, the weight of the world feeling like it was pressing down on him. He wasn't a fan of cemeteries. He hadn't been to one since he had last seen John Watson walking away from his headstone back in London. He didn't say anything about it to Cosette, though. This was all she wanted, and this was what he had wanted too. He had wanted the truth and now Cosette was giving it to him fully. Together they continued to walk past the dead towards the only one that mattered to them.
It was a simple headstone, although not as simple as Sherlock's had been. It had his name-William Brasseur- and his date of birth- August 25th- and then his date of death- July 10th. The date sounded familiar but at that time he didn't make a connection. All he could think about was the fact that William's fourth birthday had only been a few short weeks away. On the left hand side of the headstone was a photo of the boy, one Sherlock had not found in Cosette's memory box. He had a smile as radiant as the sun and a head full of dark, wavy hair. In his hands he clutched a bunch of flowers and he stared up at the camera with golden eyes like his mother's before she had gone blind.
"'Ow does it look?" Cosette asked softly, tugging on Sherlock's arm. "Ees it clean? Does eet need to be wiped down? And what about 'is flowers? Do zey need to be chucked out or can zey still stay?"
"They're..." Sherlock swallowed, looking down at the flowers that surrounded William's grave along with the plastic toys and other little trinkets. "They're fine. Everything's fine, Cosette."
Cosette nodded before, with a small inhale of breath, she pulled away from Sherlock and took a step towards her son's grave. She knelt down and placed half the flowers she held in her hands- a bunch of cinquefoil, purple hyacinths and forget-me-nots- in front of his headstone before standing up and placing a hand on it. She stood there for awhile, staring down at the earth which her son lay under. Sherlock took a step, standing beside Cosette in silence as she thought about her son. After some time she looked up from the ground and spoke, her voice grim.
"Eet's today."
"Pardon?"
"Today. Eet's ze 10th of July today, Sherlock. Three years ago my baby died. 'E would be six by now, nearly seven."
With a small, silent gasp Sherlock stared from Cosette to William's headstone, staring at the date. The reason why that date had bothered him so finally showed itself to him. Swallowing back the sadness he was feeling he placed his hand on Cosette's shoulder, unable to think of something to say. In the end he didn't say anything at all. In the end they just stood there together and mourned for a boy Sherlock had never met and yet felt very protective towards.
After some time though Cosette began to move, bringing her fingertips towards her lips and kissing them softly before placing them on William's headstone.
"Jusqu'à ce que nous rencontrons à nouveau , mon ange chéri*," she whispered before taking two steps to the left and stopping in front of another headstone. Reading the writing on it Sherlock realized that it was the grave of Cosette's father. She lay the other half of the flowers down onto his grave before repeating the same motions she had done with William beforehand.
"Bonjour , papa . Tu me manques*," she said, before adding, "I 'ope you and William are getting up to all sorts of mischief up zere. Take good care of my son, papa, seeing as I couldn't."
Sherlock frowned but didn't say a word as Cosette said her goodbyes to her two family members, promising to return again in a few short days. As the pair made their way back to the taxi Sherlock found himself reaching for Cosette's hand, his heart beating fast. He didn't know why he was doing this. He didn't know what was compelling him to do this, but all of a sudden he had felt... something. Something odd and light and powerful that started in his heart and led down towards his fingers. It didn't end there, though. It was as though there was a string connecting his heart, his fingers, to Cosette's. Part of him wanted to stop. Part of him wanted to pull his hand back before his skin came into contact with hers. Another part of him, though, more powerful than the others, told him not to. It felt like the string was being tugged on, trying to pull him closer to her.
His hand shaking Sherlock brushed his fingers against Cosette's, biting his lip in worry at what he was doing. He did it again but this time he found his fingers lacing themselves with Cosette's. At first, she hadn't responded, but Sherlock could feel her hand jump slightly underneath his, as if her pulse had risen rapidly. Slowly, though, she replied and her hand tightened around his. Together they walked back to the taxi hand in hand in subdued silence.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
They had been out the whole day and in that time Teddy had packed and repacked twice, cleaned the house, paced around the yard before finally sitting down in the armchair waiting for them to walk through the door. Outside the sun was beginning to set and Teddy's stomach was churning. She had received the phone call in the late hours of the morning so for the past afternoon she had been waiting and worrying, ready to leave and continue on their mission. They were so close to finishing, so damn close. There was only a small handful of groups left now and once they were taken care of they could go home! Teddy was ready to go home. Over a year of travelling-hell, nearly two years!- and during that time they had been chased, beaten, shot at, yelled at, interrogated, and hunted like dogs. This had been the first grace period the siblings had been given and Teddy hoped that it would be the last time before they returned home. She was over it. She wanted to finish it now. If only they would come home!
As though her prayers had been answered the doorknob turned and in came Cosette and Sherlock, both holding hands. As soon as Teddy saw this she realized how hard it would be for Sherlock to say goodbye. She swallowed, staring at the pair who still hadn't realized she was in the living room. It wasn't until Sherlock turned around that he paused, a frown on his face.
"Teddy?" he said, closing the door behind them and staring at her.
"It's time."
"What?" both Sherlock and Cosette said, confusion crossing over their faces. Teddy breathed in deeply, knowing that it was better for her to just rip the band-aid off and just tell them.
"It's time to go, Sherlock. Mycroft called, said they've come above ground. We have a fourteen hour window from now to go and take them out. Once we do we've only got a few more jobs and then we're done. We should be finished by late September, early October if we're lucky."
Teddy watched as Sherlock slowly realized what she was saying. With sadness and a hint of fear on his face he looked down at Cosette who was standing still, looking down towards the floor. Teddy didn't miss Sherlock's hand tightening around Cosette's, nor did she miss Cosette's face become pale. Her eyes met Sherlock's and she frowned, crossing her arms. She hated to be the enemy but it seemed that in this case, she had to be.
"Sherlock," she said, a warning tone in her voice.
"Can't we stay the night, at least until Margot returns tomorrow?" Sherlock asked, a hint of worry in his voice. "I don't want to leave Cosette alone, and this is all quite sudden, isn't it?"
"If we want to take them down we gotta go now, Sherly," Teddy replied. Cosette looked up at Sherlock, a small smile on her face.
"Eet will be okay, Sherlock. I will be fine. I've been alone before, I shall be fine for one night."
"But I don't want you to be alone, not even for one night," Sherlock murmured, looking down at her. "Especially not on this night."
With a frown Teddy pondered over Sherlock's words. It took her a moment to deduce the truth in them but when she did her eyes widened and she stared at Cosette. She had completely forgotten...
"I will be fine, Sherlock," Cosette assured him, her smile growing as if this would convince him. The siblings could see the worry in her expression, though, and the sadness.
"Cosette..."
"Sherlock," Teddy interrupted, her gaze flickering towards the window. Outside the sun had set and the world had gone dark. If they wanted to get to the station and into Paris at a reasonable hour they had to leave now.
"This is it, okay? We are so close to finishing. We take these guys done we're only a short handful of groups away from going home. Do you remember that, Sherlock? Home? We've been doing this for nearly two years, Sherlock. I'm ready to go home. The only way we can do that, though, is if we keep moving forward. If we wait our window will close and we'll be waiting yet again. I don't want to wait! I want to end this and get back into the real world."
Sherlock glared at her, a flash of anger crossing over his face.
"So you just want to go? You just want to leave Cosette by herself-"
"Sherlock, please," Cosette said, using her other hand to brush his arm softly. Sherlock didn't listen, though.
"Because I can't do that. I can't just leave her like this, all alone. We can find them later, we'll have the chance. Let's just stay for tonight."
"Our chance will be later, something I don't want. I want this to be over now, so we have to go."
"Are you really asking me to leave her?"
"I'm asking you the same thing you asked me, Sherlock," Teddy snapped, her tone a little harsher than what she intended. Sherlock stared at her, a shocked look on his face at what she had said. A silence fell over them all as the siblings stared at each other, a pleading look in both their eyes. Teddy felt a little guilty at bringing up her sacrifice but she knew that if she wanted Sherlock to leave, she had to do it. In the end Cosette broke the silence, her words quiet but clear.
"Sherlock, Teddy's right. You 'ave to go. Catch zem, take zem out. Ze sooner you do zat, ze sooner you can finish and come 'ome. I'll be all right, Sherlock. Just go, I'll still be 'ere when you return," she told him. Sherlock looked down at her and for the first time ever Teddy saw something she never thought she would see cross her brother's face. He brought his free hand up and gently pushed a strand of Cosette's honey-colored hair behind her ear, the centre of his forehead creased as he looked at her. Teddy saw it in his eyes; the admiration and care and gentle, cautious love that resided there.
"I don't want to," he said softly.
"But you 'ave to. So go. I'll be waiting 'ere when you return," Cosette replied gently. With a sad look on his face Sherlock nodded, untangling his hands from hers and pulling away.
A few minutes later after the siblings had said goodbye to Cosette they walked away from the cottage with nothing but two backpacks between them and a silence that was as big as the dark sky above them.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A few kilometers away a group of men were driving towards the cottage with only one thing on their mind: tonight, the black sky would be painted red.
Author Note: We are getting very close to the end of this fic. I think there are only six chapters remaining and then it's completed! There are only a few issues left now, like what was it that caused Cosette and Sherlock to end their friendship while at University, will Teddy and Sherlock catch the bad guys on time and, more importantly, what are the group of men planning on doing when they get to Cosette's home? Will they be successful in their mission? All will be reveled, in time. Anyway, here are the English translations of the French sentences from earlier:
*Jusqu'à ce que nous rencontrons à nouveau , mon ange chéri- Until we meet again , my darling angel
* Bonjour , papa . Tu me manques- Hello dad. I miss you