Adler-Holmes

Far Too Young to Die

It had been 4 months and 16 days since Jim and I had reached Woodley Island. I'd kept Mycroft up to date with everything we did, including cases my father was working on and how we'd caused them. Not that he ever told my dad what had happened. That was the deal. As long as he never knew what was happening, otherwise all hell would break loose.

I strode down some corridors towards where I had been summoned by Jim. Two men stood outside the door of Jim's office, watching me as I approached.

"Jim asked for me," I stated. The two men looked at each other before nodding and letting me through.

Jim sat in front of some computer screens, texting.

"Jim? You wanted to see me?" He looked up at me, continuing to text.

"Yes. Take a seat." I did as he said, slightly concerned at his coldness towards me after the months we'd just spent becoming as close as a family.

"Cup of tea?" I nodded in reply.

"Jim... what's wrong?" He handed me a cup of tea, shaking his head in response. I took a sip of the tea, eyeing him carefully.

"Jim...?" I set the cup down.

"What's happened?" He looked into my eyes, sending a shiver down my spine. There was no life in them anymore.

"Sleep well." The world started to spin as I fell backwards, Jim's hands stopping my head hitting the ground. I clutched onto him, trying to speak. I saw the cup as I fell back into oblivion.

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My nose wrinkled at the smell of something rotting. I opened my eyes to be face to face with Jim.

"Ah, Lott, now you're awake let's chat."

"Jim... what's happening?" I tried to see through the darkness, but the spotlight only hazed around us.

"We're going to talk about happy families."

"What?"

"Something you'll never understand. You've been sending things to the Holmes boys about what's happening here. Don't try and deny it, I know it's been happening. And know I would skin you alive right now if there wasn't a better way to deal with you."

"Jim..." His hand met my face, leaving a mark. I bit my lip in pain, trying to fight back the pain.

"Everyone out." There was movement in one of the dark corners of the room, before some light briefly flooded in as people left. The door slammed shut, leaving me alone with this monster.

"I could kill you right now. I could make it so slow." Jim stood far away from me, so I could only just make out his figure as I was blinded by a spotlight focusing on me.

"I could tear you apart, piece by piece, emotionally and physically. No training you received would help you deal with the pain." He rushed in front of me, so his face was millimeters from mine.

"I COULD BURN EVERY. SINGLE. PART. OF. YOU." He screamed at me, as tears ran down my face.

"I could prepare you for hell." He glared at me, moving his face back slightly. He turned his back on me.

"I loved you. I trusted you. I thought of you as family. I was going to move us away from all of this. I was going to stop it. All for you. So that you'd be safe and we could live wherever you wanted." Jim confessed, breaking my heart.

"Jim..."

"NO!" He screamed at me again, turning back to get close to my face.

"You. You don't get to talk. You listen." I nodded, trying to back away but knowing the restraints were far too strong.

"You see, Lott. No matter how hard you try, you were never an angel. You were the devil in disguise. And now you're going to die for it." He kissed my forehead tenderly before looking into my eyes.

"I meant it. I did love you. Which is why we're going back to London." I watched him, wanting to speak.

"We're paying daddy Holmes a visit. Mummy's left you. She went months ago. I didn't tell you because I didn't want to see you hurt, but now that's giving me strength. She was killed mercilessly." I whimpered. Jim laughed.

"Ah, so Mycroft didn't tell you that. He didn't tell you that between him and Sherlock they could have saved her. I protected you from that." He yelled the last part, his voice breaking as both our hearts did the same. He pulled out a gun, resting it against my head.

"You never knew how much I protected you. How much I loved you." He took the safety off of the gun. I squirmed, my chest moving rapidly as my breathing hastened. He shot the gun up into the air.

"If I killed you, it would be a waste." He dropped the gun before leaving the room and leaving me in darkness.