Once Upon Another Time (Third Book In The "Life Is But A Dream" Saga)

part four [and two thirds]

a/n: this is gonna be told in third person limited, specifically from Sherlock's point of view. PLEASE READ THE CHAPTER BEFORE THIS FIRST
~

Sherlock's heart stopped as he felt the bullet penetrate his torso. As he escaped to his Mind Palace, time slowed down dramatically.

"It's not like it is in the movies. There's not a great big spurt of blood and you go flying backwards." Molly's voice rang out. He saw his mortician friend walk to his side as the room turned bright white. Now at his left was Aspen, as he recalled the days when she would work with Molly.

"The impact isn't spread over a wide area." Aspen continued Molly's words. "It's tightly focused, so there's little to no energy transfer."

Using gloved hands, she uncovered what was Sherlock's future corpse if he couldn't figure this out fast enough. His eyes were closed and there was a small hole right under his chest.

"Damn, you have a pack." Aspen joked, to Molly and Sherlock's distaste. "Sorry."

"You're almost certainly going to die, so we need to focus." Molly informed, and then slapped Sherlock across the face, while in the real world he was still standing.

"She said focus!" Aspen ordered, and struck him the other way. He was brought back to the mortuary chamber.

"It's all well and clever having a Mind Palace, but you've only three seconds of consciousness left to use it. So, come on – what's going to kill you?" Molly hurried.

"B-blood loss." Sherlock stated.

"Good, now you have to figure out which way to fall." Aspen told the detective. "Forwards or backwards?"

"One hole, or two?" Sherlock heard Anderson ask.
"That's what she said." He heard Aspen mutter. Why exactly Sherlock thought of her when he was about to die he'll never know.

"Sorry?" Sherlock asked, focusing on the task at hand.

"Is there an exit wound?" Molly clarified.

"It would depend on the gun." Aspen informed while Sherlock imagined an array of guns, and slid through them like a PowerPoint. He stopped at one resembling Mary's.

"That one, I think. Or... that one?" He stopped at various pistols, getting confused.

"For gods sakes, Sherlock, it doesn't depend on the gun." He heard Mycroft call. "You saw the whole room when you entered it. What was directly behind you when you were murdered?"

"I haven't been murdered yet." Sherlock muttered.

"Balance of probablility, little brother." Mycroft advised.

Sherlock looked behind and saw a mirror there, clean and unbroken.

"If the bullet had passed through you, what would you have heard?" Aspen asked, appearing in the mirror with him.