Chapter Text
7h46 PM - Gainesville - Florida - United-States
It was a cool night of November. The leaves are almost all on the ground, blown by the soft wind in the dark. The streets were lit by the artificial lights that polluted the star-filled sky. Some houses were decorated of red, blue and green lights, a sign that people have started to think about Christmas already.
A group of friends walked in those streets after an amazing time passed together. Their laughs were ringing in the empty avenue and they wore smiles at the joke that one of them made. They came at one point where one of them had to get separated from the others so he could go home. The young 29 years old man turned towards his friends and tells his goodbyes.
“Are you sure you don’t want us to walk you home? You’re not going to miss us so soon, right?” said one of them.
“Yea, that won’t bother us, you know?” said the second.
“Nah, don’t worry about me. Plus, I don’t want to make you walk longer than needed just to take me home.” The man said.
“If that’s what you want, it’s fine with us. By the way, I think you will need to get your hair done again. The color is starting to fade a bit.”
The young man brought his hand in his purple dyed mane before saying “Yeah, thanks Talyn, I call you when I want to do it?”
“Yeah sure, call any time.” the small person named Talyn said.
The trio made their official goodnights before they got split up: the purple haired man in one direction, Talyn and the other man in an other. The young man was now alone. The walk was peaceful, only the wind could be heard. He knew he was almost home, but something in his chest told him that something doesn’t feel totally right. It was only followed by a feeling of safety and comfort, seeing there were no reason to panic over nothing. He was finally home by the time he calmed down. He unlocks the door and walks in.
There was something calming about his small home. Everytime he walked in, he always knew he was safe there. It was his safe bubble, and his work place. Only this time, it didn’t felt the same. It wasn’t logical, he was the only one living here, yet he didn’t felt alone in the house. He decide to check every doors and windows on the first floor of his two stage appartement to be sure to have locked them, then a second time. When he was sure that it was all locked, he decided to start preparing himself to go to bed. He go take a shower, changes into his pj’s and went to brush his teeth. However he had a sudden craving for a particular organic jelly. He knows that it isn't healthy to eat before bed, but he could maybe please himself, just this time. He went down the stairs and into the kitchen.
He was about to open the fridge when he hears a click coming from the living room. He slowly turns his head toward the hole in the wall* between the kitchen and the living room to see a man standing there.
He was wearing a dark blue suit and shiny black shoes. His face said that he was probably in his mid forties. His hair were a salt and pepper kind of color and his beard matched them. He was holding something in his right hand that reflected the soft light of the kitchen.
The anxiety rises in him the longer he looked at the stranger. Even though the thought of running away was appealing, the curiosity of the man’s presence pushed him to build up the courage to say “W-Who are you? What are you doing in my house!?”
The man in front of him gave him an emotionless stare before he answered “You don’t get to ask the questions, mister Sanders. Just follow me and you won’t get hurt.” There was an English accent in his voice.
Fear strikes him as a brave yet stupid part of himself gave him the idea of asking more.” What? How do you know my name? Where are you going to take me? What is going on!?”
“I’m going to make it simple for you to understand.” The older man said as he raised his hand that was holding the shining object. He was able to discern it with the adrenaline pumping through his veins, it was a pistol. The object was pointed at him and held him frozen in place. “Come with me and I won’t hurt you.”
The threat in front of him looked at him impatiently. The younger knew he had to think of something and fast. He couldn’t just go with this man, he had to gain time to decide. “What if I don’t want to come with you?” He dared to say.
“You don’t get to choose.” He simply said before shooting the microwave beside the victim, who immediately ducked under the counter to hide.
He regrets saying that, he regrets not coming here with his friends, he is regretting a lot right now. He was shaking from everywhere and he was on the edge of a panic attack. He could always try to make a run for the door, it wasn’t far after all, but he was afraid to not get in time to it and the enemy seemed very skilled with his weapon.
“I leave you five seconds to come to me with your hands in the air or else I’m going to get you myself. Five….”
He was going to die, he was sure of it. He will die here and his friends will find him like that in his kitchen. He didn’t know that his night with his best friends could turn into a nightmare.
“ ….four….”
He had no chances against this guy. He will die, it’s definitive… unless…
“...three…”
He could just go with him. Like that he won’t get hurt. He will maybe even know where he is going, he could get answer on the man’s motives.... What was he thinking, it was as stupid as running away! How could he think about something like that? Well… he knew why, but it was just because it was him. He had to make a choice and now!!
“...two….”
The man on the ground closed his eyes and take a deep breath. He took another millisecond to say goodbye at his taken liberty as he started to raise his hands above his head. He was about to get up again when there was a sudden noise. The sound of a gun shooting, followed by an object landing on the floor and then silence. He waited a couple of second before noticing that the man stopped counting. He told himself he should maybe check what was going on even with the uneasy feeling that he is going to do a mistake.
He slowly turns toward the living room again and got back up. What he saw was not something his stomach could take. The previous man that had threaten him was now on the floor. A pool of blood was forming on the ground under him. Above the deceased man was another man, this time in a black suit. He looked younger than the one he eliminated, but he still seemed older than the man he protected.
“I am terribly sorry for all this. I will ask for someone to clean that mess.” says the man in front of him. He also had the british accent. “As for your friends and family, we will explain to them about your improvised absence.”
“I’m guessing that the two of you were not friends, hein?” Said the man in the kitchen, looking at the man in the living room, then to the man on the floor.
“You can say that. We don’t have a place in our hearts for that kind of organisation.”
“Wait so you mean that there is more of them? How did he…” He made a pause as he had finally processed the latest statement. “Wait, did you said that you were going to say to my friends and family that I’m going to be absent? But why?”
“We don’t have time for questions right now, we have to go before the others come to assist him. I will be able to answer all your questions concerning this affair on the jet to London.”
“Wait, what!? London?! No, please, just answer to at least these questions first: Who are you and what is going on?”
“You won’t come with me if I don’t answer, is that right?” He said with a slightly annoyed tone. He didn’t wait for the other to respond when he replied “I am agent Williams, and I work for a high branch in the security of the British government. If I am here today, mister Sanders, it’s because you are in danger.”
…
…
…
8h50 AM - London - England
It was a rainy day of November in London. It was almost raining cats and dogs like other people would say. Sherlock found this saying ridiculous, although he is curious to know who is the twit who thought of something like this. It was another boring day for him: no case, no murder, nothing interesting on the news. At least it wasn’t as bad as usual since he was watching Rosamund crawling around the flat.
After the case of Eurus, John decided to come back to 221b Baker Street. He said that it would be more practical for solving cases. Ever since he and his daughter got here, the place has never felt so alive. Miss Hudson is always there to take care of Rosie in their absence, and if she couldn’t be there, Molly was there to replace her. She was now 1 year old and was happily traveling the living room. Even though he knew he wasn’t the best godfather for a child, he was pretty great at keeping Rosamund safe.
“No, don’t go there. Do you really want to injure yourself or do you like your father yelling at me?” He said to Rosamund as she picked her up to put her back in the living room.” You must remember that the stairs is no place to play.”
John is out at the moment, buying some groceries. He will come back soon since Sherlock noted that he had gone to the grocery store 45 minutes ago, and if he is right, he is going to be there in a couple of minutes.
He has been pestering Lestrade since 6h00 AM to ask for a new case. Greg told him that they had nothing for him. The last on was a week ago and he was able to solve it from his bedroom. He really needed a distraction.
Exactly 3 minutes after he placed Rosamund back down, the door opened. It was John, as expected. There was, however, the sound of the footsteps of another person. It was a man, he must be well educated since the rhythm of the walk was constant. He noticed when both men climbed the stairs that the other man made another sound on the floor. it was also a constant sound of thuds on the floor, it was not in pair like footsteps so it must an object that looks like a cane or an umbrella.
“Mycroft…” He flatly greeted the oldest of the Holmes.
“Glad to see you too, brother.” He replied.
John walked to Rosamund to pick her up before he turned to face Sherlock. “Hi, she didn’t gave you too much problem, did she?”
“Not much than usual, You should probably buy something for the stairs.”
“What a lovely sight.” Said Mycroft sarcastically.” Now is not the time for your domestic banters, I have a case for you two.”
“Not interested.” Sherlock said
“Sherlock, you don’t even know what it is about.” replied Watson
“I don’t need to know. It’s going to be the same kind of case as usual. Government and incompetent security unable to do their job correctly.”
“I can assure that this one will be enough to get you out of your constant boredom for days.”
“At least, hear him out. It seemed urgent when he told me.” said John
“He drove you from the grocery store to here.”
“Sherlock, not the time.”
“Fine.” He simply said before turning to Mycroft.” Go on, humor me.”
Mycroft walked in front of the consulting detective and give him a document that he had previously carried with him. On the front cover, there was the predictable mark saying ‘Top Secret’ in bright red. When he opened it, there was a page with most certainly useless text and pictures that go beside the point. Knowing Mycroft, he will provide more precise explanation.
“For months, a group under the name of the ‘futures’ has been on the radar of the security of all Britain and has been around even before the crime web of Moriarty. They rised up in power extremely fast ever since the international group of Moriarty got dismantle. They are specialised in scientific research on new kinds of weapons. However, their methods are mostly… illegal and they exclusively do all their experiments on human subjects. Their experiments are mostly on people with banal lives or with people that won’t be missed by anyone. it’s rare that one of their lab rats stay alive after the treatments, and if they do survive, they are killed without a question. There are no survivors to tell what they’ve experienced, we can only judge by the appearance of their body. They think that they are doing a service to humanity by protecting it and getting rid of useless people in the society. Their main bases have been notified to be all around the United kingdom and in the Middle East. The main objective for my agents is to monitor their activities.”
“And you need my assistance for what again? Because from what I’ve heard, their organisation is not as powerful as what was once Moriarity’s web. I know the effectiveness of your agents and they can handle the monitoring fine, so why are you wasting my time. You wouldn’t come all the way from your comfortable office to ask something like resolving a case so what is…” Sherlock made a pause in his sentence. The only sounds in the room was the little warbles of Rosamund in the arms of her dad.”... Unless something changed.”
“Yes, I was going to go there before you rudely interrupted me.” Mycroft said a bit frustrated.” Two weeks ago, one of my agents interfered some discussion on the phone from the organisation and they were talking about a new project that would, and I quote, ‘change the bloody human civilisation forever.’ They discovered that we were listening so we couldn’t get much, but here what we know. They decided to not experiment weapons on humans for this project.” Mycroft walked to the window and looked outside to add drama in this situation.” They want to make humans into weapons.”
A feeling of fear flashed on John’s face and interest started to show up on Sherlock’s feature.
“H-Human weapons? But that is horrible!!”
“It is indeed. We are working on a way to dismantle the web and stop the project before it can even start.”
“It didn’t start yet?” Asked Sherlock
“Unfortunately, no. If it was the case, we would be able to have more control over the situation and know what the nature of the human weapons would be. But, we’ve found what was the cause of the delay.”
“And what is it?” said Sherlock
“I’m glad that you’ve finally took interest in this this time. The main reason why they can’t start is because they need informations.”
“Informations?” said John
“Yes, apparently, they know a person that have the informations they need to start and they are trying anything to get this informations. No, the nature of the informations that this person have is unknown Sherlock.”
“Then how will we stop them from starting the project?”
“John, it’s obvious.”
“Um, no it’s not Sherlock.”
“ We only have one way to do it.” Mycroft said, turning toward the detective duo.” We can only win by having the only key that prevent them from starting anything.” Mycroft walks to Sherlock and take the first page in his hand to reveal another one. On this one there was even more text on it, but the title at the top of the paper was different and there was no pictures.” Gentlemens, I present to you your case.” He said with a smirk on his face.
“Mister Thomas Sanders.”