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Eight-year-old Elara Carissa Holmes gasped awake. The fear of her father and mother returning to get her was surreal, and she couldn’t choke down the fear. Elara let out a desperate sob as she gasped for air and shook so badly that the whole bed was moving. Elara sobbed again, unable to calm herself down. Mycroft always told her every night before bed to come and fetch him if she needed anything or was scared or even if she just needed a cuddle, but she had yet to do so. She knew now that Mycroft would never hurt her, but the fear and doubt that nobody would ever love or care for her that had been conditioned in to her clouded her judgement. Drawing in shuddery, wheezing gasps and sobs, Elara curled in on herself, tensing when there was a light tap on the door.“Little one? Are you alright, Elara?” Elara could barely hear Mycroft’s soft voice over her cries. She tensed so hard that it hurt when she felt his hand on her shoulder.“Easy, little one. Take a deep breath. I’ll not harm you,” Mycroft murmured to her as he tucked a piece of her hair away from her face before brushing away tears from her face.Mycroft was always so kind and gentle and now was no different. For some reason, this just made Elara cry harder. Ever so gently- as always- Mycroft lifted her in to his arms, holding her firmly to his chest as he rocked her slightly and smoothed her hair, murmuring to her. Over the next hour-and-a-half, Mycroft tried every trick in Greg’s book to try and get Elara to calm down, but to no avail.Greg was working the now serial killer case and was currently at a crime scene, despite it being after midnight. Bodies were showing up more and more and Greg was working himself ragged with Sherlock and John trying to catch the person behind it all. If Greg hadn’t been working, Mycroft would have called Greg and the man would have been over immediately for assistance. Knowing that, if he called, Greg would absolutely leave work and come home, Mycroft didn’t call him.Out of ideas and desperate to get the tiny child in his arms to calm down before she made herself ill, Mycroft stood- Elara still in his arms- and quickly made his way down to his music room. Mycroft sat at his grand piano, ensuring that Elara was safely secured in his lap before he reached out and began to play a slow, gentle melody. By the time the piece was over, Elara’s sobs had subsided to shuddery hiccups. Knowing that his playing was calming the child, Mycroft continued.“Just breathe, little one,” Mycroft murmured to her over the piano. “You’re alright, I’ve got you,”Mycroft played piece after piece, all from memory. He was certain that Elara had fallen asleep several songs ago, but, not wanting to give up the child’s sense of comfort and safety, Mycroft remained seated at the piano bench with Elara on his lap as he continued to play for her.It was nearly 2:30 AM when Greg wearily stumbled through Mycroft’s front door. He shut and locked the door, arming the security panel before leaning his back up against the door and letting out a long, slow sigh. Greg shed his coat, hanging it on the rack before making his way to the kitchen, intent on a very strong cup of tea before he finally retired for the night when he heard it: Soft, gentle piano music. Greg knew that, occasionally, Mycroft suffered from insomnia. In most cases, Mycroft would usually make a cup of tea and read for a bit until he was tired out. If it was bad, Mycroft would play his piano until he was ready to go to bed.Greg sighed guiltily. He had scarcely had time for Mycroft and Elara as of late due to work. Greg knew that Mycroft always slept better when he was home, but, lately, Greg had only had time for a few hours rest, a quick shower, and a rushed breakfast before he would have to run out again- and that was if there wasn’t another body found at an ungodly hour of the night. Greg made two mugs of tea instead of one before collecting both mugs and heading to the music room. Greg walked in to the dark room- odd, but perhaps Mycroft had a migraine and didn’t want the light bothering him. Greg knew the man hardly ever used sheet music and could play by memory with his eyes shut. He approached the piano and made to greet Mycroft when he saw Elara curled against Mycroft’s chest, seemingly asleep.“My? What’s happened? Are you both alright?” Greg whispered out. Mycroft glanced up at him as he continued to play.“She had a nightmare,” Mycroft murmured. “Nothing I did was calming her down and she worked herself up in to a state worse than the day the Finnegans left. I didn’t know what else to do, so I brought her down here and began to play for her,”“Well, it looks like it worked,” Greg said, gently brushing a lock of hair from Elara’s face. “She’s out like a light. D'you think we can put her back to bed now?” Mycroft hesitated, but eventually nodded.“Yes, I think so, but I’ll need to go slowly. I don’t want to wake her now that she’s finally sleeping peacefully,” Mycroft said, and Greg noted the barely hidden exhaustion in his voice.Mycroft slowed down his playing before finally stopping. He slowly wrapped his arms around Elara, ensuring she was safely secure before he slowly stood. Greg followed behind them as they made their way back up to Elara’s bedroom. Greg straightened her bed covers before pulling the blankets down. Mycroft gently placed her back down on the bed, ensuring her head was properly on the pillow before Greg pulled the covers up to her chin. Mycroft brushed her hair back with a soft touch before bending down and placing a gentle kiss to her head. Greg repeated the action, ensuring the night light plugged in to the wall by the door was working properly before leading Mycroft out of the room and pulling the man in to his arms.“I’ve made us some tea,” Greg told him, kissing Mycroft’s head when it fell on to his shoulder. “Let’s have our tea and get to bed. I’m utterly knackered, and so are you, darlin',” Mycroft could not argue with him, allowing himself to be led downstairs to finish their tea before they both retired for the evening.The next morning saw Elara sneaking off to the music room after breakfast, where she was eyeing the gorgeous piano curiously. She approached the instrument, but would not touch it. She walked around the piano, observing everything she saw.“It’s a beautiful instrument, isn’t it?”Elara’s head snapped to the doorway where Mycroft’s voice suddenly appeared. The man had been watching Elara observe the piano. Elara cringed and tensed up, fearing repercussions for sneaking off. Mycroft straightened and entered the room, cautiously approaching the child and cupping her chin, gently lifting her head to look at him.“Relax, Elara,” he told her. “I’ll not harm you. You are allowed in this room. You are welcome to explore,” he kissed her head before leading her to the piano bench and sitting down, gently lifting her in to his lap.“I learned how to play when I was four years old,” Mycroft told her, reaching for a book of sheet music before placing her tiny hands on top of his and positioning them over the keys. “My mother taught me when I saw her play for the first time and fell in love with the instrument. She would sit me on her lap and place my hands on top of hers as she played,” Mycroft began to play a slow, simplified version of Carol of the Bells, a favorite carol of Elara’s. Elara let out a small, happy gasp.“Would you like for me to teach you to play, little one?” he asked her as he continued to play. Elara looked up at him and smiled.“Please,” she said. Mycroft smiled and kissed her head.“I would love to, little one,” he said before continuing to play, explaining to her how exactly the instrument worked before showing her scales.When Greg finally arrived home that night at the actually decent hour of 6:15 PM, Greg wandered in to the kitchen to see how dinner was coming. When he found that nothing had been prepped or started, he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Just when he was beginning to worry, he heard it once more: Piano music. This was different, though. Mycroft’s playing was always smooth and confident, with so many multiple notes playing at the same time that Greg often wondered how the man had enough fingers to play. This music was slower, more simplistic. It was played in an almost halting, stuttered manner. Curious, Greg followed the sound and found the both of them in the music room, Mycroft watching proudly as Elara played a simplified version of Silent Night.
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Elara was excited. Her 10th birthday had been a week prior and her Aunties Molly and Anthea had promised that they would be taking her out for a girl’s day today. They were set to pick her up after breakfast, where they were going to a salon to have their hair and nails done before going to their favorite pastry shoppe for lunch and finishing out the day with a trip to the book shoppe, a movie at the cinema- Anthea had managed to snag tickets to an early access screening of Frozen II- and then dinner. Greg and Mycroft watched amused as Elara ate her breakfast with gusto.“Slow down, please, Elara, I don’t want you to choke,” Mycroft told her as Greg chuckled behind his mug of coffee.“Sorry, daddy,” Elara said, looking up at him with wide, bright eyes. “I’m just really excited!” Mycroft smiled at her.“I know you are, little one, but just slow down a little bit for me, please,” he told her. Elara nodded and reached for her mug of cocoa with her right hand.Elara rarely had difficulties with her shoulder in warm weather, unless there were storms in the forecast. Being mid-September, it was still fairly warm out and there hadn’t been any severe storms, so she had not had any issues lately. It was a rare thing, but the muscles in her right hand would sometimes spasm randomly, something that she was seeing a physical therapist to overcome. As she picked up her mug of cocoa, her hand chose that moment to spasm, and Elara unwillingly let go of the mug. She watched in horror as the mug clattered to the table before tipping over the edge and plunging to the floor, shattering on impact and splattering the floor with glass and cocoa.Mycroft and Greg watched as Elara’s face drained of blood and, seemingly, in the blink of an eye, she had vanished. They jumped from their seats, careful to avoid the glass and cocoa on the floor as they rushed to find their daughter. It was becoming a rarer thing that Elara was scared to the point of fleeing, but, if something triggered her very badly, she would disappear somewhere in the house and it would take Greg and Mycroft ages to find her, and sometimes even longer to coax her out.The longest it had taken to find her was nearly two hours- she had overheard Greg and Mycroft arguing and panicked when Greg raised his voice slightly- with Greg and Mycroft panicking and calling John and Sherlock for help when they and the staff could not locate the child. She had eventually been found by John contorted in to an old service elevator that had not worked in years and Mycroft had forgotten was even there. Greg sealed it off first thing the next morning.“Where d’you think she’s gone?” Greg asked, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.“She tends to hide in places that are small, likely because Cathal would be unable to reach her if she found a place small enough. Let’s try the closets first, then under the beds,” Mycroft told him. Greg pursed his lips, but nodded.They, thankfully, did not have to look for long. Greg had been passing by the stairs when he heard a slight shuffle coming from the cupboard. He paused mid-step before turning to the door and tapping on the cupboard door.“Sunshine? You in here, Elara?” Greg’s heart broke as he heard a muffled sob from in the cupboard. Greg took a breath before continuing. “Are we playing Harry Potter, sunshine?” A choked laugh from inside the cupboard could be heard and Greg grinned, counting that as a win.Greg and Elara had begun working their way through the Harry Potter series, reading at least two chapters before bed every night when Greg wasn't away for work. The were nearly through The Chamber of Secrets and Elara had received The Prisoner of Azkaban for her birthday from Greg, much to her excitement. Greg pulled out his mobile and sent off a text to Mycroft.
Found her. - GL
Cupboard under the stairs. - GL
En route. - MH
Do I need to ban
Harry Potter
from this house? - MH
Greg snorted and pocketed the device, tapping on the door once more.“Hey, sunshine, I’m going to open the door and have a seat,” Greg said as Mycroft appeared in the room. “You are not in any trouble, Elara. It was an accident. It was just a mug, sunshine. Easy to clean up. Your dad and I are going to sit out here. When you’re ready to come out, we’ll be right here, love,”Greg opened the cupboard door and he took a seat on the floor outside the door, joined by Mycroft. They chatted to each other to take the attention off of Elara, but also let her know that they were still there. They discussed what they were wanting to do that day as well as where they wanted to go for dinner, as they were having a date night since Elara would be out all day with Molly and Anthea. Much to Greg and Mycroft’s relief, Elara was in the cupboard for only seven minutes after Greg spoke to her before she crawled out, collapsing on to Greg with a sob.“Easy, sunshine, easy,” Greg said, pulling her in to his arms, shifting her to where Mycroft could easily reach her as well. “Breathe, sunshine. You’re alright. It was an accident, love. Just an accident,” Elara sobbed for several minutes, Greg holding her protectively in his arms as Mycroft ran his hand through her hair. Elara finally calmed down, content to be held in her papa’s arms.“I broke a plate once,” Elara whispered out. “S-Sir had kicked me down the stairs the day before and that’s when I broke my collarbone. My arm hurt so badly and I was trying to do the dishes. S-Sir knocked in to me and the plate slipped out of my hands. He- he beat me badly that night. I don’t remember much after that. I woke up a day later locked in the garden shed,” Greg’s grip around his daughter tightened slightly. He pursed his lips and looked to Mycroft, afraid to speak.“Is that why you were so frightened when you accidentally dropped the mug?” Mycroft asked her. Elara sniffed and nodded. Greg winced at the flash of anger in his eyes before Mycroft took a breath.“You know that we will never treat you like that, right?” Mycroft asked her. Elara let out a shuddery breath and nodded.“I know,” Elara said. “I just- When the mug broke, I remembered that night and I panicked. I got really scared and forgot I was here now,” Greg kissed her head.“It’s alright, sunshine,” he told her. “It’s a process, healing from this kind of trauma, and you have done so well with everything. It’s okay to have some setbacks, Elara, and it’s alright to be scared. Remember what I’ve always told you: Let your past become your teacher, not your jailer,”
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Mycroft stared at his mobile in horror as he re-read the message Anthea had just sent him. Anthea had woken up with a high fever and had immediately contacted Mycroft, who had sent a doctor to her immediately. The doctor had tested her for Covid and the results had come back positive. Mycroft panicked hard, immediately ringing Greg, who picked up on the second ring.“Hey, darlin’. You on your way home?” Greg asked.“Anthea has just tested positive for the Covid-19 virus,” Mycroft said in a clipped tone. Greg sucked in a breath.“Fuck,” he muttered. “Is she alright? What’s going to happen now?”“Anthea has been given medication to control the symptoms. A doctor will be looking in on her every day at her home and she has been instructed to call me immediately should she need anything. As to your other query, I’ll not risk Elara, Maddie, and you, Gregory. I’ll be quarantining in my work office for the next two weeks. If I test negative after two weeks, then I’ll return home,” Greg let out a breath.“My-”“I know, Gregory,” Mycroft said, pinching his nose. “A doctor will be by shortly to test you, Elara, and Maddie just to be safe,”“Alright. I’ll let Maddie know. Are- Are you gonna be alright? I just- I don’t like the thought of you all by yourself for two weeks,” Mycroft sighed.“It won’t be easy, but if it means keeping you three safe, I’d stay here for two years,” Mycroft said. Greg chuckled.“Alright, Sherlock, calm down,” Mycroft gasped.“Gregory, you didn’t,” Greg snickered.“Sorry, My, I couldn’t help myself,” Mycroft couldn’t help the small smile that graced his lips.“I have to go now, Gregory. I must fill out the report for this and ensure Anthea gets everything she will need,”“Alright. I’ll explain to Elara what’s happening and drop some dinner off for you at your building. You’ll video us later before Elara goes to bed?”“Yes, of course,” he replied. “Thank you, Gregory. I love you. Talk soon,”“I love you too, darlin’. Be safe,”Greg ended the call with Mycroft and buried his head in his hands. He startled slightly at a hand on his arm. He glanced over and saw Elara, looking at him concerned.“What’s wrong, papa?” Greg let out a breath.“Well, sunshine, you know that it’s dangerous for everyone outside right now because of this virus, right?” Elara nodded. Greg took a breath. “Well, Anthea caught it and she’s a bit sick now,” Elara looked horrified.“Hey, it’s alright,” Greg told her, reaching out to her and pulling her in to his side and hugging her to him. “Anthea will be alright, sunshine,”“What about daddy?” She asked him.“Well, you know his job is to protect us, right?” Elara nodded. “Well, in order for him to protect us, he has to stay at his office for two weeks. He has to make sure he doesn’t accidentally make us sick since he’s been around Anthea. Does that make sense?” Elara nodded again.“Just in case, daddy wants us to be tested for the virus, that way I can continue going to work and we can get ahead of it should any of us test positive,” Elara bit her lip, but nodded. Greg kissed her head. “It’ll be alright, love. I’ll be here the whole time, I promise,”The doctor showed up an hour later and, immediately, Greg did not like him. John was stuck on shift at Bart’s, so Mycroft had sent one of the doctors he had on hand. The man appeared to be around John’s age, but he was surly and borderline rude when he was testing Maddie. Greg had retrieved Elara and sat her down at the kitchen table and explained to her how the test was going to work.“Why are you explaining this to her when I could have already completed the test by now,” the doctor grouched and Elara flinched at him. Greg pursed his lips and turned to the man.“I’ll kindly ask you to not speak to me or my daughter in that tone,” he told the man severely. “You aren’t here to speak your mind or opinions. You’re here to do your tests and leave,” the doctor glared at him and Greg fully intended on reporting this man to Mycroft once he had left. The doctor knelt down in front of Elara, who cringed back from him slightly.“Sit up,” the man barked and Greg fought back a growl. Without any warning whatsoever, the doctor jammed the test stick up Elara’s nostril, causing her to cry out in pain.“Sit still, girl,” the doctor said, grasping Elara’s arm and pulling her closer to him. Greg saw red as his daughter began to cry. Greg took the man roughly by the arm and bodily yanked him away from his child.“What the fuck is your bloody problem!?” Greg shouted at him, shoving the man aside before turning to Elara, horrified to see blood streaming from her nose.Maddie- having heard Greg shouting- came rushing in to the room, gasping at the state of Elara before hurrying to her and attempting to stay the blood. Greg grabbed the man by his collar and dragged him through the house and tossed him bodily out the front door.“You have ten seconds to leave my property or I go and retrieve my weapon,” Greg said before slamming the door shut. He took several deep breaths, wanting to compose himself before he frightened Elara further. He turned towards where he could hear Elara sobbing and quickly made his way back to the kitchen, where Maddie was trying to soothe Elara whilst also trying to stop the nosebleed.“Elara, baby, you’ve got to calm down or this is going to keep bleeding, love,” Maddie told her calmly as she made eye contact with Greg.“Here, let me take her,” Greg said, reaching out for the rag Maddie was trying to hold to Elara’s nose. “Call Mycroft, would you, please? Tell him what happened. Ask him to send someone else, please,” Maddie nodded.“Of course,” Maddie said. “I’ll be back shortly,”“Hey, hey, Elara. I need you to calm down now, love. Take a breath,” Elara let out a sob, flinching as he came close to her face with the damp rag. Greg immediately backed off- Elara hadn’t flinched at Greg in months. “Alright. It’s alright. Here, can you hold this to your nose, sunshine? Pinch at the bridge and tilt your head forward some,” Elara hesitantly took the rag from him and pinched her nose with a shaking hand.“Well done, sunshine, just keep it there for a bit and we’ll check it again shortly,” Elara let out another shuddery sob and Greg slowly reached out a hand to take Elara’s free one in his- not caring in the slightest that he was getting blood on him.“I’m so sorry, Elara. He’s gone now and he’s never coming back. You don’t ever have to see him again,” Elara grasped his hand tightly. Her nose finally stopped bleeding and Greg was getting her a clean rag to clean her face off when Maddie returned.“Mycroft apologizes immensely and assures that this will not happen again and that the doctor will be relieved of his duties and his medical license revoked. He’s sending John over to administer the tests,” Maddie told him as she rummaged around the kitchen. Greg nodded.“Thank God,” Greg muttered as he exchanged dark looks with Maddie.An hour later saw Elara cleaned up and calmed down with a mug of cocoa- with plenty of whipped cream and marshmallows- as John entered the room. Elara smiled warily at him.“Hello darling,” John said through his face mask. “I heard you’ve had a rough night?” Elara nodded.“Unfortunately, I still need to test you and Greg,” Elara let out a panicked breath. John knelt down in front of her and took her hands in his. “Easy, darling. Relax. Nice, big, slow, deep breaths. There’s a good girl,”“S-scared,” she whispered out. John reached out and cupped her cheek.“I know, love, I know. I’d be scared too,” Elara let out a shuddery breath as John coached her to breathe once more.“How about I give the test to your papa first?” John asked her once she had calmed down. “Papa and I can show you how to it’s done and then you can go and we’ll be all done,” Elara looked to Greg, who smiled at her and nodded. Elara took a deep breath, squaring her shoulders, and looking John in the eyes and nodding at him.“Okay,” she said. “Let’s do it,” John smiled at her through his mask.“There’s my brave girl,” John said, tapping her gently with his finger on her nose. Elara giggled and John looked to Greg. “Well, shall we?”
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Twelve-year-old Elara was currently at Baker Street with Nanny Hudson in her flat. Greg and Mycroft were having a date night, so John and Sherlock happily took Elara for the night. Mrs. Hudson and Elara had just finished a batch of her Uncle John’s favorite blueberry muffins, as the man had been working a 48-hour shift at Bart’s and was bound to be exhausted and hungry when he was set to arrive home in twenty minutes. Sherlock had just left to fetch them all dinner from Angelo’s, knowing that Mrs. Hudson was happy for a baking partner with her grandchild.“Hmm, my sugar jar is nearly empty,” Mrs. Hudson said as she peered in to the large jar for sugar to top the muffins. “Elara, dear, would you mind running to the pantry and getting the bag of sugar for me, love?” Elara smiled and nodded.“Of course, Nanny,” she said as she walked over to the pantry, shoving open the heavy, ancient door and stepping inside to locate the sugar. Just as she grabbed the bag of sugar, the door shifted and slammed shut on her. Elara shrieked and dropped the bag of sugar, which burst open as soon as it hit the floor.“Elara! Dear, are you alright?” Elara let out a shuddery breath and tried the door handle, which wouldn’t budge.“I’m- I’m okay,” Elara said, trying not to panic. “The- the door is stuck, Nanny,” Elara said, trying to shoulder the door open.“The- the door is stuck, Nanny,” Elara said, her panic rising as she desperately tried to budge the door. “It’s- It’s stuck! Let me out, Nanny! Please, please let me out. Get me out, please, Nanny!”Elara’s voice turned to a near shriek as her breaths came out in short, quick gasps. Elara’s hearing blocked out and all she could hear was her own ragged breathing and the blood pounding in her ears. Elara didn’t know how long she’d been stuck in the pantry before a light shone through from under the door.“Elara! Elara, I need you to take a deep breath, darling,” the voice of her Uncle John broke through her panic. “Sherlock is on his way. He’s going to get you out, darling, but you have got to breathe for me, love,” Elara sobbed.“Out,” she heaved in between sobs. “Out- p-please Uncle John,”“I know, Elara, I know,” John pleaded through the door. “Sherlock is coming as quickly as he can, darling. I know you’re scared, but I’m right here, darling, and so is Nanny Hudson. We’ll get you out soon, darling, I promise,” Elara could hear John now trying to budge the door as well. After another minute or two, another voice permeated through the door.“Elara, I’m here now, bee. I’m going to get you out, I promise,” her Uncle Sherlock’s calm baritone cut through her panic. She let out another sob as she began to hear odd noises coming from the other side of the door.“Those muffins you and Nanny made smell delightful, bee,” Sherlock said. “I wonder if you could tell me how to make them?” Elara sucked in a shuddery breath.“I- I don’t- I want out, please, Uncle ‘Lock,” she sobbed out.“What are the ingredients I’ll need for those muffins, bee?”“F-flour,” she choked out. “M-milk, eggs, sugar, oil, v-vanilla,”“Very good, bee. What else? How do you make them?” Elara spent the next few minutes detailing the recipe her Nanny had shown her to her uncle. Just as she finished, Elara heard something pop on the door.“Sherlock’s got the handle off now,” John told her. “I need you to stand back for me, please, Elara,”Elara scuffled back against the shelves, not caring at all that she was getting sugar everywhere and all over her. There were three loud cracks and then a final fourth before the door was forced open by John, who immediately scooped her up in to his arms and sat down with her in his arms at Mrs. Hudson’s kitchen table.“Can you get me some water, please, Sherlock?” John asked as Elara sobbed in to his shoulder. “It’s alright now, darling. You’re alright now. I know that was scary, but you were so brave. You did so well,” John murmured to her as Sherlock slid a glass of water to John and to Mrs. Hudson, who had also spent the duration of Elara’s time in the pantry sobbing.“Elara, dear, I’m so sorry,” Mrs. Hudson cried. Sherlock wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “That bloody door has been getting stuck lately. I never thought it would lock somebody in,”“It’s alright now, Mrs. Hudson,” John told her as he reached across for her hand. “The only casualty was the door,”“And the bag of sugar,” Sherlock said, peering in to the pantry at the now ruined bag of sugar.“M’s-sorry N-Nanny,” Elara said in between breaths.“Oh, my love, sod that bag of sugar,” Mrs. Hudson told her as she stood up and made her way over to Elara, running a hand through her hair and placing a kiss on her head. “I’m just happy that you’re alright, love,”
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“One more, Elara, come on!” John said with a grin as fifteen-year-old Elara pulled her head up and over the chin-up bar, holding for ten seconds, and dropping back to the floor, landing neatly on the balls of her feet. “Well done, darling,”Elara had been training with her Uncle John at east twice a week since she was ten on physical fitness as well as self-defense. After their abduction back in January of 2018 and they attempted abduction of Elara again several weeks later, Elara had asked her Uncle John to teach her how to defend herself. John had been more than happy to teach her. After receiving permission from Mycroft and Greg, John and Elara began training twice a week, every week once they had recovered from their injuries, with Sally sometimes joining them here recently when she could. Elara could now pass any branch of the military’s physical fitness tests and was quickly becoming very skilled in self-defence and hand-to-hand combat, much to the utter pride of John.“Listen,” John told her as they took a cool-down break. “I want to run something by you,” John said to her carefully. Elara cocked an eyebrow up as she drained her water bottle.“Well, this is about to be uncomfortable but interesting,” she said. John rolled his eyes as he began to pack up his bag.“I wanted to see if you would let me teach you how to swim,” Elara froze midway through packing up her own bag. She swallowed hard before continuing to pack her bag.“And why would you want to do that?” Elara asked, stuffing her gear in to her bag with a bit more force than necessary. John sighed.“Because I may not always be around to pull you out of the Thames, darling,” he told her.“Well, that time was a fluke,” Elara said, not caring to remember her near-drowning in the Thames six months ago. “It won’t happen again,”“You can’t know that for certain, Elara,” John told her. Elara whipped her head to her uncle.“And you can’t know that it will,” she cried out. John reached out and grasped her hands in his.“Elara. Talk to me, please, darling. Don’t shut me out. It’s not good for you,” John said, squeezing her hands. Elara let out a shuddery breath and glanced around.“Not here,” she said, glancing at him. John nodded.“Alright. Go on and get changed,” he said, patting her hand. “We’ll go somewhere,”Thirty minutes later saw John and Elara seated on a bench at Regent’s Park, a coffee in each of their hands. Elara glanced up and saw the entrance to the London Zoo. None of them had been back since that disastrous first visit.“I was seven,” she said, looking down at the to-go cup in her hands. “Cathal told me I was a dirty little girl and needed washed. His version of a wash was stripping me down and tossing me in to a tub of freezing water. When I tried to get out, he proceeded to hold my head under the water until I nearly drowned,” John let out a breath and placed his hand on her forearm.“After that incident,” Elara continued, “I had a major aversion to any body of water bigger than a puddle. Cathal found great amusement in it, threatening to toss me in the River Boyne whenever we passed it. He also enjoyed attempting to kick me in to the swimming pool we had on the property,”“Attempting?” John asked her. Elara nodded.“He never got a hold of me in the moment, I was too quick,” Elara said quietly. “I always paid dearly for it later, but I would gladly take a beating over a near-drowning any day,” John said nothing, just sitting there in silence with his niece, his hand on her arm.“Do you trust me?” John asked after a while. Elara’s head snapped up to him.“What the bloody Hell kind of question is that?” She demanded. “Of course I do,” John smiled at her.“Do you think that I would ever allow any harm to come to you whatsoever?” Elara shook her head.“No,” she replied immediately. “And, even if it did, I know you’d die fighting to protect me,” Elara said, her eyes darting to the zoo entrance as she remembered just how far her Uncle John would go to protect her.“Can we give it one go, Elara?” John asked her. “Just one try. If you’re still to frightened and never want to try again, then I’ll not force you to do so, but can we give it just one go? Give your old uncle some peace of mind?” Elara snorted. She looked at her uncle after a moment, taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders.“Alright. We can give it a go, Uncle John,” John smiled and pulled her in to his side.“Thank you, darling,” he said, kissing her head as she rested it on his shoulder.One week had passed since her talk with John, and Elara was staring down the bathing suit that Sally had gone with her to pick out like it had personally offended her. Taking a deep breath, Elara steeled herself and changed in to the garment before walking out of the locker area to where John was waiting for her by the pool, which was suspiciously empty of anyone else. Elara eyed her uncle suspiciously.“You told dad what we were doing today, didn’t you?” John looked at her innocently.“He is aware of what we are doing today, yes,” Elara cocked an eyebrow at him, but didn’t press the issue. John held out his hand to Elara, who took it after a moment’s nervous glance at the water.“Alright, we’re going to take this nice and slow, darling,” John said.He guided her closer to the water’s edge of the shallow end. John stopped immediately when he felt the slightest bit of resistance from Elara. He waited patiently for Elara to take the next step. Once they reached the edge, John sat down, dipping his feet in to the water. As soon as John did this, Elara’s breath quickened.“Talk to me, Elara,” John told her. “What are you thinking?”“Is- is it cold?” She asked quietly. John smiled.“Nope. This is a heated pool, so it’s nice and warm,” he told her, cupping his hands in the water and holding it out to her so she could test it with her finger. Elara let out a breath, slowly sinking down to sit next to John, tensing as she eased her feet in to the water.“There you go, darling,” John said. It took almost another twenty minutes before Elara was ready to ease herself all the way in to the water. John smiled proudly at her.“Well done, darling,” he told her, squeezing her hands in his. “The hard part is over now,”Six weeks later, Elara was finishing up her tenth lap around the lap pool. Elara slapped her uncle’s outstretched hand as she came back to the end of the pool, gasping.“Well done, Elara! Well done, darling,” John exclaimed proudly as he swept a giggling Elara in to his arms and spun her around in the pool. “I am so proud of you, Elara. So very proud of you,”“I couldn’t have done it without you, Uncle John,” she said, hugging her uncle tightly before they exited the pool. “Thank you for teaching me,” John kissed her cheek.“Well, here’s to hoping you won’t ever need the knowledge for anything other than recreational use,”
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Seventeen-year-old Elara chased after the criminal that she and her uncles were currently pursuing. Elara held the lead, Sherlock and John close on her heels.“Let’s cut him off!” Sherlock called to them. “Elara and John chase after him, I’ll go around the back in case he tries to give us the slip,”Elara and John nodded at him and they parted ways. She and John continued to chase the man suspected in a string of arsons of abandoned buildings that had ended up killing three of Sherlock’s homeless network contacts, causing the man to not rest until the arsonist was captured. They chased the man to a dead end off a cliff.“It’s over, Richardson,” Elara called out. “Come quietly, and no one needs to get hurt,” Richardson sneered at her, quickly pulling a blade from his belt. Elara furrowed her eyebrows.“Are you trying to frighten us?” She asked him before turning to John. “Is he trying to frighten us?” John cocked an amused eyebrow at her.“Y’know, I think he may be,” Elara smirked.“That’s rather adorable of him,” she said.“Yes, isn’t it?” John said.“Shut up!” Richardson snarled. “Or I’ll cut ya both down!”“Oh, not from there,” John said as Elara snickered.Richardson snarled and ran at them both. Elara and John wasted no time going hand to hand with the man, who was a self-defence instructor and held his own very well against John and Elara. Elara yelled out as Richardson got a lucky hit to her face and she stumbled backwards, tripping over a rock and landing hard on her back. As Elara gasped to catch her breath, she rolled over and glanced up over at Richardson and John. John had become slightly distracted when Elara went down, allowing Richardson to gain the upper hand, grabbing John in a near headlock before throwing John bodily to the ground, where he remained still and unmoving. Elara heaved herself off the ground just in time to see Richardson kick John over the side of the cliff and in to the waters below.“NO!” Elara screamed just as Sherlock slammed in to Richardson, tackling him to the ground. Elara wasted no time, running to the edge whilst shedding her jacket and tossing her mobile down before diving off the cliff after John without a second of hesitation or fear, her only focus was getting to her uncle.“Elara, no!” Elara barely heard Sherlock’s shout over the rushing of the wind.Seconds later, Elara hit the surface, immediately diving down deeper in search of John. Just when Elara knew she was going to need to start her return to the surface, her fingers brushed against what she knew to be John’s leather coat. She gripped the coat, hoisting John up so that she could grip the man around his waist and began to desperately kick for the surface, her lungs burning. Elara gasped for air as she broke through the surface. She clung to a rock for a moment, gasping for breath before rearranging her hold on John before heaving them both to shore. Elara used every bit of adrenaline she had to drag John past the shoreline, dropping to her knees as her chest heaved.“Uncle John?” Elara asked, shaking the water from her eyes as she tapped John’s face and checked his pulse. “No, no, no, no!” Elara whimpered before giving John two rescue breaths.“C’mon, Uncle John,” she said, beginning chest compressions. “Breathe, damn it!”“Elara!” Her papa’s voice rang out as he and Sherlock ran towards her.“He’s not breathing,” Elara said, continuing compressions. “And I’ve lost his pulse,” she gave two more rescue breaths before resuming compressions.“Ambulance?” She barked out.“On its way,” Greg said in a hoarse voice.“Come on, Uncle John,” Elara growled out before administering two more breaths. “John Watson did not survive a war, being shot, being stabbed, and Covid to die from a bloody drowning, now BREATHE!” John made a choking sound just then and Elara quickly turned John on to his side as he vomited up water and, likely, everything he had eaten that day.“Deep breaths, Uncle John, deep breaths,” Elara said as John coughed. Sherlock removed his great coat and draped it over John while Greg did the same with Elara. The paramedics swooped down and carted John off while Greg walked Elara to a second waiting ambulance.“I’m fine, papa,” Elara said, attempting to bat the paramedics away.“Oh, no, absolutely not,” Greg said sternly. “You just jumped off a bloody cliff in to frigid waters and then dragged John’s sorry arse out on to the shore and resuscitated him. You’re getting checked out, do not make me call Mycroft out here,” Elara wisely allowed the paramedics to check her over.“Richardson?” Elara asked Greg.“He’s been taken in to custody,” Greg told her as a paramedic draped a blanket over her shoulders.“She’s alright,” the paramedic told Greg. “She took a knock to the face and will likely have a black eye, but, other than that, she’s just a bit cold. She’ll be fine once she gets in to some dry clothes and something hot to drink in her,”“Thanks, mate,” Greg said, taking Elara back up towards the cliff where a familiar black car was waiting for them. Elara rounded on Greg.“You called him?” Elara asked. Greg looked as surprised as she was.“I didn’t, actually,” Greg said as Mycroft stepped out of the vehicle.“What are you doing here, My?” Greg asked as they reached him. Mycroft eyed their daughter.“I heard that Elara was the one to rescue John this time around?” Mycroft asked, holding out some dry clothes to Elara.“I wasn’t about to let him drown,” Elara said, taking the clothing from her father and climbing in to the vehicle to change.“God, she’s going to drive me to an early grave,” Greg said, rubbing at his temples. Mycroft chuckled. Elara emerged from the vehicle a few moments later in dry clothes.“Can we go and see Uncle John?” Elara asked, wringing her hair out before plaiting it in to a messy braid.“We can, yes,” Mycroft said. “Hop in, we’ll all go,” they quickly made their way to hospital, where a nurse took them back to John.“Elara!” John cried, reaching out his hand towards her as they entered the room. Elara hurried forward and buried herself in John’s arms.“Thank you, Elara,” John said to her thickly.“It was my turn,” Elara said with a chuckle. John scoffed good naturedly.“I’m sorry you had to do that, though. Were you frightened?” John asked her. Elara smiled.“Not for a second,” Elara told him. “I had a brilliant teacher,”