"The Fall. But don't be scared. Falling's just like flying except there's a more permanent destination." – Jim Moriarty

Chapter Nine:

"Where Shee?" Leona asked, watching from the table as Ms. Hudson did her laundry. Leona had tried helping, but only resulted in getting the clothes balled up an wrinkled.

"He's out, dear," Ms. Hudson replied with a patient smile.

"Out where?"

"In the city. He's getting a medal!"

"A... A mend-dell? What mend-dell?"

"It's a reward," Ms. Hudson smiled.

"Jon give Leona reward when Leona good!" Leona said, and the woman laughed heartily.

"Then, we'll make cookies, since you're being such a good girl today," Ms. Hudson promised, and Leona's face lit up as she cried, 'cookie!' over and over again.

Leona heard someone walking near the front door and stopped, talking. A key was shoved into the lock of the door and it opened, letting the noise of a busy street in for a moment. She recognize the scent immediately and raced out of her chair. "Shee!" Leona cried, running down the hall, barreling straight into the tall man in the trench coat.

Sherlock grunted as the girl wrapped her arms around his own. Leona was getting pretty tall for a five year old, and nearing half his own height. John came in beside him, laughing as he hung up his coat on the rack.

"16-0," He piped and Sherlock shot him a dirty look. John ignored it and bent down towards the girl, "Can I get a hug too?"

"Jon!" Leona squealed, wrapping her arms tight around his neck, as if she hadn't seen him in years.

John laughed standing, carrying the child with him. "What have you been up to all day?" He asked the giggling girl.

"Leona an' Ms. Hutson fix colour! Then, Ms. Hutson fix hot clothes an' eat snacks! Ms. Hutson say Leona make cookie! Jon make cookie wit' Leona? Cookie smell good! Leona like cookie!"

John chuckled, ruffling the girl's hair, "Of course I will." Leona giggled, and John could feel her wings fluffing behind her by the way he held her. "Do you wanna see the hat that Sherlock got, Leona?"

Leona cocked her head, "Ha... Hat?"

"Yep, hat, what does that rhyme with?"

Leona thought for a second, "Mm...
Mat!" She giggled, and John nodded, pleased with her learning.

"Yes, good job! Sherlock got a new hat, do you want to see?"

"She can have it for all I care," Sherlock grumbled. Leona looked at him, confused, and John laughed.

"It's not that bad, Sherlock," John insisted, but the man was not pleased. The man huffed, but strode up the steps quickly.

Ms. Hudson stepped out of the back room to greet John. "How was the ceremony, dear?" She asked.

"Fine, but Sherlock was grumpy the entire time," John said with a chuckle. "I expect Leona was behaving while we were gone?"

Leona nodded, giggling, "Leona good! Leona get cookie!"

Ms. Hudson laughed at the young girl's antics, "Yes, she was."

Leona beamed and John chuckled, "Well, if Ms. Hudson says so. I'll be upstairs with Sherlock." John set Leona on the ground and headed for the stairs.

Ms. Hudson took her hand as he climbed the wooden staircase, "Come along, deary. I'll be done with my clothes in a minute, and then we'll made chocolate chip cookies, okay?"

Leona bounced in excitement, "Cookie! Cookie!!" She cheered, following the woman.

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After Leona and Ms. Hudson baked the cookies, making the entire parlour smell like freshly baked cookies. Leona couldn't sit still as the delicious scent, wafted through the apartment.

When the cookies were finally done and cooled off, Ms. Hudson told her she could take them up to Sherlock and John. She would've done it herself, but she had gotten an emergency phone call and had to hurry off to a friend's flat. She wrote a note and told her to give it to John when she went up as she was tugging on her coat. Leona nodded, and hurried up the steps, careful not to drop the warm cookies.

Leona doesn't touch the door to open it. Sherlock was talking as she entered, "... 'Til they're solved." He turned to her, barely a interested glance, "Where's Ms. Hudson?"

Leona set the cookies down on the nightstand and handed John the note like Ms. Hudson instructed her. John skimmed over it, "Had to head to a friends' who had having... Issues," John answered vaguely.

"Ms. Hutson okay?" Leona asked, worried.

"Of course love," John assured and Leona let out a sigh of relief. "Did you make these cookies?" Leona smiled wide at the subject change, and nodded. John lifted the plastic lid and tried a cookie.

John nearly choked, but covered his mouth to keep himself from spitting it up. Leona was grinning ear to ear as John forced himself to swallow it.

"W... Wow, Leona... That was..." He coughed, "Interesting. What did you put in that?"

Leona giggled, "Ms. Hutson says Leona put in special in... In-grade-meant in it, so Leona put special bubbles!" Sherlock barked out a laugh and John gave her a strained smile.

"What do you mean by... Uhm, special bubbles, Leona?" Leona ran to the sink, bringing back the dish detergent and showed it to John happily.

"Special bubbles!" She giggled. Sherlock was rolling in laughter, and John glared at him.

"Well, they were delicious, love, but here's a tip: next time, add a different special ingredients like sprinkles. They make your cookies shiny." Leona nodded solemnly at his words, committing his tip to memory. Sherlock, on the other hand, was chuckling still. John noticed, "Why don't you get Shee to try some, hmm?" Leona nodded and ran over to him.

Sherlock was looking down a microscope, but looked over to her as she ran. "What are you—" his wasn't able to finish his sentence as the young girl shoved a chocolate soap cookie down his throat, and smiled.

"Shee like cookie?" Leona asked, grinning up at him. Sherlock gagged at the revolting taste, grabbing a napkin off the table and turning around to spit it into it.

"That's dis—" Sherlock began, turning back to the young girl. She was looking up at him with wide-eyed with anticipation. "... They're fine." Leona squealed, hugging on his arm.

"Shee want more cookie?" Leona asked.

"No thank you, Leona. Go sit with John." Leona nodded, hugging him tight around the waist before running off to the other man.

Leona watched John read the newspaper, and would point out words that she knew.

Sherlock's phone buzzed for the third time in an row, and John sighed, standing up. "I'll get it, shall I?" He said, tetchily. John read over the messages, shock and horror slowly growing on his features. Finally, he thrusts it towards Sherlock, "Here."

Sherlock didn't move from his microscope, "Not now, I'm busy," he spoke, irritably.

"Sherlock..."

"Not now," he repeated.

Leona can tell that John is scared. Not only can she smell it, but she can tell. He's breathing heavily, his other hand, the one that's not holding the phone, clenched by his side.

Sherlock noticed as well and turned to him, "He's back." Sherlock took the phone and read the text message that was being clearly displayed.

'Come and play.
Tower Hill.
Jim Moriarty x.'

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Leona stood beside John while they watched the video recording of the break-in, "That glass is tougher than anything," Lestrade spoke.

"Not tougher than crystallised carbon. He used a diamond," Sherlock spoke, watching the video raptly.

Leona didn't understand what was happening. She saw Mor-tary in the video, but he wasn't doing anything. She was still tense though, and imagined what would happen if he jumped through the video to strangle her to death. Leona cringed, she didn't like that thought.

"Come here, love," John spoke, taking Leona's hand. He led her to the door where Sally Donavon stood. "Sally, do you mind watching her? I... Don't want her to see this."

Sally gave him a funny look, but nodded, "Course." Leona went with Sally, as she stepped out of the room.

Leona slumped against the wall, her knees curled up. Sally gave her a worried look, "You alright, love?" She asked, bending down to the young girl's level.

Leona looked at her. The first time she had met the woman, she called Sherlock a freak. She didn't know what that meant, but it didn't sound nice at all. But now, she seemed... Nice. Like John was after she had a bad dream, or Ms. Hudson whenever she gave her a prize. Leona inhaled, "Shee trouble?"

"'Shee'?" The woman repeated, a tad bit confused. "Who's... Oh. Sherlock! Oh, that's absolutely adorable!" Sally laughed, shaking her head. "No, sweetheart, 'Shee' isn't in trouble, don't worry." Leona nodded hesitantly, and the woman sensed her discomfort. Deciding to change it to a more positive topic, she asked, "So, how do you like living with John and," she snickered, "'Shee'?"

Leona smiled, happy to reply, "Jon nice! He make Leona food! Shee funny, Leona like Shee hair! Ms. Hutson nice too! Ms. Hutson let Leona make special cookie!" Sally was chuckled at the way the girl spoke, and she continued. "Shee no like when–when Leona give him hug, but Jon say he does! Leona like when Shee rub Leona wings!"

"When he rubs your wings?" Sally laughed.

Leona nodded, "He no like when Leona flys though, Leona like fly, but Shee say no."

"Oh really? What do you mean by fly?"

"Wit' Leona wings," She explained. "Leona goes high, but Leona no fly now."

Sally laughed at the girl's peculiar imagination. "And you use your wings?" Leona nodded. "Can I see these wings?" Leona frowned for a second, would John and Sherlock be mad if she showed her? She was nice, like Ms. Hudson, and they let her show Uncle Mycroft too.

Leona took off her shirt, revealing a nude coloured tee-shirt, and the woman rose an eyebrow. Before she could say anything, Leona had undone the bandages and released her wings, smiling. "What the—!?" Sally jumped, scrambling back. She managed to bump into the closed door as she reached for her gun.

Leona saw the gun in the woman's hand and cried out. She fell to her knees, covering her head, trembling.

The door opened, Sherlock and John stepped out. John looked at Leona and swore, "Leona!" He hissed, grabbing her shirt off the floor and wrestling with her to put it back on her.

Lestrade came out as well, looking at Sally, who will had her gun out. "Donavan!? Why the hell—!?"

"Sherlock, if you don't start explaining what the hell happened to her—" Sally growled, recomposing herself. She stood, the gun not leaving her hand.

"Donavan! Drop the gun!" Lestrade snapped.

"Look at what that bastard did to her!!" Sally snarled. "What the hell is wrong with you!?"

"If you're assuming that I am the cause of what happened to Leona, then you are incorrect," Sherlock told the derailed woman. "Drop the weapon, Donavon, we all know you're not going to shoot either of us."

"You wanna fuckin' bet, freak!?" Sally snapped, advancing on the sociopath. Lestrade stopped her, his grip tight around her arm.

"I said stop, Donavon!" Lestrade growled, "I will have you suspened—"

"Look at the kid, Greg!" Sally snapped, "Look at her!"

Lestrade glanced over. John was still trying to get the shirt over top her massive wings. He gave up, deciding to take off his jacket and draping it over her. He wasn't fast enough, and Lestrade saw the dark brown-black wings that were flailing under the weight of the jacket. He gaped, his eyes wide.

"This is–is–is just a big misunderstanding," John tried to say, but had to turn back to the crying girl to get her settled.

"How do you justify that!?" Sally snapped, "How is that even possible!? Are they real?!"

"Of course they're real, don't be a moron, Donavon," Sherlock said, rolling his eyes. Sally's eyes grew with rage, and she pressed forward on Sherlock, not letting Lestrade stop her. She pushed him against the wall, her gun to his head.

"You'd better start explaining this, freak, or I'll will pull this trigger," Sally growled, her tone dangerously low and filled with rage.

"No you won't," he replied. At that, Sally undid the safety.

Leona looked up at the familiar sound of a gun being cocked, and reacted on adrenaline. She ran over, slipping past John to get to Sherlock and Sally. Leona tackled the woman, yanking the gun out of her hand with such force that it caused the woman to squeeze the trigger.

A shot rang out, skimming Leona's ear, but it was close enough, and loud enough, to leave the girl reeling. Leona dropped the gun and covered her ring in ears. She felt like everyone was going... Slow around her. She could feel the warm blood on her hands that trickled down the sides of her face. She heard shouting and angry voices. She didn't like it. It made her feel... Small. Leona's wings curled around her in a meek attempt to hide away.

Someone tried to pry her hand away from her bleeding ear, and she flinched at the cold touch. Something heavy was placed around her shoulders, and she was lifted into the air.

Everything was disorientating. She couldn't tell up from grass, left from backwards. Her surroundings blurred past, and she barely remembered herself going to sleep.

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Leona woke up hours later. It was dark outside. She turned, knowing she had been in Sherlock's bed immediately. She could tell by the smell. It smelled like his hair when he got out of the... Falling water box.

Leona was about to fall back asleep when she heard strange sound. It was... She couldn't describe it. It was soft and... Sounded like water was gliding in the air. Leona sat up, holding her head when she felt the inevitable head rush for a moment. The sound hadn't stopped, but it had changed. Different sounds now.

Leona opened the door slowly, noticing that she wore one of John's big white shirts. Her feet gently padded against the floor as she entered the sitting room. Sherlock was standing, with a strange thing on his neck. He was making the sound, but had stopped when he heard Leona enter.

"You're awake," he noted. Dropping the thing he held to his neck. Leona walked over, and gently touched it. Sherlock didn't stop her, however he did keep talking. "You're going to be the death of me..." He muttered, raising a hand to rub the bridge of his nose. "Why show her your wings? You don't know how much time it took for John and I to explain, and to make sure Donavon kept her bloody mouth shut. She would probably try to call Social Services, if we hadn't. Then, she nearly shot your bloody ear off, dumb bitch..." Sherlock hadn't meant for that last part to come out, but relaxed when Leona hadn't noticed, being too interested in the makings of the strange thing he held.

Leona's small fingers grazed the string, one of them holding too long, causing it to pluck sharply. Leona gasped, staring at it, before trying again and giggled when it made the sound again.

"Shee?" Leona spoke, not taking her eyes off it.

"What?"

"What it?"

"It's my violin."

"What... What vii... Ol-lien?" She asked, sounding out the word in order to say it.

"It's an instrument. It's used to make music."

"What mew-sick?"

Sherlock rose an eyebrow, "Music?" She nodded, "Music is a combination of different sounds that when put together creates a song. It's like a book. One page would be the music, but the entire book would be a song."

"What song?" Sherlock pressed his lips together, bringing the instrument to his chin again. He began to play. It was the same sounds as she heard when she was walking down the hall. Leona stared at him, her eyes wide with amazement and wonder. She wondered how such a small thing could create such a beautiful sound. It seemed... Unreal. Impossible, even.

After several minutes, he was done. When Leona noticed that the sounds were over, she smiled and giggled, "Again! Again!"

Sherlock rose an eyebrow, but played another. Leona ran over to his chair, and sat down. Her feet didn't even reach the ends of the chair when her back was against the side. She stared at Sherlock as he played more sounds, clapping her hands when he finished, asking for more. He entertained her with fast sounds, slow sounds, sounds that were dragged out an beautiful, and others that were jagged and quick. He even pulled on the string like she had accidentally done.

Leona loved every one, staying up with him for hours until her small, five-year old body couldn't keep her eyes awake any longer. The sounds of a fast song lulled her to sleep.

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Part one of the Fall! I'm pretty sure there be four, maaaaybe five parts.

What do y'all think of the 'Donavon Situation'? Excited? Upset? I needed Lestrade to know about her wings, but the only way to go at it properly was with Sally.

I don't have much else to say, lol. I hope you guys enjoyed the update, I enjoyed writing it! I can't wait for the next couple parts, and then, the inevitable Fall~! What you do think'll happen? I'm so excited!

Welp, I'll see y'all next time, and remember...

Don't melt~!
~ Happyritas <OOO