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Bella looks up Tony Stark. (There's no reason not to.)
...Okay. He looks familiar. And his death those several months ago was really very suspicious, and she doesn't think anyone has been doing her morgue trick in New York City. And his more reclusive identical twin's body was never found at all. (If there was an identical twin, and not just Tony Stark theatrically pretending to be two people with mirrors or holograms or Photoshop and cooperative witnesses giving insistent interviews and then suddenly being dead and no longer able to pretend. There was, after all no sign of a twin before a sudden debut when he - they - was or were fifteen, and... "Sherlock Holmes", really? There's not even a hint of a twin in Tony's birth announcement, which she checks because that's the obvious thing to check.)
Come to think of it, Mr. Does Not Stick To Flypaper never introduced himself.
She supposes that his cute laser trick didn't work that well, if he got got. (But she saw it burn him. It's a clever weapon, should take almost no skill to wield a continuous beam - what kind of onslaught could have gotten around that?)
Nothing about her routine changes in response to this information.
Until several days later when she's crossing another neighborhood (seventeen to go) and - he just keeps popping up, doesn't he?
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cross_and_bow
cross_and_bow
"Ooookay. Why would you need to pretend anger about your coat? And to whom?"
eversomuchfun
"I wouldn't, really," he says. "But I am not, in fact, angry, and it seems vaguely like the sort of thing one gets angry about, and furthermore it seems not impossible that I will eventually meet your father and have the opportunity to berate him for it, if I can keep a straight face long enough, which at the present moment would be a task far beyond my capacity to achieve."
eversomuchfun
"Because I just killed twenty fucking demons," he laughs. "And then got shot."
cross_and_bow
"Should I be concerned about my mental faculties if the same thing ever happens to me, or is this a Sherlock thing?" she inquires.
eversomuchfun
"Adrenaline, endorphins," he shrugs. "I don't know if I have them anymore, but apparently I have a reasonable facsimile."
cross_and_bow
"Noted. Thank you for killing the demons," says Bella. "Do you happen to know what they were doing, besides, apparently, killing at least one - cop? Bystander?"
eversomuchfun
"Bystander," he says. "I could venture a few guesses, but my information is not complete."
cross_and_bow
"What're your information and your guesses?" Bella asks.
eversomuchfun
"Four species of demon," he says, settling down a little. "Numbers roughly equal. One dead human, cold. The way those demons fought, they were uneasy allies at best, united briefly against a common enemy. My best theory is that the human stumbled across some kind of meeting or negotiation, perhaps heated, and was sufficiently alarmed and sufficiently new in town to call 911. The demons swarmed her before the police could arrive."
cross_and_bow
"Reasonable train of thought. Should I worry about the results of the meeting - or its disruption?"
eversomuchfun
"I should, perhaps," he laughs. "I'm the one the survivors will be hunting."
cross_and_bow
"There could be collateral damage, or they could be plotting to blow up the elementary school or something sinister like that - non-vampire demons won't be repelled by the crosses around the place."
cross_and_bow
"I would like to have the information," she says, which isn't quite an answer to his question.
eversomuchfun
"I am good at information," he says. "You might consider it my signature talent."
cross_and_bow
"Hence the name," she replies. "All right."
Charlie's cruiser pulls around the corner.
Charlie's cruiser pulls around the corner.
cross_and_bow
"Sherlock," says Bella exasperatedly.
The cruiser stops short when Charlie recognizes Sherlock, and he leaps out, weapon drawn and pointed.
"Dad!" shouts Bella. "Don't shoot! Just - go on the porch, or inside, but don't shoot him again, okay?"
The cruiser stops short when Charlie recognizes Sherlock, and he leaps out, weapon drawn and pointed.
"Dad!" shouts Bella. "Don't shoot! Just - go on the porch, or inside, but don't shoot him again, okay?"
cross_and_bow
Charlie doesn't let his gun point anywhere other than at Sherlock, but he slowly moves from the cruiser to the porch and stays there under the sun bulbs.
Bella chooses a different window to stick her head out of so she can see them both. "Dad, this is Sherlock. I'm not letting him within arms' length but for the time being he seems worth letting live, okay?"
"...Bells, he killed -"
"They killed a person, didn't they?"
Charlie nods slowly.
"They weren't humans. Look at the colors of the blood on him - I know it's dark, but you can see it's not red, right?"
Charlie nods again, still slow.
Bella chooses a different window to stick her head out of so she can see them both. "Dad, this is Sherlock. I'm not letting him within arms' length but for the time being he seems worth letting live, okay?"
"...Bells, he killed -"
"They killed a person, didn't they?"
Charlie nods slowly.
"They weren't humans. Look at the colors of the blood on him - I know it's dark, but you can see it's not red, right?"
Charlie nods again, still slow.
eversomuchfun
He's sitting out of porchlight range. More or less. Sherlock raises his hand in a little wave, and otherwise lets them get on with their conversation.
cross_and_bow
"Sherlock," Bella continues, "is a vampire. He can't come into the house unless one of us invites him, and the porch lights or sunshine will burn him, so we're safe on the porch, in the house, and during the day outdoors or near windows. Most vampires are very dangerous. This one seems to have interests besides being dangerous, and besides he's very good at dodging, so he is still alive. I will tell you first of anything if my judgment on that changes, okay, Dad?"
Charlie nods again. He lowers the gun, regards Sherlock, and holsters it.
Charlie nods again. He lowers the gun, regards Sherlock, and holsters it.
eversomuchfun
"Thank you," he says. And wryly, lazily, cheerfully, without the least hint of anger: "I am very annoyed about what you did to my coat."
cross_and_bow
Charlie snorts and goes into the house. He shuts and locks the door behind him.