Save Yourself

I wrapped my arms tightly around Abby, realizing Sherlock was no longer beside me.

"Sherlock?!" I screamed, picking my daughter off of the ground while attempting to balance the gun in my hand, "No, sweetie, it's okay. I'm here."

"Daddy said you died, but I didn't believe him." Abby seemed very adamant about her belief in me being alive. I kissed her forehead, fighting back the urge to cry at how much she'd grown.

"No, sweetie, I didn't. I was lost. I came back for you."

Sherlock, where the fuck are you?!

The lack of anyone around terrified me. If Derek were in front of me, that would at least be some kind of knowledge at what was transpiring, but he wasn't there. No longer knowing what to do, I ran for the door, running as fast as I could with Abby in my arms.

I reached the doors, reluctantly placing Abby on the ground.

"You just stay here, I have to open these doors, okay?"

Abby nodded, her bright eyes staring at the rain pounding outside. I tugged on the large doors, which slowly, very slowly, moved due to the rust. Once there was enough room for us to leave, rain blew inside the building.

"Sherlock?!" I screamed once more into the building, and finally he answered.

"Just run!" His voice came from the basement. It was then I knew I had to make the choice I told myself I would in the beginning.

I could hear shots blasting in the basement, screams and grunts. Abby stood next to me, hand clutching mine, clearly very confused. While I told myself in the beginning of all of this I would leave Sherlock if I had to, I found myself unwilling to leave a man who had flown across the world for me to die.

"Sweetheart, I want you to face that wall and cover your eyes. Can you do that for me?"

"Is this a game?"

"Yes!" I shouted over the pouring rain, forcing a smile to assure her, "Yes, it's a game. Can you count to one-hundred? Did daddy teach you that?"

Abby nodded, "Actually, I can count to two-hundred, but our maid, Rosa, taught me. I never see daddy, actually."

"Good, sweetheart. Count to two-hundred and you win."

"What if I mess up?"

"Just start over! Okay?"

Abby nodded, facing the wall. And for the smallest moment, I was incredibly thankful for the belief system and naivety of a six year old. Drawing the gun back in front of me, I ran into the basement.

"Sherlock?!" I screamed once more, realizing the lights on the basement were finally on. This time, there was no answer. Unsure where to go, I began running through the rooms, trying to ignore the fact I was certainly following a trail of fresh blood.

Sherlock ran from a room, waving his arms in front of him, "Kara, I told you to leave."

"I'm not leaving. Why are you covered in blood?"

"Leave." His voice growled, nearly pushing me back down the hall.

"No." I stomped my foot on the ground, pushing past him into the room he'd come from. I uttered a soft oh when I saw bodies on the ground, along with Derek's.

"He's not dead," Sherlock sighed, running his hands through his hair behind me, "Well, not yet, anyway."

"This is why you didn't want me in here? How did you man-... Actually, I don't want to know."

I shook my head, staring down at Derek. Kicking him a few times to wake him up, I kicked him again just to show him I was in control.

"I see you've got your boyfriend to help you this year," Derek laughed, wiping blood from his nose, "Good job. Going to kill me now, are you?"

I stared down at him from the length of the gun in my hand, listening to the rain pouring in the far off distance, along with the sound of Abby's counting. Both were travelling down the stairs into the basement where we stood. Sherlock stood beside me, face bloody and focused. I thought of all of the things that Derek had down, all of the things that he'd done to me, to Abby, to innocent people all over the world.

"No, Derek, I don't want to kill you." I whispered, stepping closer to him. Derek seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, eyes widening when my hands brought the gun back up to his forehead, "But that doesn't mean I won't."

It was over in a second. Perhaps not even that long. Sherlock's eyes widened as I turned away, feeling nothing for the lifeless body in front of me. He said nothing. Possibly because he was shocked or because he didn't know how to react in that situation.

"Come on," He finally said, "We should get you home."

"All of the bodies?" I asked, staring at the floor as we walked.

"Taken care of." Sherlock's hands were flying across the keyboard of his cell phone, snapping it shut nearly as quickly as he'd opened it.

Once upstairs, I grabbed my daughters hand as Sherlock lead us into the rainy night, realizing this was all over, but a new story had just begun.