The Man With The Umbrella

- 14 -

Inspector Lestrade's face suddenly came screaming into clarity.

Yet, Amelia only seemed to acquire eyes for him, for Jonathan, his bloody and oddly angled body lying at the bottom of the staircase. He stared at her, with just one eye. Amelia became loosely aware of officers pushing past her on the stairs.

Gregory Lestrade crouched beside Amelia on the stairs, his dark eyes wide and his mouth moving quickly. He looked over her head, to where the sudden rush of cold air was coming from. "Gone into shock. Someone... Somebody get me a bloody blanket now!" Amelia tried to ground herself on his voice. It was safe but it wasn't Mycroft's, it didn't make her emotionally stable.

"Jesus. You're bleedin', we need to get you out of 'ere." She looked to Lestrade as he looked to her and her bloodied arm that he had a gentle grasp on. A bunch of neon jackets were crowding the body. However, his body was slowly becoming obscured from Amelia's view. She wondered where they were going to take him. She wondered if his parents, Jackson and Flora, were still alive.

He helped her stand and Amelia's legs felt weak, her head felt fuzzy and to her, nothing made sense. Should everything have been buzzing so much? Should there have been so many people around? The outside was a parking lot. Abandoned and surrounded by old, dirty buildings that overshadowed police cars. The blue and red lights flashed vibrantly against the drizzling rain.

A foil blanket appeared over her shoulders the moment she stepped out, closely followed by another blanket to radiate the warmth. Lestrade guided Amelia with an arm around her covered waist in order to help keep balance.

Amelia realised then, that she wanted to see Mycroft with a burning precision, it nearly knocked her out. She must've spoken that thought aloud because Lestrade murmured, "He's just over there, Amelia. Look, let's get you over to the ambulance, yeah? See, he's, uh, he's comin' now."

Mycroft was amongst the hustle and bustle and the shouting of police. He was there, umbrella in hand and with a face forever a cold mask. Amelia watched his mouth open and his eyes flicker as his body jolted staring at her appearance. It didn't take a Detective to know she wasn't wearing a top under her blankets. Amelia slowly felt her mind crashing from a server.

It was an odd thought, but Amelia saw Mycroft as a lighthouse to her storms.

Her chest jumped as she walked, her eyes blinked rapidly, and Inspector Lestrade propped her right as she tripped over uneven gravel. The world swayed in her minds eye and she imagined Jolene, for one dizzying moment. She was dead because of Amelia. Amelia paused in her walking with her breath catching. "Come on, Amelia. Almost there. Almost there." Lestrade spoke encouragingly.

Mycroft was suddenly marching forward, and Amelia couldn't look anywhere else. His mouth was tight and his umbrella swung authoritatively. People stepped and toed out of his way as his raincoat swished in his walk.

Amelia was directed towards an ambulance, Lestrade's hand was in the crook of her elbow as he manoeuvred her to sit, but she only had eyes for Mycroft. She stared as she sat down, she watched as his mouth began moving whilst speaking into the phone. He looked at her as she looked at him. It was a few seconds later that he nodded and slipped his phone into his pocket. His voice cutting short as it reached her.

Mycroft looked at Amelia, really looked at her. Sharp eyes flashed from the bloodied initials on her forearm that was uncovered over her blankets and his nostrils flared whilst his jaw clenched as his gaze dropped briefly to her pink bra, which now looked grubby. Amelia's face wobbled with a dying need to cry, she didn't, though.

Lestrade greeted him with a cough, "Mister Holmes." Before promptly leaving. Amelia looked up to Mycroft and he looked down to her. Amelia knew that he hadn't a clue what to say. The grim look upon his pale complexion was enough than spoken words.