Fear of Heights

Sherlock Holmes was five and he was not happy. His parents had taken him and Mycroft to a water park during the hottest month of the year. Now, normally, Sherlock would be overjoyed at the prospect of experimenting on water and seeing how the weather affected it. But the sun beat down mercilessly and he was extremely hot. Also, there was a red tinge on his normally pale skin. Sherlock knew it was the beginning of a sunburn and hated it. Mycroft, of course, had reacted well to the outing. Then again, Mycroft tended to react to things the same way a duck dealt with rain: everything just rolled off of him without even ruffling a feather.

“Sherlock, dear, why don’t you go play?” Mrs. Holmes suggested, giving his shoulder a nudge. She and Mr. Holmes were reclining in the shade of an enormous umbrella, cold drinks dripping condensation on the table between them.

“They’re boring,” Sherlock replied sulkily, thrusting his lower lip out as he pouted. “All they want to do is run around and scream.”

“That’s because they’re kids, it’s what kids do,” Mr. Holmes said dismissively, looking up from the newspaper he was reading. “Go play, Sherlock. Look, there’s Mycroft by the pool. Go spend some time with your brother.”

Sherlock spared one glance for his parents and realized they weren’t going to stop hounding him until he went to go play. They were incredibly easy to read and Sherlock always knew what they were thinking. Though his father did have a good idea by suggesting Mycroft. Sherlock’s older brother was very good at hiding what he was thinking. It was a fun challenge to try and figure out what Mycroft didn’t want him to know. Plus, it got Sherlock blackmail material for more desserts after dinner. Mycroft didn’t need them anyway, Sherlock sniggered to himself. Wandering over slowly, Sherlock studied the other children in the water park. A few older boys were taking up all the room on the slide, daring each other to more and more dangerous stunts. The other children waiting were starting to fidget and Sherlock wondered how long before one of the park attendants took the older boys in hand. But as he thought that, an attendant in bright blue swimming trunks walked up and solved the problem by sending all the boys away.

“Hello, Sherlock,” Mycroft said when Sherlock finally reached him. Mycroft was sitting on the edge of the pool, his feet dangling in the water. At twelve, he wanted to appear mature and disinterested even though he was excited to be swimming. It was his favorite hobby and Mycroft had gotten very good at it. “What has you looking so dour?”

“Bored,” Sherlock replied, plopping down next to Mycroft and shoving his feet into the water. When Sherlock started sulking, his whole body got into it. “Why’d we have to come here anyway? I’ve got experiments on flies that I need to watch.”

“You’re five, Sherlock, act like a kid for once,” Mycroft replied smugly, seven years seniority giving him a sense of superiority. “If you really need an experiment, why don’t you time yourself going down the slide? Maybe you can see if different positions affect how fast you go and how much.”

Sherlock grimaced at Mycroft before twisting around to stare at the slide. It was mostly empty now, the children who’d been waiting in line having taken their turns and gone on to other things. There were a couple of girls giggling at the top as a boy whooshed down the slide, his blond hair slicked to his head. The slide actually did look fun, the blond boy screaming and grinning as he went. And the experiment Mycroft suggested would be the perfect cover for playing on the slide. Sherlock didn’t want either Mycroft or his parents thinking they’d won. After all, he wasn’t a normal five year old. Why should he act like it?

“Okay,” Sherlock finally said, turning around and shrugging. Standing up, Sherlock shook the water off his legs then headed over to the stairs. As he climbed, Sherlock looked over the side and had to swallow hard. It didn’t seem that tall from the ground but up here, the ground seemed so far away. Sneaking a glance back at Mycroft, Sherlock saw his older brother watching and gathered up his courage. Moving to the middle of the stairs, Sherlock finished the climb and waited in line. The giggling girls were next, the first one already gone while the second cheered her on. The blond boy who’d gone first had climbed up behind Sherlock and was standing patiently behind him. Ignoring the second girl, who screamed shrilly as she started to slide down, Sherlock studied the boy. He looked to be about nine, maybe ten. Blue eyes several shades darker than Sherlock’s own glittered with happiness as he watched the children in front of them head down the slide.

“Next,” the attendant called and Sherlock realized he was next. Sherlock stepped up to the slide hesitantly, peering over the edge as the boy who’d been in front of him splashed into the pool below. It was so high! Suddenly, Sherlock felt himself shaking and he stepped back, shaking his head emphatically.

“I... I can’t....,” Sherlock whispered, wrapping his arms around his stomach as wide, scared eyes looked up at the attendant.

“Next,” the attendant said again, gesturing toward the boy behind Sherlock. He glanced from Sherlock to the slide then back again, shaking his head and stepping back. The attendant shrugged and gestured for the next child, a girl with her black hair in pigtails.

Sherlock watched her slide down the slide, screaming and laughing. He’d backed up until his back hit the railing, eyes still wide with fear. He jumped when the blond boy put a hand on his shoulder and looked up at him. The boy smiled and patted Sherlock’s shoulder.

“My name’s John,” the boy introduced himself. “And it’s okay to be scared. I was the first time I went down the slide. What’s your name?”

“Sherlock,” Sherlock whispered after opening and closing his mouth in silence a few times. He was shaking badly, only the railing keeping him from falling down. But John’s hand on his shoulder was comforting, comforting enough that it slowly overcame the fear Sherlock felt. It took a couple minutes, during which several children made the climb and screamed down the slide, but Sherlock did stop shaking. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” John replied, smiling and patting Sherlock’s shoulder when the younger boy smiled back. “You feel like trying again? It’s really fun.”

“I don’t think I can,” Sherlock said, looking around for Mycroft and his parents. If they had seen that.... But Mycroft was talking to a couple of girls in the pool and his parents were still involved in their newspapers. He heaved a sigh of relief and looked at the slide again. “It’s so high. Higher than I thought.”

“How about we go together?” John suggested, tugging in Sherlock’s arm to pull him back into line. Sherlock went slowly, considering it carefully. Maybe it wouldn’t be so scary if he had someone else with him. After all, John appeared perfectly capable of navigating the slide. He’d done it before. And Sherlock felt oddly safe in his company.

“I’ll try,” Sherlock replied doubtfully, peering over the edge as the attendant gestured them up to the slide. Sherlock sat on the edge with John behind him, John’s legs on either side of his body. Sherlock swallowed nervously as he stared down the length of the slide, images of them falling over the edge crowding into his mind. But he didn’t have long to think as John gave them both a push and they were rushing down, water splashing around them. Sherlock screamed, mouth open wide as he saw the water coming at them faster and faster. He even forgot to count how long it took to hit the water.

John broke the surface of the water first, sucking in a deep breath as he looked around for Sherlock. The younger boy popped up, coughing and hacking. He hadn’t closed his mouth before hitting the water and had inhaled some. John patted Sherlock’s back, waiting for the other boy to take a deep breath. Finally, Sherlock did and smiled at John.

“That was fun!” Sherlock exclaimed, eyes bright with happiness. “Let’s go again!”

“John!” a woman’s voice called before John could reply. “Time to go, sweetie.”

“Sorry, I gotta go,” John said apologetically, patting Sherlock’s shoulder again. “But it’s not so scary now, right? Maybe you can have fun going by yourself.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Sherlock said doubtfully, swimming to the ladder with the other boy. “Do you really have to go?”

“I have to,” John said, letting Sherlock climb out first. He climbed out too and gave Sherlock a quick hug. “Maybe we’ll see each other again. My family comes to this water park a couple times a year. See you later, Sherlock.”

“Bye, John,” Sherlock said, watching the older boy run to catch up with his family. A harried looking woman was shepherding what Sherlock assumed was John’s older sister as she had similar facial features. The feeling of comfort and safety was gone and Sherlock didn’t want to go down the slide again. But he did, just one more time. He had to prove to himself that he could do it, even if he was afraid. After that, Sherlock spent his time floating in the pool and thinking about John. He wished John had been able to stay a little longer. Sherlock wondered what it would be like to have a friend and John was more tolerable than most. At least he never called Sherlock names. About an hour later, Mr. and Mrs. Holmes called him and Mycroft and they headed home. Sherlock put the day out of his mind when he saw his fly experiment was completely ruined due to all the time he’d been away. He even forgot to be sad when they never went back to that water park.

It wouldn’t be until years later, when a shell had grown around Sherlock to keep him insulated from the taunts and jibes of others, that he remembered that day at the water park. He was working on a blood sample, examining the cells through a microscope when Mike Stamford walked in with a blond man with blue eyes. It only took one glance and Sherlock knew it was John. And when he realized Mike meant for John to be his flatmate, Sherlock couldn’t help but try to impress the man a little bit. After all, just with John in the room, Sherlock felt safe again. There was no way he was giving it up a second time.