A/N: I would like to thank Sigerson, Pokemongirl99, Stardreams15 and Iara for reviewing. And of course everyone on the Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century Message Board for reviewing as well. I would also like to point out that I am evil. Muaha.
Chapter Six
It had happened again. David scrubbed his face with his hands; exhaustion and disorientation from the transformation had taken their toll. He glanced around him and noticed that he was near the inn. Thank goodness for small favors. He could sneak into his room since the bathroom window was close to the ground on this side.
Quietly he made his way towards the building, checking around him often to see if anyone was watching. While it wasn't unnatural for someone to be walking around without a shirt in the middle of summer, he knew that that boy was staying here and might have told someone about his encounter. If the boy was all right.
For an uncertain minute David fought his guilty conscience, but only for a minute. He had to believe that the creature, being a part of him, had his ideals—if not his intelligence—and would never hurt anyone that had done him no harm. Or kill.
As he reached the window, he breathed a sigh of relief and pulled himself inside. Good thing he had unlocked it earlier. He'd hate to have to pay for a broken plex-glass window. They were expensive. He grabbed some clothes from his bag and changed just as his stomach started growling.
That was another side effect of the transformation. The energy depletion left him not only worn, but ravenous as well. If he couldn't find a way to cure the mutation—or control his anger—he'd be spending more money on food than on anything else.
With a wry grin he left his room and made his way down to the inn's main lobby.
A commotion outside caught his attention, and he decided to investigate. If there was some kind of angry mob gathering and trying to go after a big green monster, he needed to know. He walked outside and stood beside a couple of people who were pointing at a body in the middle of the street.
With a start, he realized that it was one of the two men that had attacked him and that boy earlier. Was this a result of the creature? He took a couple of steps forward to get a closer look. There were bruises, but there were also radiation burns across the man's face. David frowned. They looked odd somehow, almost as if they had been placed deliberately.
"What happened?" He asked one of the people nearest him.
"Idiot shot himself with an ionizer. Didn't know anyone here in the states had that kind."
"What do you mean?"
The guy shrugged. "Well, it looks like a Mark15 plasma rifle at first glance, but the shot was too low powered. At least from what I saw. Like the sort they use for the law enforcement over in Great Britain."
David nodded. He stepped a little further forward and was about to kneel by the man's side to take a pulse when a commanding voice rang out.
"Excuse me! I'm a level 7 law enforcer compudroid with medical expertise. Please let me through!"
David, along with everyone else moved aside to let the robot in. To his surprise the thing had an elastomask on. It looked like the face of a slightly chubby Victorian gentleman. Most compudroids wouldn't speak out of turn unless a violation had been committed, much less wear a face that made them look more human.
Then, before the 'droid was able to get to the body, David was pushed back by a couple of people wearing radiation suits. His frown grew deeper. Despite the radiation burns, there was no danger of residual poisoning. That was the beauty of the Mark15. And from the guy he had spoken to, that may not have even been the weapon used.
"Sorry, danger of radiation poisoning. I'm afraid you're going to have to step away. This guy's already dead."
Now David knew something was up. How in the world could these two men who had just arrived know that?
"How do you know?" the compudroid challenged. David silently cheered it.
"Because the ionizer he used to shoot him with causes death instantly. And leaks radiation like a fountain. You can see the burns on his body can't you?"
David kept his counsel, but the lie grated on him. The Mark15 only caused minor burns, and only very rarely caused death. While it did have some radioactivity, it was slight enough that once it had been fired, the only danger was to the person hit with the beam. Of course, at so close a range, it was possible that it had caused instant death, but David didn't think so. The compudroid's elastomask face twisted into an expression of dismay and agony, and David—despite knowing that it was only a simulation of human emotion—felt compassion.
"Actually," he began, intent on letting the two know that he wasn't ignorant, "The Mark15…"
"Quiet! Get out of our way!" The two men again shoved past him, this time carrying the body of the man between them. David fell back with the crowd, glaring after them, then walked over to the distraught robot.
"They were lying," he said softly, so only the compudroid's audio sensors would pick it up.
"When you say, lying, d'you think that means the man could still be alive?" the compudroid asked.
David shrugged. "Possibly. I was going to check his pulse when you came along. And then those two came in…well you get the picture."
It looked at him, hope and confusion warring on its face. "Well, in that case perhaps we should go inside and have a little talk?"
David nodded. He really shouldn't get involved, not when any confrontation seemed to trigger the rage that triggered his transformation. But there was some insidious plot going on here, and he had never been one to turn down a challenge.
Beth watched as Deidre paced the room, cursing fluently in languages she hadn't known the girl knew. She wasn't quite sure what it was all about, but decided that it was something about Holmes. Great. What had the detective gone and done now?
As she stood up to place a calming hand on the girl's shoulder—and to try and get her to explain more slowly what was going on—the door came open and Wiggins and Tennyson came in, their expressions ranging from hurt to anger to shock and back to anger again.
They caught sight of her and glanced at Deidre uncertainly. Beth smiled. "Hey, don't worry about me. Name's…oh fine. I'm Inspector Lestrade. Now what's going on?"
"Inspector?" Wiggins said uncertainly, "You don't look…" he choked as she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and lifted him. "Uh, right. You're definitely Inspector Lestrade."
This brought forth giggles from Deidre, and had the desired effect of calming the girl down. "I knew it! You look better as a blonde…"
"Definitely," Tennyson agreed with a cheeky grin.
"Yeah, well since I did the old-fashioned thing and bleached it, you all get to see me as a blonde for a while. Now. What's going on with Holmes? I got from Watson was willing to tell Bethany Ross that he's in some kind of trouble. And with the way you three are acting it's worse than I thought." She placed her hands on her hips and stared at each one of them until they looked away.
"Well," Wiggins said, "It all began when…"
When he had finished telling the whole story Lestrade sighed and dropped her head into her hands. "Okay. I have four possibilities for you. One: He's having a nervous breakdown, in which case we really need to keep a close eye on him. Two: Whatever case he's on is super dangerous, but he still wants you guys to know that something's up. Three: He's under mind control. Four: It's an imposter."
"Well, it couldn't be four," Wiggins said, "Because Watson checked him out, and his DNA was the same."
Lestrade nodded. "Well, that leaves the other three for us to work with then, doesn't it?"
"Right," Tennyson agreed, "We'll wait until Holmes goes to sleep and then tell Watson. Why are you here in disguise anyway?"
Lestrade shrugged. "I was following somebody. But it isn't as important right now as this." She was going to give David a chance to tell her what was going on with him, himself, and while she knew she could trust the kids, he wouldn't. Not if he thought the information might hurt them somehow. "Okay, that's a great plan Tennyson. Did you find anything out about that robbery case?"
The boy beeped a negative. "It's classified. It's gonna take me some time to….get permission."
Everyone grinned, despite the circumstances.