"That picture I asked about was of my house that I grew up in with my dad after we moved away from my mum." You said with a somewhat shaky voice, trying to hold back the urge to cry. Those memories always made you cry.

"I took those pictures as a kid...My parents liked them so much they framed them...It was my friend's house..." Jim said confused, looking around slightly as he tried to figure out what was happening.

"But that's definitely my house..." you said looking into his eyes.

"But you're British, you grew up in England, didn't you?" Jim asked. "That house is in Ireland. Far from here."

"My mum and dad split and me and him moved to Ireland for a few years until he..." you stopped, your voice got stuck in your throat as you stopped tears from starting. Jim hugged you with a small smile.

"I never thought I'd meet her again..." he murmured softly as he rubbed your back.

"Who?"

"The little kindergartener from across the street. The one who lost her dad to cancer..."

You hugged him tightly as you figured out what he meant. "James..." you started crying and buried your face into his shoulder.

"Strange how fate works." He smiled and wrapped his arms around you tightly. "How did we both forget about each other?" He said softly and kissed the top of your head.

~Your memories from that house~

You sat on your bed crying. You didn't want to go to your first day of kindergarten the next morning. It seemed scary and you wouldn't know anyone and your mum wasn't there to take you. Leaving her in England while your dad took you to Ireland was a hard thing for you to understand. You didn't quite understand divorce. Nobody told you as a child that your mum was addicted to drugs and was on the verge of overdosing many times and you weren't told until your teenage years when she was better and you lived with her again. Your dad came in and asked why you were crying. After you told him, he told you the things that would happen at school and all the friends you'd make and that it'd go by quickly and he'd be there to pick you up when class was over. You felt a little better but still went to bed worried.

"(y/n)! Time to leave." Your dad called when you were ready and it was time to go to school. You ran outside and saw a little dark-haired boy walking to his parents' car and you waved. He smiled and waved back before getting in the car. You got into yours and your dad drove to the school which was only 10 minutes away. When you got out you saw the same boy and ran up to him as your dad followed you with a smile, glad to see you making friends already.

"Hi, I live across the street from you. My name is (y/n). What's yours?" You grinned as you asked excitedly.

The boy smiled, "I'm James."

"I'm in kindergarten!"

"I'm going into second grade." He replied.

"That's cool! Well I gotta go to class. See ya later!" You waved and hurried up to the school doors where your dad was waiting. You both walked to your classroom and he hugged you goodbye and told you he'd see you later.

Kindergarten wasn't as bad as you thought it would be and you had lots of fun playing with all the toys and your teacher was very nice. There were a few girls that played with you and you all became friends. You saw James at recess through the fence. Kindergarten classes had to play on the smaller play area to stay safe from the bigger, rougher kids and since James was in second grade he was on the other side. He was playing cards and jacks with a couple boys and you watched for a few minutes, wishing you could be over there with them. The day you saw him was the day your crush on him started. It lasted the whole year and you sent your mum letters weekly to tell her about school and Ireland and of course about James. You would play with him outside and at each other's houses in the afternoon, over weekends, and during the summer holidays. He was always around.

One day, when James's parents came over to take him back home, you heard them tell your dad that you were the only kid he actually liked being with and they were so glad you moved in across the street. You didn't know that was weird at the time, but thinking back to it now you realise that he'd always been a little off. He had always been more quiet and mature than most kids his age and he always wanted to play slightly strange games but you never minded.

Two years later though your dad got "sick" even though he didn't sneeze or cough or look very sick to you. A few months of him going to hospital every now and then lead to a babysitter most days while your dad stayed with the doctors. You had James with you most of the time and he made you feel safe while your father was gone.

"My dad's got cancer..." you murmured quietly with red, teary eyes while you sat with James in the garden. "He's gonna die.." you cried and hugged him. He hugged you back but didn't know what to respond with. After a few minutes he spoke up.

"You'll be leaving then? After...you know." He asked, upset that you were sad and that you'd be leaving.

"I'll be going back to England to live with my grandparents." You wiped your eyes and nose, trying to stop yourself from crying more. "I wish you could come too."

"Me too, (y/n), but we'll keep in touch. We can write to each other. And maybe we can visit sometimes too." He tried to keep you from crying with a small smile as he hugged you again.

The night your dad died was terrible and the next morning you were bringing suitcases out to the car with your grandparents who were there to take you to the airport to go to their house.

You didn't say goodbye to James in person but you wrote each other letters until one day he stopped replying. You never knew why he did, you assumed he was busy with school and forgot about you. You were in 3rd grade and had met Gwen and were hanging out with her a lot so it didn't take long for you to push all the bad memories out, including James after a while.

~~~

"Why did you stop sending me letters?" You asked as you looked up into his eyes.

"It's a long story. I had to leave my house and I lost your address. My parents were killed by an armed robber while I was at school one day. I was the one who found them." he said in an emotionless voice. "The orphanage was tough. All that trauma lead to this." He gestured to himself with a slight smile. "Killed a bully in that orphanage. He was the first one. Then the man who killed my parents. Then it became my job and that's how I met Seb. He was living out on the street stealing from people and fighting for money." He looked at the ground and slight emotional pain showed through his face.

"I'm sorry..." You murmured softly and hugged him again.

"Me and him stayed together, blood brothers, until he went off into the military at 18. I couldn't make myself join with him. I stayed behind and continued our "business" and that's still what I do, though less dirty work on my hands now." He seemed somewhat disappointed in himself.

"You may not be a saint but at least you took a terrible childhood and turned it into a stable career for yourself, even if that career has put you at the top of the most wanted list." You grabbed his hands. "If you could take it all back, would you restart and live a normal life?" You raised your eyebrows at him with a small grin to make him feel better.

"No...I love how exciting things get with this career, especially with people like Sherlock and you in my life." He chuckled and hugged you. "I'm glad fate pushed you back into my life. You didn't even give me a chance to say goodbye to you before you left as a kid. But this time you're not leaving me, right?"

"I don't plan on it." You smiled and kissed him lovingly but then you pulled away and looked deep into his chocolatey eyes. "So...You were only a kid when you first killed someone? That's a lot of guilt and stress and...evil..for a child."

Jim shrugged and started walking back downstairs. "He hated me and bullied and teased me about not being wanted and being a weirdo. I had to get rid of him and if some stranger could do that to my kind, loving parents then I knew I could do it to that prick. He wasn't the only kid I killed though. There were others that I couldn't stand." Sighing, you followed him. He sat on the couch and turned the telly on to a movie and you sat next to him and cuddled close.

"You were there for me when I was losing my dad. I wish I could've been there for you when you lost your parents." You said softly as you inspected your shirt's hem rather carefully. Jim just smiled and wrapped an arm around you before pecking your cheek.

"Thanks, kitten. But you're here now and that's all that matters because, (y/n), I love you."

You blushed and smiled widely. "I love you too, James."

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Hello! Hope you enjoy this bit of backstory. This was the first thing I wrote down as notes before I actually started writing this, it was basically my inspiration. I really hope it's as good to read as it was to write about.

Comments and votes are always appreciate! Thanks in advance :)

-TM