Erika giggled as Beth made silly faces. She quickly clamped her hand over her mouth, but could not stop the laughter. They were supposed to be in bed, asleep, but, being ten years old, it was a hard thing to do. Especially when Beth kept doing things to make her laugh.

"Beth," she whispered to her twin, "Cut it out, or we'll be in trouble. Again."

The other girl shook her head. "Not unless he catches us," Beth whispered back, "And anyway, I'm too excited to sleep. We're actually gonna get to go to the mall with Mommy." Erika nodded. She and Beth didn't know their mother very well, since she lived in England. She very rarely visited, but when she did, she would take them to the most wonderful places.

"Girls!" their father yelled from the other room, "You were supposed to be asleep an hour ago!"

"Sorry, Daddy!" they yelled back in unison. Then they both giggled, and Erika fingered her necklace. The charm on it was a half of a heart. Beth wore the other half. The sight of Beth making another silly face was the last Erika saw before she fell asleep.

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The next morning Erika awoke to find Beth already up. Her sister grinned and put her fingers to her lips, then slowly got out of the bed. Erika grinned back and did the same. It was their morning ritual. They quietly crept down the hall to their dad's bedroom and opened the door. He was still asleep, facing away from the girls. Beth tapped Erika on the shoulder and they both yelled at the tops of their lungs while jumping on top of him. "Wakey! Wakey!"

"Huh? What's this?" He growled, in the same way he had done every morning since they were old enough to do this, "Two delicious morsels have come all by themselves into my lair. Hmm...how lucky must I be?" He laughed and began to tickle them both.

Erika was giggling hard. She knew they were too old for this. Certainly none of their friends at school ever did anything silly like this. But it was a special time for her and Beth and her father. Usually she and Beth would exclude everyone from their close-knit friendship. It wasn't done on purpose; it was just easier to communicate with each other. It often seemed as though she knew what Beth was thinking and vice versa.

Daddy sighed and tousled their hair. "Okay, ladies, go get dressed. I'll go get started on breakfast. Your mom'll be here soon."

She and Beth jumped up and ran to their room. They had decided to wear matching outfits today. It was always fun to trick Mommy, who didn't know them well enough to tell them apart, and Daddy never told on them. He seemed to think it was funny too. He would always smile when they did it, even though it was a weird smile.

The clothes they chose, were baby blue jumpsuits over white tee-shirts. Erika brushed out Beth's hair and put a matching blue butterfly clip in her hair. Beth did the same for her. Erika then pulled her sister to the bathroom so they could look in the mirror. There were two identical images wearing two identical grins.

"Perfect," Beth proclaimed, and Erika nodded in agreement.

"Let's go," she said, and they bounded down the stairs.

"Hello girls," said a cultured voice from the corner of the room.

"Mommy!" they yelled, and ran to a woman wearing a stylish blue dress. They put their arms around her, and Erika thought that mommy smelled just as good as she always had.

"Well! Be careful, you're going to mess up my dress," she said softly, with a hint of irritation, "Here, step back so I can get a good look at you." They stepped back and grinned at the look of dismay on her face. "Not again. Why can't you two ever wear different clothing?"

"Because they're twins, Catherine. Come on, you two, breakfast time," Daddy said, the weird smile on his face.

"Oh, I'm sorry, George, but there isn't time for that. I have to be at the airport at three, and that doesn't give us much time. Oh and can you come pick them up from the mall? I want to spend every second I can with them, and it is kind of hard to do while driving."

Daddy nodded. "Fine, have them wait for me at the front entrance. I'll be there at two-thirty."

Mommy smiled. "Of course. Let's go, girls."

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Erika sighed in contentment. They had already been to almost every store in the mall, and both her and Beth had a brand new wardrobe. Each of them were different, of course. It was almost two-thirty, and they were making their way to the front entrance.

"Hmm...hey girls, why don't we sit down here for a minute. We have plenty of time before your father gets here," Mommy said. Erika shrugged and sat down, but Beth frowned. "I think we should go ahead and go out there. There are seats, and what if we miss Daddy?"

"I'll go tell him we're in here!" Erika immediately offered. Sometimes Beth could be suspicious of the silliest things. Mommy frowned, then she smiled. "You do that dear. We'll be right here when you get back."

Erika bounced to the entrance and out the double plexiglass doors. Daddy was waiting outside, a frown on his face. "You're late. Where's your sister?"

"Inside. She and Mommy are sitting down, resting. They'll be out soon, though."

"How 'bout you show me where they are."

Erika grabbed his hand and pulled him inside. She walked over to where she had last seen them, only they weren't there.

"But they were just here...I know it. I remember, 'cause that big bear was behind where Mommy was sitting."

Daddy just frowned and picked up a piece of paper that was sitting on the table. He then said a bad word, and crumpled the paper.

"What's wrong, Daddy?"

He just grabbed her hand and started walking towards the entrance.

Erika was scared. "But what about Beth? We have to wait for her. Daddy? Daddy?"

At home, Daddy sat Erika down on the couch and knelt down before her. "Beth is gone for good now. Mommy took her with her to live in England. They won't be able to visit. It'll be just you and me."

Erika shook her head and fingered her necklace. It couldn't be true, it just couldn't. Beth wouldn't leave like that. Not without telling her first.

"It's true, sweetheart. Now, go wash up and I'll fix you a snack."

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Erika grew up that day. She never again played the silly game in the mornings, and she went to bed when she was told. She pretended she had never had a sister. Just like Dad pretended he never had another daughter. But late at night, before she fell asleep, she would finger the heart pendant.

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A/N: Okay, I know that Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century, and Big Guy and Rusty are probably in different time periods, and Beth Lestrade looks nothing like Erika Slate. However, since this is fanfiction, I have a little bit of control, and I am using my imagination. For one thing, who's to say England and America stay on the same technological advances in the future? Anyway, if you don't like it, just say so. But do it nicely.