For Jess
Sherlock sees all. It's just the way things are. He sees and processes everything. He sees the callouses on John's hands, he sees the runs in Mrs. Hudson' stockings, he smells the smog of London, the fumes of the cab waiting for them on the curb. He sees the people walking past, minding their own business. As he shuts the door to 221 B Baker St., he sees a girl walking in his direction, only a few steps away, head down, looking at her Ipod, earbuds in. She was going to bump into him nd he didn't have time to move.
Sherlock gently put his arms up so she didn't collide into his chest to hard. She was startled when his hands were on her arms and looked up with wide, startled eyes. One hand yanked out an earbud and her eyes switched to apologetic as the other rested on his coat, a reaction to keep from falling over even though he had a solid grip on her. He looked down at her, face neutral as he read her in. It switched to slight annoyance at being bumped into.
"I'm so sorry!" She apologized. Australian. Recently moved to England, her accent is still unchanged.
"It's fine." He huffed and let her go. People need to pay attention to where they are going. She dropped her hand with her ipod in it, the one that had pressed against his coat and she smiled up at him sheepishly.
"Looks, like I need to be more careful." She offered and stepped to the side. "Have a good day." She said and brushed past him. John watched from the cab, patient. As the girl took a step away, Sherlock noticed he was missing something. He spun and grabbed her arm firmly, slightly pulling her back. Without warning, she spun and punched him in the nose, hard. Sherlock let her go and stumbled back. He could hear the click click of her brown ankle boots as she fled.
John ran to his side, concerned and confused.
"Christ, Sherlock, are you alright?" He asked as Sherlock regained his balance. Sherlock brought his gloved hand away and saw blood. His eyes had teared in response and the nose was tender. HE didn't think it was broken. Sherlock nodded.
"I'm fine." Sherlock said and spun. "She took my wallet." He grumbled and ran off, following her. John sighed and dropped his hands, exasperated, before following after Sherlock. They didn't have time for this.
The two ran for three blocks before Sherlock lost her. She was fast. He scanned the crowd for anything that matched her description. She was average height, around 5'5, but she was slim. He looked around for her light brown hair. It only reached her shoulders. He looked for her black coat. He listened for the click click of her boots. He got nothing. She was gone.
Sherlock let out a growl of frustration. John stopped at his side, panting slightly. He shook his head and Sherlock spun around a few times, looking.
"We have to get back to NSY. There isn't anything we can do at the moment." John told him. "We'll cancel the cards on the way." Sherlock grunted again and went to the curb, hailing another cab.
"She was fast." Sherlock mumbled, frustrated and slightly impressed. "She'd been doing that for a while." John chuckled.
"I just can't believe someone pickpocketed you." John said with a small smile. Sherlock scowled and shoved his hands in his pockets as the cab drove off. He scowled out the window until his hands felt something in his pocket. He frowned in confusion and pulled it out. It was a slip of paper.
"What's that?" John asked, looking at what he pulled out. Sherlock opened it.
I'll give it back.
"We'll see her again soon." Sherlock told him. "She doesn't want the money on the cards. She wants information." He said, looking at the scrap of paper.
"She could have just gotten information off of the blog." John offered, confused. Sherlock hummed at that. What was she looking for?
He had gotten a good look at her before she bolted. Her hair was natural. Her eyes were blue with gold flecks near the pupil. Her accent was Australian but she was extremely pale. She must have been from a city in Australia rather than a rural area. She had recently moved to England within the last few months. Other wise she would have picked up on British inflections and tones. It would have changed her accent slighty.
Sherlock locked all this away for later. He had other matters to tend to.
Jessica slipped into one of their rooms. She looked around to make sure no one had seen her and she quietly shut the door. She had sat in the sandwich shop for an hour or so, waiting to see if they had returned. She stood and smoothed out her dress, making sure it was down in the back. IT was a nervous habit. The dress she wore was one of her favorites. It was a blue one with a white collar and cuffs and looked more like a long sweater. It was comfortable and let her move.
Jess looked at her grey over the knee socks and frowned. She had caught one of them on the window when she climbed in. She pulled them up slightly and stood up straight. She noticed her pale pink nails and pouted. It had chipped. Stupid window. She shrugged and looked around the room. It had a lot of science stuff so it was probably Sherlock Holmes'. Jess left it quickly, heading out into a hallway. She quietly shut the door and walked down the hall into the messy kitchen. It had flasks and burners everywhere. She began poking around.
Jess looked in their fridge and grimaced. It looked gross. Was that mold? She wondered and shut the door, shivering. Gross. Then she remembered something she had read on the blog. She went to the microwave and opened it up.
"Eugh!" She exclaimed under breath and grimaced. It was true. He did keep eyeballs there. She shut it quickly and wiped her hands on her dress, as if they were dirty. She left the kitchen and entered the sitting room. Jess spun slowly, looking at everything. She smiled. It was a cluttered flat but looked quite nice. She began to shrug off her coat and dropped it over one of the chairs as if she owned the place.
Jess's eyes landed on the desk of papers and laptops. She made a bee line for it with a smile. She began rifling through it. Some were old police reports. Others were maps or forensic results. She scanned over an old cold case file and wondered how he got his hands on it. It wasn't fair. How come she couldn't get those files?
Jess wandered around, looking at everything, but making sure everything was back in its place before moving on. She looked at the large number of books on the shelves and smiled at the random shoe on one of the shelves. There were odd little things here and there and even found where he hid his cigarettes. He probably had to hide them from Dr. Watson.
Jess smiled brightly and moved on to the mantel. She could still smell the chemicals from the kitchen, but the dust from the books and the fireplace began to make it less harsh. The skull on the mantle caught her eye.
"Ooh." She cooed. Was it a real skull? Jess slowly reached out her hands to gently pick it up but before her hands could get near enough, a deep voice called out to her, startling her.
"Don't touch." The man told her. Jess shouted and spun, startled to the door, a hand over her heart. She saw Sherlock Holmes standing there and Dr. John Watson appeared through the door, looking just as startled as her. She smiled and laughed nervously. Sherlock stood with a firm face and his hands in his coat pockets.
"You scared me." She said and tried to get her heart to stop racing.
"You broke in." Sherlock told her. She just smiled and shrugged.
"Guilty." Jess said lightly.
"How did you get in?" John asked, startled and indignant. Sherlock rolled his eyes.
"A window. Look at her sock. She got it caught trying to climb in. Obvious." Sherlock explained and turned to her. "I assume you are here to return my wallet." Jess tilted her head slightly and looked him up and down briefly, then her face flashed into realization and she dug into her pocket.
"Oh! Yes, I forgot." She said and pulled it out. She smiled and held out her hand, offering the wallet to him. She walked over to him. "Here you go, I'm sorry about that." She said with a smile and looked at his nose. It was starting to bruise. Sherlock frowned at her and took it.
"How could you forget you nicked his wallet?" John asked. "Isn't that why you're here?" Jess bit her lip.
"Kind of." She told him. "I wanted to ask you two for help. You two do help people, yes?" She asked looking back at Sherlock. He sighed and began taking off his coat.
"Yeah, we do. But why did you take his wallet?" John asked, staring at her. She smiled at him.
"I wanted to make sure I got the right people. Didn't want to show up at the wrong place." She admitted. Silence hung about them before she stuck outher hand to John. "I'm Jessica Waren. It's nice to meet you, Dr. Watson." She said. John looked her up and down before taking her hand and shaking it.
"Pleasure." He said. He looked at her. She had very blue eyes and pale skin. He noticed right away the black septum piercing and two studs. Each nostril was pierced. "Have a seat. And we can listen to your case." He told her, still wary. She beamed and spun. She practically bounced over to Sherlock's chair before sitting in it. He frowned at the back of her heard from his spot at the desk.
"That's my chair." He pointed out. She turned to look at him.
"Sorry?" Jess asked, looking at him.
"That's my chair. John will get you your own." He pointed out. Jess looked at him before making a comical face. She went cross eyed and stuck out her tongue a bit. Sherlock just looked at her confused before she turned back around and looked at john with a soft smile. John sat in his chair. Looking at her slightly confused as well. Jess just smiled at him brightly.
"What, um." He started. "What can we do for you?"
"I think someone is trying to kill me." She said simply, smile still on her face. John looked at her startled and Sherlock snapped his head at her.
"Go to the police. That's not what we do." Sherlock said and stood. He walked behind John and picked up her coat. "They'll be better suited."
"They didn't believe me." Jess told them with a soft smile. She wasn't as cheery and looked almost sad. "They said there is no evidence to suggest foul play."
"What makes you think someone is trying to kill you?" John asked. Jess looked at him.
"Someone burned down my flat last week. I've been sleeping in my car." Jess told them. She didn't seem upset.
"It was probably a faulty wire or you left a candle burning." Sherlock told her, wanting her to leave. He handed her coat to her. She looked at him with an are you serious?
"Please." She said. "I know arson when I see it." Jess told them matter of factly. John frowned.
"How? Do you work with the fire department?" John inquired. Sherlock looked at her.
"No. Her frame is too small. She wouldn't be able to carry the gear. Her hands are neat except for the chipped polish from the window." Sherlock deduced. He sniffed her coat. Then he reached in to her coat pocket .He was looking for matches or a lighter, but when he looked at her, she had a small matchbook in between her fingers. She smiled at him, calm.
"You're an arsonist?" John asked her. John wasn't sure how he felt about helping a criminal. She shrugged.
"No, I just like to burn things. I've never actually burned down a house though." She said.
"Besides you flat, what else makes you think someone is trying to kill you?" John asked, clearing his throat.
"Well," Jess started. "the brakes on my car are missing, a bus almost hit me while I was crossing a street, and I was almost mugged." John stared at her. She wasn't kidding. "Oh wait, that mugging might not have been part of it, though." Jess said and frowned, thinking.
"Who would want you dead?" John asked. Jess shrugged.
"I have no clue." She admitted and smiled. "Hey, maybe you guys could just figure that out for me!"
"Why would they want you dead, though?" John asked. Sherlock snorted. And tossed her coat at her.
"She obviously either saw something, or stole something of importance." Sherlock said. "She's a petty criminal. She was bound to hit this issue in the first place. Though I am impressed you've managed to survive this long, we can't help you. Good day!" He said and walked away
"Sherlock!" John said and stood. Jess pouted.
"It's fine." She said and stood. "Thank you for at least listening." She said to John with a small smile. John looked at her concerned. He wasn't sure what to do. Jess offered him a small smile and put a hand on his arm before walking past him. She brushed passed John's little table and let her hand glide across it. John looked at her with pity. Poor girl would be dean in a week.
Sherlock waited by the door, indicating he wanted her to leave. She smiled at him and was about to say good bye but he stuck his hand out, as if he wanted something. He looked at her whith a look that mimicked her hearlier look. Are you seriously going to try that?
"What?" She asked innocently, batting her eyelashes at him.
"Give it back." He said as if to a child. Jess sighed and pulled her hand out of her pocket. It was a small notebook from John's little table. She gave it to Sherlock and John looked at the two flabbergast. When had she done that! "Thank you! Have a nice day!" He said as he walked away from the door. Jess sighed and put her coat on as she went down the stairs.
"Sherlock, we should have helped her!" John said as his friend sat in his own chair. They heard the door downstairs open and then a thud. John frowned.
"Let Scotland Yard handle it." Sherlock said. There was a thunk that caught both of their attention. The two men stood when the door slammed shut and a few more thunks sounded from downstairs. Sherlock went out to the stairwell ad peered down. John stood next to him.
Jess was sitting against the stairs and looked up. There was blood from her arm, spilling down and onto the foor. She looked a bit startled.
"I got shot." Jess called up. "I'm gonna stay here for while."