About time I got around to writing a Sherlock/Irene one-shot. This was suppose to be less than 1,000 words for my drabble collection but it took a life of its own. This would be set after Watson is engaged to Mary and before The Final Problem for those that would like an idea of when this takes place.

Also, this was one of the five files I had lost and actually managed to salvage! Yeah! Holmes/Irene cannot be denied! Still working on the other four files though :(


Trust Meant to Surrender

"Hello, Sherlock," my adversary said to me as I hung upside down, my left ankle entangled in several snapped clothes lines and slowly turning me around and lightly swinging me back and forth. I had one line wrapped around my body, pinning one of my arms to my back. My cheeks were no doubt flushed red from both embarrassment and at having the blood rush to my head from Newton's Law. I tried my best to not remember how I came into this situation but it was rather hard to avoid in doing so while The Woman smiled impishly at me and daintily placed her gloved hands to her lips in mock astonishment at my predicament, a predicament which I solely laid the blame upon her.

Moments before I had been trying to gain entry into the flat she had been renting for the duration of her stay in my beloved city. I had not wanted to try my usual means of entry knowing that she would hear me and open the door on me, invite me in, play the game with me and leave me drugged, flustered and embarrassed in some way or another. Why I put up with that every time, I do not know. Perhaps it had something to do with my unhealthy fascination with this woman.

But I digress.

Where was I? Oh yes. I had chosen to scale the outside of the building using a drainpipe until I reached the window of her flat. Like doors, windows had locks as well and while I was in the middle of trying to flip the latch that would allow me to lift the glass, she had purposely opened the curtains of her window and scared the daylights out of me. I had dropped my tools and lost my grip on the drainpipe and just as she opened the window I had begun to fall back toward the alley below where I ended up entangled in several clothes lines and at her mercy.

Again.

"Hello, Miss Adler or is it Missus Gardner this time?" I replied, mustering as much of my pride and composure as possible. Her disabling smile broke what little of a mask of calmness I had left and I struggled to keep control of my emotions. This woman had a way to unravel all my layers I've wrapped myself in and leave me vulnerable to her wits and fancies. God, I wish we were not on the opposite sides of the law! She would make a fine… wife? No, such a ridiculous thought. She could be no more bound to the laws of matrimony than I could. So what could she be to me then, a companion perhaps? The mere phrase was demeaning in some cultures and lewd in others. She did not deserve such a title. No, most certainly not a companion, but perhaps as a partner then? A partner would be a better choice of words but I already had a partner.

What's wrong with having a second partner?

I knew the answer to that thought already. Watson would tease me endlessly and he says I'm incorrigible!

I did not get to think much longer on such thoughts when Irene's sweet voice interrupted them. "I was beginning to wonder when you would pay me a visit. Here I thought you were serious about no longer wanting to chase me." She reached up and softly touched my flustered cheek with her fingertips. I tried to stop myself from turning into her touch and was grateful for the small rotation I had as I hung there before her to help cover up the involuntary movement of my emotions.

"Yes well… I thought you said you were tired of running," I retorted and resisted the urge to groan from the blood pooling in my head. I was beginning to get a headache from this position and wondered if she was going to cut me down or if I was going to have to escape on my own.

"No, I could no more stop running than convince you to commit a crime, dear." Our gazes locked again when I completed my three-sixty turn and this time she stopped my slow spin and had me face her completely this time. She was still smiling in that sweet, charming manner that always managed to dismantle any of my wards I may have erected around myself whenever I dealt with her. I don't know how she managed it every time, but she knew which of my buttons to push to make me hers. Sometimes I wonder why she finds me interesting so when I'm so easily seduced by her.

I cleared my throat at the awkwardness I was beginning to feel at being at her mercy again. "Well then… I don't suppose you would be willing to divulge the location of the Home Secretary's bank bonds?"

"It is always business with you," her smile had faded slightly but then quirked into a slight smirk when I tried to give her a serious look. "Even if I did know where they were, my dear, what reason should I have in telling you?"

I wish I could have moved away from her, but being as trapped as I was, I had no choice but to endure the closeness she brought upon me when she stepped right up to me. I did my best to not allow my nervousness at her close proximity to show and although I was certain I had a mask over my emotions, I could tell that she knew what I was feeling. Damn the woman.

"The fact that it would be the right and most lawful thing to do should be enough reason," I answered her and knew that it was not the answer she wanted, but she still laughed anyway in response. It was a laugh men could die for and I could see another part of how she could so easily seduce the opposite sex.

"Is that the only reason, Sherlock?" she said my name coyly and smiled at me again. One of her fingers traced along my jaw line and down my cheek and I could not help the shudder of pleasure vibrate through my hanging body.

Could she still want me to trust her and run away to the Continent with her for some grand adventure together? A part of me so wanted to do that, to simply forget about my life and responsibilities here London and follow her across the world, enjoying the sights and adventures we could find and make for ourselves. Her voice and my violin could claim the attentions of audiences worldwide if we so wanted to.

But it was a future that could not be possible between us.

Irene Adler was a thief and I was a detective. She could no more stop stealing from rich men than I could stop solving mysteries. It was only a dream and would remain only so much to my regret. I sighed heavily as I hung there before her and closed my eyes. There was only one way this encounter was going to end and I knew neither of us were going to like it. But I had a job to do, not to mention rent to pay for soon and I really needed the money now that Watson was living on his own with his betrothed.

"You once asked me to trust you," I carefully said after a moment of gathering my composure and wits again. "You want me to trust you then give me the bank bonds." Irene stared hard at me and for a moment I thought she might slap me for my words. They were said a bit harshly and from a certain point of view, one could take it as an insult to a genuine offer from the past. I did not mean it as such; I was being deadly serious about this whole matter. If she seriously wanted me to trust her, then she needed to show me that I can trust her and not take her word for it.

"Trust," she said wistfully and I gave her a curious look for it. "I should have known you would pick that one thing I desire from you, Sherlock." She desired me to trust her? I frowned slightly and studied her for the brief moment of silence that fell between us. I could see that my Irene looked sad despite her efforts to cover it up. Maybe she really did tire of her life as a seductress and con artist. It had become far too easy for her these days and she was looking for a real challenge. Is that why she kept taunting and flaunting before me every time she came to London? She thought I was the real challenge, not those men whom she feigned loving.

No. That could not be it. She always had me falling for her. She could easily trick me into doing what she wanted before I realized what it was exactly she had me doing. No. She only continued to return to me because she liked having someone try and foil her plans. The challenge was in trying to stay several steps ahead of me and watch me as I play catch up, sometimes succeeding and to only find myself falling behind again. For myself, I found the challenge in trying to do the same but never quite managing it. In this little game of ours, we had never found room for trust because there was no room for it. Trust meant to surrender and neither of us was willing to surrender to the other yet. It would mean the end of our game and would we find each other interesting then or just a mere bore?

That's probably why I could not trust her. I did not want the challenge to end, nor did she… or so I had believed prior today.

"Irene…" I started softly and reached over with my free hand and cupped her chin in my fingers. "What do you want from me then?" I knew I should not have asked such a question due to its potential in leaving me in a position where I could not give whatever it is she wanted. She did not answer me right away; instead she pulled away from me and left me hanging with her back to me. "You want me to trust you? Then give me a reason to trust you, my dear."

"What I want…" she answered quietly and glanced over her shoulder at me. I could see the somber look in her green eyes. "You cannot give me what I want, even if you wanted to, Sherlock."

"Try me," I defiantly replied, knowing perfectly well that what she wanted I could not give. Not right now anyway.

She turned back around to face me and gave me her impish smile again, but it was laced with the sadness of the truth about our relationship. "I want you, Sherlock. I want us to flee to the Continent, to trust each other and live the life we both want to live as two friends… or as lovers. I am tired of this existence, of… always being on the run, moving from city after city alone and with no one to share my triumphs with. If you could give up this life you have here in London and come with me, I would gladly give up my life of crime and return to the stage. Would you do that? Trust me and listen to me sing again across all of Europe?"

My mouth hung open slightly at her confession of what she really desired from me. Irene Adler was willing to give up everything just so she could have me at her side? I would be lying if I said I was not touched by her words for I desired something similar to her own. I wanted to share my triumphs with someone and although I had Watson, he left much to desire that he could not give at no fault of his own. Besides, I did not walk that side of the fence despite what some of the trashier tabloids might say. Although my friend had written that I was incapable of feeling the more romantic emotions or lacked the desire to want a woman, it was not true. I could feel that way and I did want a woman, I just did not want a housewife that would fret over and nag at me and hold me back.

Irene Adler was everything I wanted in a woman. She was beautiful, intelligent and adventurous. There were things she had done and said that would even scandalize the Queen herself. She was a woman who could drink Watson under the table and steal not only his bet but even the clothing on his backside if she so desired it. She could shoot, fight and disappear into a crowd or stand out in one instead. She could live the world of men just as easily as any man and easily return to the world of women. She had the same love for music and the exotic that I had. She could act. She could sing. She was a woman I was willing to drop everything for if I could.

The fact that I couldn't made our relationship all the more difficult and tragic. We were like star-struck lovers destined to be in love but never together. I sighed heavily at the truth of who we are and what we could have had if we were anyone else.

"I would," she seemed to brighten at my words but I cut her off before she could put too much hope in to it. "But not now, Irene." I reached out again to stop her from turning away from me in disappointment. "Don't…" I added and turned her face toward me by her chin and I tried to give her a reassuring smile. "I cannot right now, but… perhaps when a time comes when I could do that, I will."

"When would that be?" Irene asked of me, hopefully, and I did not answer right away. I did not know when I could follow her across all of Europe and the rest of the world.

"I… do not know," I replied honestly. "But when I do, can you wait for me until then?" I smiled when I saw her own returning and she nodded in answer.

Little did we know that our desire would come true in a couple years when I would have to flee from both England and Moriarty's lieutenants. For three years she would have me just like she wanted and I her, the same. Although I would be constantly looking over my shoulder posing as a Norwegian explorer and a French violinist, those three years of my life I would consider the best if someone were to ask me. I would have my moments of danger as I did things for my brother Mycroft and for country with Irene at my side, but most of it was spent adventuring or playing a violin duet with Mademoiselle Irene deBois of the Marseille Opera Theatre.

Irene suddenly stepped closer to me again and before I knew what was happening, her lips were pressed against mine in a soft, but burning and desirable kiss. We held on to the kiss for several long moments, but neither of us wanted it to end or allow the fact that I was upside down in an alley behind her flat bother us as we kissed.

We parted a moment later, my face even more flush both from the embarrassment of hanging by an ankle and from the passionate kiss we shared. Irene did not move away from me, our faces were still close and I heard her whisper to me what I wanted to hear from her, "You will find the bank bonds safely stowed away in the landlady's cracked cookie jar."

"Cookie jar?" I gave her a bemused look. Of all the places to hide something, I would not have expected it to be hidden there.

"She never uses it because of the crack, but could not bear to part from it either. It was a gift from her late-husband," my Irene smiled impishly once more at me, this time her flirtatious nature having returned to her composure. Irene stepped back from me and gave me one last parting smile that I would never be able to forget even if I had wanted to. "Good bye, Sherlock."

I helplessly watched her walk away, her smile twisting into that impish smirk as I stared after her and watched as she disappeared around a corner. Only when she was finally gone from my sight did I remember where I was exactly.

She had left me hanging in the alley.

"Irene!"

Well I hope I did the two justice. I can write Sherlock Holmes easily enough, but it's a bit harder when you add in the equation of The Woman. Anyway, the bunny of them adventuring across Europe comes from some author who did a biography on Holmes and tried to make a connection with him and Nero Wolfe by claiming the latter is the love-child of Holmes and Irene during the Great Hiatus. No love-child in this affair though. But I do like the idea of the duo performing across Europe and solving mysteries for Mycroft and England and I'm surprised no one has really done a series on that idea, be it published or fan-fiction.