John never missed. As he swung across the trapeze from rung to rung, flipping and twirling, savoring the catch in his stomach, he was home. He hung upside down for a moment, observing the other performers. Sherlock was taming a lion, and even though he couldn't see the man's face he could imagine. Not so much a lack of fear as a lack of interest. The man was bored with everything. Mycroft, the ringmaster, stood shouting at an elephant. And there was a girl climbing his ladder. He sat up on the bar, peering down at her. He didn't think he had seen her before. She glanced up at him and flashed a flirty smile, then continued her climb. He watched, perplexed, as she jumped to the first swing, not even bothering to tether herself. Then it dawned on him as she swung off and flipped. He hung upside down and grabbed her hands, swinging her up onto the bar and holding her tight to him.
"Are you insane? You could've fallen!"
She looped her arms around his neck and smiled, calm as can be despite the almost-drop and the man shouting at her. "But I didn't. They say you're the best, so I wanted to test that for myself. I'm your new partner."
John stuttered for a moment, glancing in Mycroft's general direction before looking back up to the strange woman who so readily put her life in his hands. "I don't have a partner. It's not how I work."
"It is now," she replied matter-of-factly.
"How…How did you even get Mycroft to agree to that?"
"I didn't. My boss did."
John raised his eyebrow. "And who the hell would Mycroft actually take orders from?"
She leaned in, glancing left and right before whispering to him. "My boss."
He groaned as she giggled. "That doesn't tell me a thing," he faltered for a minute. "I don't even know your name."
"My name is Sebastia, and that's all you need to know," she quipped. She grinned at him, swinging her legs to get the bar to move. He reached out to steady himself on the wire, taking a deep breath and gritting his teeth. She quirked an eyebrow at him, pushing away the hand against her hips. "C'mon, let's see what you've got."
He tried to object, but she stood and back flipped up and off the bar. Sebastia arched her back to grasp his hands, which were of course in place. He had slid off, hanging on by his knees. They swung around and she released his hands, flipping over to the adjacent bar and twirling up to take a seat. She crossed her legs primly and smirked. John simply hung upside down, hoping the fact that he was obviously not prepared for her this time would deter her from jumping again. But just in case, "Could you please stop doing that?" He heard her laugh, but he couldn't see her. He heard the wires on her swing creak; she was probably standing on the swing now. She was going to jump, he could sense it. Damn her. He craned his neck just in time to see her leap over to his swing, crouching to steady him, just in case he assumed. He glared up at her as she grinned down at him. "Do you think this is a game? This is why I don't have a partner."
"You'll love me."
"You'll wear the cord."
"We'll see."
With that she jumped off, grabbed the adjacent swing and following her momentum to the pedestal. She gave one last fluttery wave before heading down the ladder, leaving him upside down and speechless.
He was in trouble.