Well hello, Thieves again so we go for chapter two. Agian, hope you are enjoying this fun I'm having if not, well, then, You should... Anywho.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, but seriously, nothing, i make no money from this but I have a hell of a lot of fun doing it.
Preview: In which Jack shows off a bit and Sherlock grudgingly admits (at least to himself) that he may have been off on a few of his deduction about her.
Jack stood up strait and scanned her lab, she had kept herself here for far longer then she had anticipated but when she was working a case she often found time meant very little. When she had first arrived people had commended her for being dedicated but as time passed the started looking at her like she was a freak. Her strange attire and general attitude only fueled the flames with most. She could spend days watching bacteria form and had better conversations with the mass spectrometer then she did with any of her coworkers.
Sherlock was still sitting at his own microscope scanning through the slides she had been preparing when he had so rudely come in the night before. He had been less then happy to find Molly could only supply him the blood samples because the stomach contents he had been counting on had already been claimed by the tech before he had a chance. Her back popped as her stretched out and for the first time noticed the man with dusty blond hair snoozing on the ground behind the lanky detective. Several stacked files lay around him, a picture of each victim pinned to the front, the papers Sherlock had asked for no doubt. The head phones tightly clamped around his head while he drooled slightly into his shoulder gave him a nearly child like appearance despite his age and the slight creasing around his eyes Jack felt warm at the sight, it was almost domestic looking. Sherlock's head came up and followed her gaze to his friend, they both glanced at the clock.
Several hours had passed since either had paid any notice to each other, she walked to her stereo and rolled down the volume to a more manageable volume. He pulled off the head phones and messaged his ears that had been trapped under the restrictive plastic for so long his dark mop looked fluffy, she got the distinct impression he had ruffled it in frustration at some point in the night. He noticed the genre of the music playing had changed, now a fast paced dub step. He wondered for a moment if all the songs were mixed or if she had deliberately changed it to something a bit more lively to keep herself awake. Sherlock spun around in his chair and swiped the head phones from John's head causing the smaller man to jump up, his shoulder slammed painfully into the desk that had been supporting him and Jack gave a sympathetic wince.
"Your findings are correct" Sherlock muttered as he pulled off the gloves he had slipped on only an hour or so before.
"Didn't thing they were wrong but thanks" she laughed as she pushed her self away from the table and went to stand again. She wobbled a bit and John caught her, for the first time he noticed how small she was, a few inches shorter them himself and John was not known for his height.
" Alright there Jack?" He asked concerned as he offered his arm to steady her but she brushed it off with a laugh. Sherlock noted her eyes were blood shot and her skin a bit pale and waxy looking. Her reflexes slow to react, her hair looked greasy now in the morning light coming through the windows though her caked of face remained intact.
"Of course doctor, never better"
"Judging by the pallor of her skin and from listening to Molly when she passed yesterday day on her way out for an evening with a new love interest Miss Macotii has been in this lab since the third body was found 27 hours ago she has not eaten in that time, most likely by her state it's been even longer since she has showered." His nose crinkled as he moved closer to them both.
"Spoilsport" she muttered as she pushed past both men, a stack of files on her arm.
"Jack!" John exclaimed. He had long ago accepted that he and Sherlock would never see eye to eye on what it meant to care for ones self but it seemed even more surprising when the girl seemed so small despite her hard looks she seemed almost fragile now.
"It is not a big deal John, I tend not to eat much when I'm on a case, I just get to distracted to remember food" Sherlock stared holes into the back of her head, her words to near to his own. He ignored the pointed look John was giving him in leu of pulling ahead of them all to hail a taxi as the exited Bart's.
" We're heading to New Scotland Yard, why don't you join us?" John offered, holding the door open for her. Sherlock breath rushed out in a sigh. He had almost felt excitement in leavening the girl on the steps of the hospital and taking John with him but ever the gentleman his friend was.
"Sure but only to annoy him a bit more" she winked as she slid in beside Sherlock. She looked almost mischievous as she crossed one leg over the other delicately working to take up more space then necessary to push up against Sherlock invading his personal space.
John and Jack found conversation easy as they talked about their back round surrounding Bart's and people they had in common while Sherlock watched her out of the corner of his eye. He could feel her outer thigh pressed against him. She gestured often with her hands due in some part to her Italian heritage no doubt and with most movements her elbow dig into his ribs though she paid him no notice. He had deduced that she had changed career but she was good at her job, finding several compounds in the stomach acid that he grudgingly had to admit he had not thought to look for. So perhaps she not so much fell into this path, perhaps she held a position in a field similar to this one then, he had deduced she had the training of a chemist but there was no chemical burns past or present on her skin and she didn't wear the mask, goggles, gloves or coat while working and her lack of professional attire suggested recent graduate who had not learned her lesson when in came to protective equipment and it was not an old habit like you would find in an experienced chemist.
She had not corrected him on his deductions so he could not read what had been right and wrong and that more then anything was frustrating him, taking up to much of his processing power that he could be applying to the case at hand. As they pulled up Sherlock flew from the taxi as if it was on fire.
"In a hurry scare crow" she called after him, her arms linked with John's.
"Your laugh is to high pitched and grates on my ears much like your music." He snarled as he pulled the doors open for himself and let it drop closed behind him. Jack gave John an amused smile as she skipped forward.
" Don't get him riled up"
"Oh there's no fun in that"
"You don't have to live with him when he is being a monster" Jack seemed to consider his argument for a moment.
"True, but you love it" she gave him another wink before ducking into Lestrade's office where Sherlock was already sulking.
"oh, Jack, so what did you lot find?" Lestrade dropped his feet from his desk sitting up straighter and pulled open the files his lab tech handed over.
"All three victims had several similarities in their stomachs and blood work. They all had very little to no food. There was Ostheomulgen found in the blood work. The drug causes nausea but only when food is presented into the system so once drugged they would have felt to queasy to eat. The was also Halfet amid PPRCH found I their blood work as well as in smaller traces in the stomach. They are heavy toxins usually used as a form of injection but when used as such sit in the muscles at the primary injection site and no such case was found however they could have been ingested though it's uncommon. Both have a very strong, bitter taste. If this was an attempt at a date rape drug it would be noticed. So they are either taking them willingly or someone is making the poisons more palatable." Lestrade glanced over her paper work before looking to Sherlock who was being uncommonly quite.
"He knew you were there, you were not sneaking off to do side research, and he also did warn you I was coming which is why you had everything I needed to do the blood testing within reach" she didn't spare him a glance but there was a note of pride to her voice.
"I prefer stomach contents, usually more fun to play with" John gave a surprised look between to two, she had some how manipulated the great Sherlock Holmes into doing her dirty work. Sherlock's gaze was cold. He didn't appreciate being manipulated especially since he hadn't noticed the manipulation to begin with. He glanced over her again but no new deduction sprang to mind, it was unsettling when the ones that he did see seemed so blazingly obvious.
"They where all in the same age range though older then they appeared. Each was known for enjoying a good party and often drank though never alone. None are in a committed relationship though show signs of regular sexual intercourse but not rape. Two brunets and a blond if this was about sexual satisfaction there would be more parallels in the victims appearance. All three took care of their bodies but also had successful careers so you are wrong Miss Macotii. They have no previous drug history so I doubt they all suddenly decided to throw it all away for hit of a drug that would leave them feeling as you said sick until they dropped dead and not a date rape drug as they all seem to be missing the rather important aspect of being raped after. What you failed to deduce is that the levels in their blood are significantly higher then the amount in their stomach. They were poisoned several days before their death. Along with the toxin left over in their blood stream their kidneys were enlarged indicative of processing large amounts of toxin, could just be from the drinking you say but it's not. When the kidney is thinly sliced and placed under fluorescent light PPRCH show up in a slight pink glow. Based on the absorption patterns it was presented into their system in one large dose."
"So we just have to find the club?" Lestrade looked excited, finely some headway on this case.
"No, they all went to different establishments and only one was out the night before her death" Lestrade looked crest fallen.
"Morons, all of you, how did you ever solve cases while I was dead"
"Oi, we did just fine especially after we got Jack here, thanks to her I haven't needed you till now" Jack's eyes went wide as she cut to her boss, she had been idly listening trying to find if she had ever heard to use fluorescent light on organs and what other chemicals would glow in flesh. It could make for a fun experiment in her down time if she could find someone to provide her the body parts. But now she could feel the tall, dark haired mans starRe her thoughts had all but run dry. She knew he was unhappy with her not that she had helped the situation, her mother had once said she liked to cut off her nose just to spite her face. She had needled him, manipulated him, annoyed him, been overly friendly with his only friend and now she appeared to be replacing him. No their meeting thus far had been a little to much bang. He swept off quickly and John followed in his wake giving Greg a hard look for measure. Her head dropped back as she sighed in frustration.
"Is there anything else you need sir?"
"He is not always that a bad you know" she didn't answer him keeping her eyes closed.
"If there is no other progress you can make with this case,"
"I will see what I can do sir." She cut him off before he could suggest anything else. Not only was this case weighing on her mind but she found when ever there was lulls in cases Anderson would request her and his awkward stares and crude remarks would only serve to rile her up more today.
" And, Jack" she respectively met his gaze when his tone took on a fatherly pitch.
"Get some food" he gave her a warm smile and she responded in turn.
"Well I like her" John broke the silence in their flat while Sherlock lay curled on their sofa. His legs tucked close to his chest. He had changed into grey sweat pants and a loose shirt, his dressing gown back on as though he had not left at all. Sherlock only grunted in disagreement and flopped over so he was no longer facing out.
"Save yourself the embarrassment of asking her to join the long line of women that can say they have dated John Watson. As I said before she broke off a relationship and you are not exactly the type she would want."
"maybe you were wrong"
"I was not wrong" Sherlock hissed his pale blue green eyes cutting into the blond as he spun around.
"You were wrong, you said Lestrade didn't want her working on the case and that he didn't tell her you were coming in. You where wrong" He pointed at his friend for emphasis.
"it's always something" he huffed as he returned to facing away.
"Tea?" John offered as he left the room, here was no response from the genius as he pouted. Once he heard John moving about the kitchen Sherlock pulled up the sofa cushion and found his stash of nicotine patches, he placed three on his arm and quickly rolled down his sleeve to hide them. When John returned he could tell the change. He now lay flat out his hands together beneath his chin deep in his mind palace.
Sherlock found he already had space dedicated to the dark girl he had found in his lab. There was his deduction and his questions some occupied both spaces. Even as he tried to pull forward details of the case he found she would float back into the forefront of his mind. As he tried to draw conclusions in the case he would find himself instead analyzing Jack Macotii. Jack was not her name, she had confirmed this but it's origin was unknown. Could be a shortening of her given name or a name she had simply pulled from a hat. He had noticed she was right handed but tended to do the smallest correction on a microscope with her left. Despite being American she seemed to drink far more tea then even John but her tea smelled spicier and much sweeter then was needed or healthy. He flexed his arm a bit to increase blood flow and better spread the nicotine through his system as he tried unsuccessfully to delete what he had learned of the annoying pig headed girl and refocus his attention on the mystery at hand.
Well then. The case continues, I made up poisons and such that don't exist, and Sherlock revert to child like pouting! Question, concerns...praise? I want to hear it all, mostly. Revised sorta, and you get to guess her name though if you get it you will have my eternal awe!
See ya soon
-Theives
p.s.- would you rather see the preview at the beginning or the preview for the next chapter at the end?
