This chapter is full of little riddles, if you don´t figure them out all by yourself I added a list with the solution in the comment below ^.~
The Mystery of the dancing Phone
His bony fingers reached for his cellphone. John had finally left him after he was brooding in silence over Moriartys visit this morning, to - whatever he had told him he was about to do a minute ago. Sherlocks gaze pierced the apple, still resting on the small coffee table beside John´s chair.
He knew that his friend was worried for him, his carrier and his health and he knew that he probably wasn´t the only one. Cold grey eyes got reflected by the black screen on his phone, they narrowed before the electric device came to live. His fingertips flew over the smooth surface, making a small but familiar dance to open one of his very special contacts.
He let his eyes rest on the foreign number for a second, before he scrolled through their past conversations, his thump moving upwards with each message. Even if he was highly interested in the boy's case, they agreed that they will try to reduce their conversations to a minimum using Kudos phone, not Conans and he was pleased to find out that the little detective had no problem to answer his messages. To call them ciphered would be ridiculous, a child could literally figure out what they were talking about with very little effort, and yet it wasn´t visible in plain sight that they were talking about cases and possible connections to this ominous organization of his.
H: "At the heels of a black Flower."
Sent: 24 March, 2010
K: "Not that much of a florist."
Received: 25 March, 2010
Apparently the "Black Lotus" was a dead end for both of them, but back then it had seemed worth a try. Sherlock hummed, gliding deeper into his seat until his feet reached the edge of John´s chair. His eyes darkened as he looked at the message from two years ago.
Moriarty.
It´s been two years since this man first appeared in his live, nearly killing all of them in the process. It had taken the boy a little longer to reply, it seemed like he had to make some research first only to get to the same result as himself.
H: "Mori is a bad artist "
Sent: 1 April, 2010
K: "He sells pictures for a high price."
Received: 6. April, 2010
K: "Take care."
Received: 6. April, 2010
But danger seemed to be quite familiar to his little apprentice, since he had managed to get some new information about the organization, a new member apparently.
K: "A pirate's favorite"
Received: 10 January, 2011
H: "The bottle is empty, for now."
Sent: 15 January, 2011
Rum.
A snort left his nose, he would never understand why criminals were so ordinary. Naming themselves after different types of alcohol was much more something that he would expect from a silly crime short story, some papers tended to publish once a month, probably to bore their readers to death. And yet this organization was nagging him in the dark corner of his mind… now that he knew of them and a few of their members, he had a few ideas of what they might have done in England and yet he couldn´t get a hold on them.
He sighed, scrolling further to the more recent messages, a sly smirk appearing on his lips. Well… he could perfectly well control himself as long as his mind had something to work on, but apparently, he couldn´t if life didn´t deliver a dead man on his doorsteps.
H: "Bored."
Sent: 7 March, 2011
K: "?"
Received: 7 March, 2011
H: "Prohibition."
Sent: 7 March, 2011
K: "Doctors order's?"
Received: 7 March, 2011
H: "Pain in the Ass."
Sent: 7 March, 2011
K: "Try loosing three feet."
Received: 7 March, 2011
H: "Midget."
Sent: 7 March, 2011
K: "Junkie."
Received: 7 March, 2011
He chuckled, at least the boy had some humor left in his tiny frame. Luckily for both of them – and the rest of the world, like John always told him – the Baskerville case happened, giving his mind some new direction and his brain something to do. Unfortunately the little detective's chemist has never been involved with the organization from Indiana. Too bad.
H: "A free Indian dog."
Sent: 11 March, 2011
K:" She has known one but never touched"
Received: 13 March, 2011
H: "What a shame."
Sent: 13 March, 2011
It got silent between them after that. If he wouldn´t have kept record on the Japanese News he would have gotten wor- no… confused, so to say. But apparently the boy had enough work to do, this Mori persona solving one case after another. Nothing special, but still too difficult for the police to handle.
'Same old.'
And Kudo, well he probably kept track via John´s blog.
A year passed before the boy had finally some new information about the organization and something interesting at that.
K: "One eye, but three of them. A woman a man and yet old."
Received: 25 April, 2011
He took his time to respond this time… he had tried to keep track of the people surrounding the boy - no problem when you get access to the crime reports and witnesses there - since the boy seemed to stumble over a case at least every second day (what would he give for such a luck). To be honest, he wasn´t so sure, but he believed he had a very good idea of whom Kudo was suspecting, and yet his mind had offered him another conclusion back then.
H: "3+3=1 ?"
Sent: 2 May, 2011
The boy hadn´t answered him to that one yet, he supposed that Kudo still had to confirm his suspicions. It was hard to keep track of the boy sometimes, his Japanese wasn´t good enough yet to follow each article and since Mori was "just" a detective, the police didn´t post his name under each case they solved.
John´s blog made that a lot easier for the little detective. Sherlock swallowed, nibbling on the edge of his leather chair with his finger nail. Of course he would show interest in Moriarty, finally someone who could be big enough to be connected to the organization he tried to hunt down.
K: "M?"
Received: 1 September, 2011
While Moriarty was a brilliant mind and crazy enough to work with someone who created a poison with the quality to either kill without a trace or shrink its victim into the seize of a grand schooler, he didn´t have any proof to that theory so far. And something in him was afraid to dig deeper for a possible answer.
Holmes frowned, he could feel the pressure in his chest, knew that his pulse would rise, if even just a little, as the pictures of John flickered back into his mind. His best friend in deadly danger just because of him- not like John didn´t choose this life himself, that guy had tasted danger and death quite to often back in the army- but still… there was this little annoying voice in his head, some human traits (the ones his brother always denied they had) which told him that if something was to happen to John it would be his fault entirely.
As would it be if Moriarty ever got to know about the boy.
K: "?"
Received: Today
He frowned when his eyes flickered over the newest message from oversea.
'Annoying little brat.' A grumble escaped his throat.
For sure he had just gotten the notice that the jury found Moriarty "not guilty" and deduced what was about to happen now. Of course, the boy wouldn´t let it go- he was a detective after all and even if he was still young he already had these tendencies to stick his nose into everything.
"I´m sure he´s worried, Sherlock," John had told him when he had starred at his phone for too long. Of course, he denied that he had been thinking of Kudo, but now that John himself was lucky to be still alive after their last meeting with Moriarty, the nasty feeling inside him offered the idea that it was better to talk to the miniature detective about it, before he directed Moriartys attention on himself all by his own.
'This human interaction tends to get a little too complicated.'
He sighed but still opened a new message while his bony fingers fluttered over the screen to send an answer to Japan. Only before he was able to choose a contact to send the message to, a shrill voice echoed through the dusty room.
"Sherlock?" The detective rolled his eyes, Misses Hudson, of course.
"Hello?"
"Sherlock!"
His eyebrow started to twitch while he searched for the right number in his contacts, but of course the old lovable dragon of "not"-a-housekeeper, wouldn't let go.
"I know you're up there Sherlock Holmes don´t make me come and get you!"
His finger pushed the send button before he scrambled up from his seat with a roar.
"Geez, Misses Hudson! If you ran out of tea I´m sure I have something in this kitchen you can heat up!" But despite the annoyance in his voice he made his way down to her personal rooms, because Sherlock Holmes might be able to chase after the worlds cruelest criminal - but he wasn´t keen to face an angry Misses Hudson.
Little did he know that he, that the great Sherlock Holmes had chosen the wrong number in his haste.
XXX
The phone danced alone and forgotten on the little table, it rattled and vibrated until its owner finally gave some attention to it.
A message, from him and one sentence alone.
H: "Need to meet soon."
Received: Today
'What?'
XXX
Only a few seconds later a soft moan filled Missed Hudson's small kitchen, but was drowned in the uproar of press and reporters, a little message easy to oversee.
I: "?"
Received: Today
XXX 20 November 2011 XXX
He let himself fall back, head hitting the pillow with a sigh, enjoying the calm of the room he shared with Kudo. At least they got to stay a night longer to rest, before heading back home, after a sleepless night of hunting down a chimera.
'What a stupid case! A nue – for real? Well at least it wasn´t hard ta solve, even if I really wish I could have told her. If it continues like that, Kudo will be married before I´ll be able ta tell her anythin' at all.' Heiji grumbled in his thoughts, directing his gaze to his friend before he frowned.
'Tha mobile again?'
Sitting on his own futon, his friend's thump was slowly running down the display of his phone, his glasses reflecting the cold blue light of the screen.
K: "M?"
Sent: 1 September 2011
No answer when Moriarty started his play again.
K: "?"
Sent: 20 September 2011
No answer when they jury didn´t find him guilty.
K: "?"
Sent: Today
No answer, now that Sherlocks reputation seemed to be ruined.
'What going on?' But a curious voice that had suddenly appeared behind him made him jump from his thoughts.
"Geez Kudo - what´s with ya and that phone today?"
Conan yelped at the two big green eyes staring at him, shutting his phone down in a fast movement before he turned around to his friend.
"Huh? Uh – nothing." He blinked innocently, but the sweat running down his temple told Heiji a different story. The detective from Osaka rose to his full hight again, lifting his eyebrow with a frown.
"Yeah, right," he spit, letting himself fall back down on his futon, still eying his friend with a stern gaze, while Kudo did everything to avoid his eyes.
"Say, ya´re not cheating on Neechan, are ya?"
The grand schooler jumped, eyes wide.
"What? NO!"
Heijis eyes narrowed, he doubted it anyway, but if it wasn´t Neechan who kept him busy with "Kudo's" mobile, there was just one option left.
"So what?" he asked, still hoping that Conan would finally give in, but his friend reacted just like the stubborn kid he looked like.
"That`s none of your business Hattori," he muttered, crossing his arms in front his chest.
"So it´s about them," Heiji deduced in a cold tone, while his friend stayed silent.
"…."
"Kudo-"
"Forget it," he snapped.
Heiji still looked at him stubborn, even if a little hurt.
A tired sighed escaped Conan's lips. "Listen, you´re in enough trouble with everything you know already, leave the rest to my, alight?"
With that the boy turned around to lay down covering himself with his blanked, to signal that this conversation was over now.
Heiji frowned eyes and his eyes rested on the figure beneath the blanked. He took a deep breath, turned the lights off and searched his way to his own futon, but sleep refused to come.
The detective waited, listening to his friend's breathing until it became soft and steady, before he crawled out of bed again.
He didn´t need to search long before his fingers brushed over the cold display of the mobile. The detective nearly squeaked when Conan suddenly moved. His breath hitched in his throat, but Kudo kept breathing calmly, not knowing that he was being watched.
Heiji hesitated one last second before he stole it from his sleeping form.
'Sorry Kudo, but we´re friends after all.'
It took him a while to solve the code to break into the phone, but what really was mushing his brain right now were the messages from "H", written and answered in English. Kudo was talking with this person about the organization. He had also figured out some of their other "codes" but he failed to connect the dots.
Who was this person?
Why was Kudo hiding him or her?
He groaned, rubbing his head in frustration, before suddenly a bright light drowned his vison in black spots. He blinked, clearing his sight, only to find a pouting grade schooler standing beside the light switch. "Shit!"
"Really, Hattori? Really?" he questioned annoyed, tapping his small foot on the floor.
"Darn it Kudo, I´m yar friend!"
"Yeah - because that´s totally believable right now." Conan muttered.
"Well I try ta be! Ya´ve been watchin' this damn phone all day, somethin' is bothering ya and I want ta know what!" Heiji growled, but the frustration couldn´t hide beneath his anger.
Shinichi eyed him for a while, before he gave in with a defeated sigh.
It seemed like they wouldn´t get any sleep tonight as well…
"So, Sherlock Holmes huh? Tha Sherlock Holmes?" Heiji questioned again, after Conan had told him what exactly had happened in London.
"Well… yeah - I mean, I hoped to meet him, since I´m a fan of him when he first started to solve his crimes under his pseudonym, but I never meant for this to happen," his friend explained with a heavy breath while Heiji frowned.
"Let me guess, this pseudonym was "Conan"?" The smirk on the detective's lips widened when Shinichi suddenly was very interested in the floor instead of his eyes, his answer barely more than a grumbled whisper.
"Conan Doyle, yes."
Just like expected, Heiji broke out into laughter, tears forming in the corners of his eyes, Shinichi however only made a face.
"Stop laughing Hattori! You´re no better when it´s about Ellery Queen," he grumbled.
The detective's giggles finally died down, giving his friend a curious look.
"So, Sherlock Holmes figured ya out and protects ya from tha English government, namely his brother, while ya had ta let him in on yar case."
"That sums it up, yeah," the grade schooler confessed with a tired sigh. Silence stretched between them before Shinichi finally looked up, confused about the broad smile stretching over Hattori's lips.
"What's this grin about?"
" I figured ya out before Sherlock Holmes did! Ha!"
"Really Hattori that´s all you have to-", but Conan stopped short, a cold feeling crawling up his spine.
"'You felt that?" he whispered, the temperature between seemed to drop.
"Yes," Heiji answered, already facing the window front of their room.
"We´re being watched."
XXX
He was sitting on the floor in the lab of St. Bart's, waiting for John to return from his brother - because no doubt he was there now, throwing Mycroft a tantrum, not knowing what was really going on. A bitter taste stole itself on his lips. He knew it wasn´t fair to do that to John, but if he wanted people to fall for his plan, he didn´t have a choice.
Suddenly, a lonely hushed moan echoed through the empty halls.
With a swift move he pulled his mobile from the pocket of his coat.
A message.
From her.
I: "Do you keep a list of dead people?"
Received: Today
His eyes narrowed in a frown.
'What?'
But Sherlock didn´t have to wait long until another lustful moan escaped his phone.
I'll send you a picture.
Received: Today
An eyebrow rose above cold grey eyes, before his finger searched the button to download the picture.
A familiar young face - all red, eyes and mouth wide open - appeared on the screen together with a dark skinned high schooler with a similar expression, whose nose was spluttering blood like a fountain.
He blinked. The great Sherlock Holmes needed a second to proceed what had happened, before a laugh barked through the empty lab. His fingers typed a quick reply, a smirk still resting on his lips.
H: "You stole their virginity! – And my phone."
Sent: Today
The answer came quick.
I: "Might have 3"
Received: Today
His phone softly moaned again, when a new message appeared on his screen.
I: "But to my defense, I wasn´t even naked - not completely, at least doing one of the two."
Received: Today
The smile resting on his lips however wavered soon, darkness filled his eyes while he typed his answer.
H: "If you´re already there… keep an eye on him."
Sent: Today
I: "Do it yourself."
Received: Today
"Stubborn woman," the detective cursed.
H: "Can´t"
Sent: Today
I: "?"
Received: Today
He hesitated a second, before he sent his reply.
H: "Putting myself on that list."
Sent: Today
One last soft moan filled the lab.
I: "I´ll send you flowers."
Received: Today
The ghost of a smile crossed his lips, before he put his mobile back into his pocket to exchange it with a small black ball - so inconspicuous and yet so useful - which he started throwing against the front of the counter with a bounce.
Waiting for his death.
Hey!
Not the dancing man but the dancing phone this time ^.~
I'm sorry for the wait, and a big thanks to Tobina for correcting this little OS.
I´m sorry about all the dates and such, but it was necessary in order to get from A to B.
The story is kind of a filler to be honest, to move on with the plot and the way Sherlock treats Conan - next one will be a meeting on a graveyard, with an old friend again. In order to get Conan in the Sherlock verse and the other way around, I made Conan Doyle a false identity for Sherlock in his younger years, so I thought that Ellery Queen has to be real as well. I hope you could decipher their small messages ^^
If not here is a little list what they`re talking about ;)
H: "At the heels of a black Flower."
K: "Not that much of a florist."
- Holmes Case of the Black Lotus, he wanted to know if it might be related to Shinichi's organisation
H: "Mori is a bad artist "
K: "He sells pictures for a high price."
K: "Take care."
- The meaning here is Mory-art-y ^^, Got it? And of course Shinichi immediatly saw that he's rather dangerous.
K: "A pirate's favorite"
H: "The bottle is empty, for now."
- This time it´s Shinichi's turn, asking Holmes about "Rum"
Sherlock texting him that he's bored is right before the Case of Baskaville as you can see:
H: "A free Indian dog."
K:" She has known one but never touched"
H: "What a shame."
- The company Holmes investigated was in Liberty indiana and called HOUND, of course he wanted to know if Haibara knew about their experiments
K: "One eye, but three of them. A woman a man and yet old."
H: "3+3=1 ?"
- Talking about Rum again, his appearances so to say- Holmes considered that it also could be three difrrent persons they're searching for, called one Name
And of Course Shinichi was worried about Sherlock right before the Moriarty case got wild and the Chapter end's with Sherlock playing with the ball he later used to supress his pulse to fool John.
I hope it`s all clear now ;)
I would love to hear your option again!
Shelling~