Ten years ago

Sherlock walked down the halls slowly. His feet dropped onto the red carpet quickly as he held a book in his hand, moving with swiftness to his room which he shared with Sebastian Moran. Sherlock was tired and fed up. The lectures which he was taking were far too easy and he had been made to take a History degree just to keep his brain stimulated.

"Sherlock," Sebastian drawled once he saw the young man walk back into the room. He was laid on his bed with a book dangling on his stomach, not reading as his eyes remained shut. Sherlock dropped his book onto the long wooden desk before sitting on the spinning chair.

"What is it Sebastian?" he asked, opening the book and his notepad as he did so.

"Nothing," Sebastian shrugged. "I was doing that thing you do...reading things without seeing them."

"Considering I am the only one who shares this room with you then I doubt it would have been anyone else other than me to walk in," Sherlock muttered.

"Such a spoil sport, aren't you Sherlock?" Sebastian chuckled.

"I'm practical," he replied.

"Say," Sebastian sat up and looked at the back of Sherlock. "Have you seen the new girl in the next hall?"

"Can't say I have," Sherlock whispered, wondering why Sebastian even tried to make conversation with him when he could clearly see he was working. And it didn't help that conversation with Sebastian was tedious.

"She's got a very nice figure," Sebastian nodded in approval. "She's studying History. I'm surprised you haven't seen her."

"What is her name?" Sherlock wondered, wanting to know so he could just give Sebastian a firm answer to stop his boring conversation.

"Madison I think," he mused, "Madison Walters."

"The name doesn't ring a bell," Sherlock spoke and Sebastian went silent for a moment.

"You'd have remembered," Sebastian chuckled and Sherlock pursed his lips together and closed his eyes. "She has got extremely nice-"

"I'm off to the library," Sherlock spoke loudly, suddenly standing up and closing his book.

"You only just came back from there," Sebastian told him.

"Well I need to go back. I forgot a book."

"Is it important?" Sebastian asked.

"Do you mean is it more important than this enthralling conversation?" Sherlock asked sarcastically and Sebastian frowned and extended his hand, motioning to the door whilst Sherlock moved over to it.

"Go then," Sebastian said. "But you'll never get a girl if you don't want to talk about their features."

"I don't want a girlfriend," Sherlock replied in a snap.

"I just meant a girl in general," Sebastian grinned whilst Sherlock rolled his eyes and moved down the hall.

His stroll to the campus library was one which Sherlock took his time in completing. He deduced that the slower he could be then the shorter he would have to spend in Sebastian's company. His roommate was one which he could handle but in small doses. Sherlock was not a social person and Sebastian knew that. The infuriating part was that he tried to change him and Sherlock didn't want to be changed. Once inside the library he made his way to the History section where he saw a girl stood. She was leaning against the shelves with her ankles crossed, a book in her hand as she placed her other slim hand over her mouth to yawn. Sherlock walked over to the section she was stood at and saw she was holding the book which he was after. He frowned before searching the shelves for another copy of the book as the girl yawned loudly once again.

"Excuse me," Sherlock asked her in a mutter, "but are you planning on taking that book out on loan?"

"It is a possibility," she nodded, closing it to look at the cover. "Why do you ask?"

"Because that is the only copy left and I am in need of it for my History class," Sherlock informed her and she raised a brow.

"History?" she asked. "I think I've seen you in my class."

"Have you?" he asked in a slow voice. "Well your face does not look familiar."

"I'm new," she replied.

"Oh," Sherlock smirked. "You must be Madison Walters."

"So you do know me," she grinned lightly, her eyes still not looking into Sherlock's.

"No," Sherlock said with a slight smirk, "my roommate was just informing me of how you're new and have very nice breasts."

"So that's what I'm known for around here," she whispered lightly, whistling lowly as she changed the page. "Well, good to be known for something."

"So you like to be well known," Sherlock nodded.

"And what is wrong with that?"

"I do believe it shows your insecure and so need people to know about you but-"

"I am anything but insecure," she told him, still remaining calm as she read the blurb on the book. "Make no mistake about that."

Sherlock observed her lightly. Normally when he began to read people they looked at him intently. They were intrigued by him before becoming annoyed and telling him to leave them alone. But she remained calm and cool. She showed a lack of emotion to him and she was clearly an intelligent woman judging by the book she was reading which was extremely in depth. Her lack of emotions made Sherlock interested in her slightly.

"I haven't caught your name," Madison told Sherlock.

"It's Holmes. Sherlock Holmes," he told her.

"Well," she spoke quietly, standing opposite Sherlock, slamming the book onto his chest, "you keep your book. I think you're in need of it more than me."

"And why is that?" Sherlock asked her as he took the book, her hand still on it whilst Sherlock looked down into her blue eyes.

"Because I've read all of the books in this section," she replied.

"Impossible," Sherlock shook his head.

"Nothing is impossible Holmes," she said as she moved her hand from the book and turned on her heel. "It was nice meeting you."

Sherlock watched her walk away, her brown hair swaying as she walked with purpose, her feet lightly moving from the floor before she left. Madison Walters was certainly someone he would have to watch.

Now

"Who is Madison Walters?" John asked Sherlock whilst the consulting detective pulled his coat onto his body and he text his brother in need of a location.

"She's dangerous," Sherlock told his friend.

"That doesn't answer the question of who she is," John frowned.

"It's irrelevant who she is," Sherlock snapped back. "She's smart...too smart."

...

Madison Walters turned out the light to her office before shrugging into her black coat and buttoning it up. She quickly picked up her briefcase and locked the office up, checking the cheque was in her pocket before moving onto the street and joining the other people who had left work on the pavement before hailing a cab and climbing into it. Once at her apartment building she climbed out and took the elevator up to her penthouse apartment, collecting the post on her way up. Once she unlocked her apartment, she switched the light on to reveal a large open spaced living and dining area full of new and modern furniture. It seemed cold. Madison moved into her bedroom and dropped her heels onto the floor, noting the alarm clock on her bedside table was askew. She grinned lightly and shut her curtains to her room, pulling down the tights from under her skirt.

"Good evening Sherlock," she spoke loudly, bending her leg and resting it onto her bed as she rolled the tight down. She looked to the side into her walk in dressing room where she could make out a figure in the darkness sat in her plush chair in the centre of the room.

"Madison," Sherlock simply responded, his voice still low and deep before he stood up and moved to the archway, resting against it.

"To what do I owe the honour?" she asked him, depositing her tights onto the bed and looking at him, pulling the zipper on her skirt down.

"You consider it an honour I am here?" he asked her with a raised brow.

"The great Sherlock Holmes being here?" she raised a brow, the skirt dropping to the floor whilst Sherlock remained stone cold. "I should be honoured."

"But you're not," Sherlock drawled.

"Not really," she told him. "I can guess why you're here. Was my note not enough?"

"You know me," Sherlock replied, his eyes darting to her long legs and then back to her eyes, "I don't like to be told what to do."

"No," she said. "You never did."

"Although I would like you to stay away," Madison began peeling the buttons to her blouse back.

"And why is that?" he asked and she moved over to him, her hand lightly touching his arm as she looked into his eyes.

"Because I think it would be a shame to kill you," she said and then moved to grab some more comfortable clothes from her wardrobe. "Although, if you keep on snooping then I will have no choice but to kill you."

"And if I told you now that I won't stop then what will happen?"

"Sherlock," Madison chuckled and pulled on a long white shirt and then reached for the gun she kept in her wardrobe before turning around, seeing him stood directly in front of her as she pressed the gun to his temple.

"I'm giving you a warning Sherlock," she told him dangerously.

"You won't shoot me," he said confidently.

"Why wouldn't I?" she asked.

"Because you don't have the nerve to do it yourself," he told her. "You get other people to do the job for you."

"Don't test me," she warned him.

"So what's going on Madison?"

"Nothing," she said.

"We both know that's not true."

"Fair enough." She shrugged. "But I'm not telling you what is happening."

"I've never had to deal with you on a case before," he said and she cocked a brow and tilted her head slightly.

"I like to keep under the radar," she replied with a slight shrug.

"So why didn't you this time?"

"I'm unsure. I didn't change anything. Normally the bodies disappear and aren't seen again. But this one has been...maybe the tide on the Thames didn't push it out to sea like it was supposed to do..."

"That was a sloppy mistake."

"As I said," Madison drawled, "It's irrelevant. No one can trace it back to me and if anyone does find out who killed her then my name won't be mentioned. Just stop poking your nose into my business and we can go back to how we were."

"It's too late Madison," Sherlock said. "I know that the accountant firm hired you to kill Miss Lyons because she realised they were dealing with fake accounts and tax evasion. Of course, you would never kill her yourself. You have someone to do that for you so you don't get your hands dirty and nothing can be traced to you."

"So what do you plan to do? Run off to the police and tell them?"

"I have no evidence," Sherlock replied. "There would be no point."

"Glad you understand that."

"But if I continue digging then I do believe I will find out more about you."

"Good luck," Madison replied.

"I don't need luck."

"I will hurt you Sherlock."

"We both know you won't."

Suddenly, Sherlock heard the gun click and Madison eyed him suspiciously as she did it. Sherlock remained looking into her eyes with extreme integrity. Madison suddenly grinned and dropped the gun to her side.

"You're an odd one Holmes," she told him lowly. "You didn't even flinch when I held the gun to you and you didn't even react when I changed in front of you."

"That's because it is nothing I haven't seen before," Sherlock replied lowly.

"So you do remember that night?" she checked with him and he shrugged.

"Vaguely."

"So no other girl has come along and tried?" she cocked a brow and switched the light out in her wardrobe and moved into the kitchen with Sherlock following her.

"Would you be jealous if someone had?" he asked her.

"I don't think so," she said and took out the vodka bottle and poured herself a small glass. "You were something to do one night."

"And you were an experiment," Sherlock shrugged. "So why should I remember?"

Madison chuckled lightly and moved over to him, her small mouth going close to his ear.

"Because I'm the best you'll ever have," she informed him.

"I doubt it," he replied and her mouth lingered lightly on his ear for a moment before she pulled back and chuckled. Before she could move off he grasped her wrist lightly and pulled her back to him.

"You need to stop this Madison. You will get caught."

"And you think I'm scared?" she asked him.

"I think you should be."

"Why?" she asked. "Because if you come too close to finding anything which could damage me then I will get to you Sherlock...make no mistake about it." Slowly, she pushed her hand into Sherlock's coat pocket and pulled out his phone which was recording. She stopped it whilst Sherlock did nothing but watch her.

"I think you'll have to go and buy a new phone," she whispered and kissed him on the cheek before moving back into her kitchen. "You can show yourself out."

"I'll be seeing you later," Sherlock told her in a drawl.

"I don't think so."