Hello!

So, I didn't get much writing done over the weekend, and I didn't get as many days off as I thought I would, so I'm sorry if this is a little late...

Also, again, I apologize for not answering reviews in the last chapter. LIke I said, every review I have not answered, will be answered here, in the bottom AN along with some other little things as well, that aren't really important, but I felt the need to share, as i always do.

I couldn't decide here. This was a very hard decision for me,( There are some spoilers here for the chapter, but they are a little vague!) who was going to be placed in front of the crossbow between the two ladies. I did not want to stray too far from the episode, but I also didn't want it to seem as if they had just forgotten about John's sister, which would be a weak spot for him...so, I hope what I've done was okay, and if not, I can easily go back and change it without messing up anything major at all! I want to make everyone happy, and I want everyone to enjoy reading this, but I was at a fork in the road, and needed to make a decision, with the reasons mentioned above in mind, and like I said, if you dislike it, please tell me, and I can fix it.

So, anyway, here it is! Hope you enjoy!

"If we wanted to kill you, Mr. Holmes, we would have done it by now." Shan said. "We just wanted to make you inquisitive." She explained. She looked at him. "Do you have it?"

"Do I have what?" John asked her.

"The treasure."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I would prefer to make certain." She looked at one of the men, who took the cover off of a large object, revealing it to be the crossbow we had seen at the circus, an arrow, it seemed, was already loaded.

"Everything in the West has a price, and the price for her life: Information."

I looked to Sarah again, and we stared at each other wide-eyed, knowing that it had to be either one of us she was referring too. I felt my heart racing, listening to it beat in my ears, and I couldn't breath.

I looked to John, who was looking at me, mouthing 'I'm sorry' over and over again, before I felt my chair raise from the ground, and I was being carried towards the crossbow.

I squirmed in my chair, and struggled against my bonds, hoping that they would lose their grasp and drop me, giving me some time, maybe, but it was no use. They were twice my size, and weren't going to give up easily.

"Where is the hairpin?" Shan asked my brother.

"what?" John asked. he too was struggling to get out of his bonds and Shan still had her pistol, which was now loaded, pointed at him.

"The Empress pin valued at nine million sterling. We already had a buyer in the West; then one of our people were greedy. He took it, brought it back to London, and you, MR. Holmes, have been searching."Please, please listen to me. I'm not...I'm not Sherlock Holmes. You have to believe me. I haven't found whatever it is you're looking for." john begged, but she did not listen.

"I need a volunteer from the audience." She said loudly, then looked to me. I was crying out through my gag.

"No. please. Please." John said from behind her.

"Ah, thank you, lady. You'll do very nicely." She smiled, took out a knife, and cut a hole through a sandbag. I cried out louder than before, hoping someone would hear me.

"Ladies and gentlemen, from the distant moonlight shores of NW1, we present for your pleasure, Sherlock Holmes', pretty companion in a death-defying act." She said. My arms were beginning to get tired, and so were my legs, but i kept struggling and screaming.

Shan walked over and placed a black origami my knee. "You've seen the act before, how dull for you. You know how it ends." through my struggling and yelling, I managed to glare at her.

"I'm not Sherlock Holmes!" John yelled, frantically.

"II do not believe you."

"You really should, you know." I heard a voice behind me. John and I looked at each other. I could see the relief on his face, but he was still panicking, as was I, but if John trusted Sherlock, I did too.

"Sherlock Holmes is nothing at all like him? How would you describe me, John?" Shan was aiming her pistol at the tunnel. "Resourceful? Dynamic, Enigmatic?"

"Late." John mumbled.

"That's a semi-automatic. If you fire it, the bullet will travel at over a thousand meters per second."

"Well?" Shan asked, still aiming her gun.

"Well..." Sherlock copied,, and I heard a large ban from behind me, causing me to jump and look at the sandbag, my heart beginning to race again, faster. if the crossbow doesn't kill me first, a heart attack will.

I heard a man grunt, and then Sherlock speaking again. "The radius curvature of these walls is nearly four meters. If you miss, the bullet will ricochet. Could hit anyone. Might even bounce off the tunnel and hit you." I heard another crash, and the tunnel went dark., making it almost impossible to see. I heard someone behind me, as they grabbed for the ropes around my wrists, untying them, but they were interrupted. I looked back behind me that best I could, and saw Sherlock with Liang, Soo Lin's brother, on the ground, Liang had a rope around Sherlock's neck, and I wanted to help, but I couldn't. I looked back over to the crossbow and then to the sandbag.

John had tried to stand up and walk towards the crossbow, but he didn't make it. He fell over on his side, and couldn't get back up. I stared back up at the weight, which was coming close to the metal bowl to release the arrow.

John was moving around in my peripheral vision, but I was more focused on the crossbow, which would fire in mere seconds. I felt my eyes begin to burn, and a tear run down my face, and it wasn't the last. I had stopped screaming and thrashing, knowing it was all in vain, and waited...

but nothing happened. John had gotten his foot free enough to kick the crossbow in another direction as soon as the weight hit the bowl. The arrow flew by me and hit Liang, who grunted, and fell to the ground.

I took deep breaths to calm myself, but I was still crying, almost uncontrollably, the gag muffling my sobs. I heard footsteps, but I had no clue what was going on. I was just glad to be alive.

"It's alright." I heard Sherlock say behind me soothingly. He untied my gag. "You're going to be all right. It's over now." Sherlock said, rubbing his hands up and down my arms, comforting me, which was working. Only a few tears fell every now and then, now, and I could breath a little better.

"Don't worry." I heard John say. I looked up at him, and he was looking to Sarah. "Next date won't be like this."looking at her closely, I could tell I wasn't the only one crying, as she was almost as terrified as I was.

Sherlock finished untying me and stood, placing a hand on my shoulder.

John then looked my way, looking between Sherlock and me, and he smiled, but it was hardly noticeable.

The police had arrived shortly after, and we met Dimmock outside the tunnels. I was given a blanket, and so was Sarah, who was walking in front with John, who wrapped his arm around her shoulders while I hung back with Sherlock. I stopped with him, while the couple went on.

"We'll just slip off. No need to mention us in your report." Sherlock tells the D.I.

" ..."Dimmock started, but Sherlock cut him off.

"I have high hopes for you, Inspector. A glittering career." Sherlock tells him.

"I go wherever you point me."

"Exactly." Sherlock said, walking away. He touched the back of my arm, gently pushing me along with him.

"You alright?" I heard someone ask, my door has opened slightly, before opening all the way, allowing John to come into the room. I snuggled down into the blankets more as John came closer, sitting on the edge of my bed.

"Yeah, I'm alright." I assured him. He smiled at me, putting a hand on the side of my head, just above my ear, like he did when we were kids and I had a night terror. I never knew why he did it, I guess he meant it as a comforting gesture, and it was very comforting indeed, but I never understood why he put his hand right on my ear. Maybe just habit.

"Sure?" He asked. I nodded.

"Yeah." I said softly. I was still a little shaken up, to be honest, and would rather have just been left alone, instead of being bothered with questions. John seemed to understand, and he patted my shoulder.

"Alright. If you need anything, let me know. Please." He said. I nodded, saying that I would.

He smiled, patted the side of my head again, and left the room, turning just before he closed the door, and sticking his tongue out at me, in an attempt to make me laugh, which worked.

A little later, I heard the door open again, and I expected John to come into view, but instead I was met with someone much taller. I jumped a little, and squinted, trying to see in the dark.

"Umm...I brought you some warm milk because, apparently, according to John, you were having trouble sleeping, although I don't see how this is going to help." I heard Sherlock say. I smiled a little, not exactly sure how it worked either, but it was still comforting, which was all I seemed to be getting right now, comfort was.

"Thank you." I said, taking the glass from him hands, and bringing the glass to my lips.

"Does it really work?" He asked.

"Shouldn't you know?" I placed the glass of milk on the bedside table. I saw Sherlock shrug.

"I don't know. Never given it much thought. Never tried it." He admitted. I nodded.

"Tell John I said thank you. And thank you, as well. For everything." I said, not wanting to elaborate while looking down at my blanket, picking some imaginary piece of dust off of it."
"I'll tell him." He responded,and then he left.

"Ah, Elizabeth. Cup of tea?" I heard Sherlock ask, standing at the table and pouring tea into John's mug.

"Yeah, thank you." I said, while grabbing an extra chair and taking a seat, as Sherlock poured tea into an extra mug.

"So, 'Nine Mill'..." John asked. I was confused.

"What?" I asked.

"The cipher." Sherlock responded, though I was still a bit lost. I let it go.

"Million." Sherlock finished, as he poured his own mug of tea.

"Million, yes. Nine million for jade pin. Dragon den, black Tramway." John recited.

"An instruction to all their London operatives."

"Mmm." John hummed.

"A message; what they were trying to reclaim."

"What, a jade pin?" John asked.

"Worth nine million pounds. Bring it to the Tramway, their London hideout."

"Wait, a hairpin worth nine million pounds?" I asked.

"Apparently."

"Why so much?"

"Depends on who owned it."

We made our way to the bank, even though John had wanted me to stay home.
"Two operatives based in London. They travel over to Dalian to smuggle those vases. One of them helps himself to something; a little hairpin."

"Worth nine million pounds." John said.

"Eddie Van Coon was the thief. He stole the treasure when he was in China."

"How do you know?" I asked him. "How do you know it was Van Coon and not Lukis? Even the killer didn't know that."

Sherlock was going through the revolving doors

"Because of the soap." Sherlock said, going through the revolving doors. He looked around at John and I smugly.

Sherlock invited me along with him to talk to Van Coon's PA, Amanda, who we had seen earlier in the week. As we walked down the hallway to her desk, Sherlock pulled out his phone, and dialed a number.

"He bought you a present." Sherlock said a few seconds after he had brought the phone to his ear. "A little gift when he came back from China." He said after a pause, and we walked into the room. Amanda was sitting at her desk, her phone to her ear as well.

"How do you know that?" She asked.

"You weren't just his PA, were you?" Sherlock asked, putting his phone down. AManda turned around, surprised, putting her phone down as well.

"Well, someone's been gossiping." She remarked.

"No."

"The I don't understand. Why...?" Sherlock cut her off.

"The scented hand soap in his apartment. 30 milliliters of it. Bottle almost finished." he explained.

"Sorry?"

"I don't think Eddie Van Coon was the type of chap to buy himself hand soap-not unless he had a lady coming over. And it's the same hand cream on your desk."

Amanda looked down, awkwardly. "Look, it wasn't serious between us. It was over in a flash. It couldn't have lasted-he wa my boss."

"What happened?" Sherlock asked her. "Why did you end it?"

"I thought he didn't appreciate me. Took me for granted. Stood me up once too often-we'd plan to go away for the weekend, and then he'd just leave; fly to China in a moment's notice.

"And he brought you a present from abroad to say sorry." I looked to Sherlock, whose gaze was fixed on something in Amanda's hair. I looked closely, and saw a tiny shade of pale green in her bun. "Can I...just have a look at it?" Sherlock held out his hand. Amanda obliged, pulling the pin our of her hair, and placing into Sherlock's outstretched hand.

"said he bought it at a street market."

"Oh, I don't think that's true. I think he pinched it."

Amanda chuckled. "That's Eddie."

"DIdn't know it's value." Sherlock mumbled.

"Just thought it would suit you." I finished, feeling like dead weight only sitting around, listening to the conversation between the two.

"Oh?" Amanda leaned forward. "What's it worth?"

Sherlock smiled, and I did too, a little. "Nine...million...pounds." he said slowly, watching her reaction.

Her face filled with shock. "Oh my God!" She exclaimed. "Oh my G-" She stood up, and stumbled backwards before running out of the room. I laughed, not to be mean, but because I couldn't help it. Sherlock's smile ha widened as well. "Nine million!"

The next morning, I slept in, almost until noon, and I walked downstairs. John and Sherlock were already awake, and sitting at the table, talking.

"Over a thousand years old. And it's sitting by her bedside every night." John said.

"He didn't know its value; didn't know why they were chasing him.

"Should have gotten her a lucky cat." I joked, walking up and sitting in the Sherlock's chair behind John. John chuckled, and Sherlock smiled briefly, before looking away.

"Hmmm." He hummed.

"You mind, don't you?" John asked.

"What?"

"That she escaped-General Shan. It's not enough we got her two henchmen."

"Must be a vast network, Watsons. We barely scratched the surface." Sherlock said to us.

"You cracked the code." I reminded. "Sherlock; and maybe Dimmock can track down all of them now that he knows it." I suggested.

"No,no. I cracked this code. All the smugglers have to do is pick up another book." He grabbed a newspaper.

I looked back to John, who was staring at something out of the window. I leaned a little, trying to see what he did, and found a man painting what looked like an eye on the back of a blue box. We didn't say anything.

"Speaking of Dimmock, are you going to go get a drink with him, like you said you might?" John asked, trying to distract us.

"I don't know. I don't really like Dumbsmock all that much." John scowled at me.

"What?" I asked. Sherlock snickered.

"His name is DImmock." John said, obviously not amused.

"Yeah, I know." I told him. He sighed and shook his head, while Sherlock smiled, looking at me. I smiled back at him.

No one's POV:

"Without you-without your assistance-we would have never found passage into London. You have my thanks."

'M' began to type.

M- GRATITUDE IS MEANINGLESS.

M-IT IS ONLY THE EXPECTATION OF FURTHER FAVOURS

The computer beeped, telling Shan he was finished typing, and she spoke again.

"We did not anticipate-we did not know this man would come-this Sherlock Holmes. And know your safety is compromised." She said, her face full of concern.

M-THEY CANNOT TRACE THIS BACK TO ME

The computer beeped.

"I will not reveal your identity." She said sincerely.

M-I AM CERTAIN

A red dot appeared on the wall behind her, and made its way t the middle of her forehead, and a single gunshot was heard as the bullet smashed through the window in front of her.

Ta da!

I thought I would add that last little part in there, just because I felt like it...that's a terrible reason, but anyway...

SO I am extremely excited because this Sunday because there is a Doctor Who convention in Clarksville TN and I might get to go with my dad!

As I promised, here all all the reviews I have yet to answer to, and thank you for taking time out of your lives, not only to read my story, but to tell me what you think. You have no idea how much that means to me! Thank you! A thousand times, thank you!

I absolutely adore this story. Your grammar and spelling alone make it wonderful to read. I can hardly wait for the next chapter

Thank you so much! And I'm sorry I made you wait so long :/ Oops...

Anyway, I am so happy that you are enjoying my story, and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Oooohhh
This is getting really interesting! ;)
I understand completely the hassles of homework and a messy life...mine is a bit up and down too right now. I am looking forward to your next installment, and had a feeling you would cover a lot more episodes than the Blind Banker (actually, I was desperately hoping you would continue with Elizabeth...sorry, Beth...). I am looking forward to what you would do in the Scandal (I wasn't that big of a fan of Irene that much, to be honest. I've seen better portrayals of the character).
Looking forward to whenever you post next. Don't feel to obliged to post quickly if things are piling up. :)

Keep being awesome!

Sincerely,
The Supreme General

Oh, I never realized how excited I was for the Scandal until you mentioned it! That will be so much fun! I can't wait! And I agree with you. I wasn't a fan of her either.

I am going to try to do all of the episodes, and I think I've mentioned before about including some things from John's blog, and I don't know what I'm going to do until season four... I've seen a few people make their predictions and write beyond season three, which, if I have to, I might as well, but I would feel bad if I got it entirely wrong.

Like always, thank you so much for reviewing and I am so glad you are enjoying!

Hey!

Another great chapter. It's been so gripping, and I can't wait for what's next! Looking forward to your work and seeing how the next section goes.
I loved the Desolation of Smaug too. I was kinda said that the battle with Smaug was over so quickly, but it makes sense in comparison to the book, I guess.
Keep being awesome :)

Sincerely,
The Supreme General

I agree with you again! I wish the battle a little longer in DOS and the in the third move Battle of the Five Armies. It was over in a flash!

I hope you like this chapter as well, and I hope I ended it well. I can't wait to get started on the next section, so there shouldn't be too much of a wait. I'll try not to go another full week!

This chapter was definitely worth the wait! I love Elizabeth and I would love to see another update soon!

I'm happy that you liked it! I hope this one was worth the wait as well! And, like I told The Supreme General, The next update will hopefully be up soon, and there won't be a wait like the one for this chapter. Thank you for reviewing!

If I missed anyone, I am so, so, so sorry! I tried to get all of the reviews, but (and this might be a bad thing to mention, but I'll be honest...) I am NOT an organized person. I am working on that, but as of right now, my organization skills are slackin' so if I missed anyone, it is totally on me, and I will make it up to you! Promise!

So, the next chapters should be following The Great Game if there isn't one after The Blind Banker on John's blog (I'll have to check later when the WIFI is better, because right now it sucks!) but i am kind of excited about it. A little nervous because of Moriarty (who I love, but am terrified of) but I am excited! I am also hoping to add some more of Mrs. Hudson because she was left out a little in the last chapters, I wish i would have added her in more...

Also Mycroft will come in, mostly because of the episode, and I am super, duper, extremely ecstatic for Lestrade as well, because, lets be honest, who doesn't love him? He's amazing and I think I quote him more than I should...oops.

Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, and I'll see you later!