The Great Game

Tory finished up in the nursery and pulled her bag up over her shoulder, saying goodbye to the other women who were working in the nursery with her. She walked out and headed around the corner smashing in to someone.

"Ooh! Sorry" She said and looked up, freezing on the spot.

"Hello Tory" The man in front of her said.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded.

"I've got a job in London"

"Well, good for you. Gotta go. Bye" She said and went to walk past him but he grabbed her arm and she stopped.

"Please...I want to make things right between us" He said and looked down at her and she shook her head.

"Not interested"

"Please? Dinner Saturday night?" He asked and she stared up at him for a minute.

"No...not interested" She said.

"Tory please" He said.

"I said I'm not interested " She said shaking her head.

"I'll keep trying"

"I'll keep saying no, I moved on Danny" She said.

"Please...just dinner...Saturday night"

She sighed and shook her head "Fine..but it's just a dinner, that's it"

"I'll walk you-"

"No. No thank you" She said shaking her head "No"

She began walking "I'll see you saturday then"

She continued walking and when she continued into Baker street and finally made it into the flat, she pressed herself against the door before running a hand through her hair, heading to her flat and throwing the bag down onto the floor. It was then that gunshots and shouting ran out through the flat and she sighed and went back out of 221C and headed up the stairs.

She just got up the stairs as Sherlock stood up "Well where else was I supposed to put it?" Sherlock asked, stroppily "You don't mind do you?"

"What the hell is going on?" Tory asked looking around and then at the wall.

"Sherlock's bored" John sighed.

"Bored...so you shoot the bloody wall?" Tory asked and Sherlock only sighed.

"I got it from Bart's morgue" He said ignoring Tory "I'm measuring the coagulation of saliva after death" Sherlock said "I see you've written up the taxi driver case"

"Uh, yes" John said sitting down.

"A study in pink" Nice" Sherlock said and Tory shook her head as she sat down on John's arch chair rubbing her eyes.

"Well, you know, pink lady, pink case, pink phone...there was a lot of pink. Did you like it?" John asked.

"Uuuuuuum" Sherlock began "No"

"Why not? I thought you'd be flattered" John said.

"Flattered?" Sherlock asked, raising his index figures narrating a section of the blog "Sherlock sees through everything and everyone in seconds. What's incredible, though, is how spectacularly ignorant he is about some things"

"Now hang on a minute, I didn't mean that in a-" John began.

"Why? It's the truth" Tory said.

"Oh shut up" Sherlock said and Tory rolled her eyes "You meant "Spectacularly ignorant" in a nice way. Look it doesn't matter to me who's Prime Minister..."

"I know" John muttered.

"...or who's sleeping with who..." Sherlock trailed off.

"Whether the Earth goes around the sun..." John said and Tory shook her head.

"Not that again, it's not important!" Sherlock said.

"Not important-" John began. "It's primary school stuff. How can you not know that?"

"Well, if I ever did, I've deleted it" Sherlock said.

"Deleted it?" Tory asked turning to face him.

Sherlock swing his legs around and pointed to his head "This is my hard drive, and it only makes sense to put things in there that are useful...really useful" Sherlock said "Ordinary people full their heads with all kinds of rubbish, and that makes it hard to get at the stuff that matters. DO you see?" The two of them stared at him "Oh, hell, what does it matter?!" He demanded. "So what if we go around the sun! If we went around the moon, or round and round the garden like a teddy bear, it wouldn't make any difference. All that matters to me is the work. Without that, my brain rots" He said and ruffled his hair "Put that into your blog or better still. stop inflicting your opinions on the world"

"Sherlock!" She snapped and he looked at her before he shoved the magazine across the coffee table and he lay down on the sofa again, Tory looked to John who glanced at her for a minute before getting up. "John" Tory sighed as he put his coat on and he walked towards the living room door. Sherlock turned to look.

"Where are you going?" He asked him.

"Out. I need some air" John said tightly.

"You're a right arse Sherlock" Tory said as Mrs Hudson came in, Sherlock angrily turned away again, angrily stretching out on the couch.

"Have you three had a little domestic?" Mrs Hudson asked going into the kitchen.

Sherlock flailed slightly, and turned so he could stand up, Tory raised her eyebrows as he walked towards the window.

"Oooh, it's a bit nippy out there, he should have wrapped up a bit more" Mrs Hudson said.

"Look at that Mrs Hudson, Quiet, calm, peaceful" Sherlock said slowly "Isn't it hateful?"

"Oh I'm sure something will turn up, Sherlock. A nice murder, that'll cheer you up" Mrs Hudson said and went towards the living room door as Tory crossed her legs.

"Can't come too soon" Sherlock said.

"Hey, what have you done to my bloody wall?" Mrs Hudson asked as Sherlock smirked and she walked down the stairs "I'm putting this on your rent young man!"

Sherlock moved into the middle of the room and Tory stood up going to head into the kitchen but before she got to go anywhere an explosion caused both of them to fall to the ground. The windows shattering and glass and bits of bricks falling everywhere. Tory blinked and looked up too see Sherlock lying face down on the ground and he gave out a groan. She got up and moved over to him.

"You alright?" she asked.

"Hmm" He hummed sitting up, she pulled him up by his hand and she stared down at their hands before mentally slapping herself and she smiled, pulling her hand back, moving across to the window.

"What the hell was that?" She asked looking out, seeing the massive hole in the side of the building. "Mrs Hudson-"

"Oh, She's fine" Sherlock said.

"Do you care about anyone at all?" Tory asked and he stared at her in surprise for a minute, "Is there a heart in there?" She said poking his chest before throwing him a glare before turning and walking out of the living room.

Tory was sitting on the large couch "Can't you talk some sense into him, Tory?" Mycroft asked.

"No. No I can't" She said reading through the book she'd found on the table. Mycroft sighed.

"Sherlock" He began.

"No" Sherlock said picking up his violin.

That was when they heard the door shut and John's voice "Sherlock! Tory!" he called. The three of them were silent as John entered the living room, his eyes landing on Tory first before looking to Sherlock and Mycroft.

"John" Sherlock said.

"I saw it on the telly. Are you two okay?" John asked looking between Sherlock and Tory.

"Mmm" Tory muttered, clearly in some sort of mood.

"Hmm? What?" Sherlock asked as he looked at the glass and broken windows "Oh. Yeah. Fine. Gas leak, apparently" He then turned his attention to Mycroft "I can't"

"Cant?" Mycroft asked.

"The stuff I've got on is just too big. I can't spare the time" Sherlock said.

"Liar" Tory muttered.

"Never mind your usual trivia this is. This is of national importance"

Sherlock sulkily ran his fingers across the strings of his violin "How's the diet?" he asked.

"Fine" Mycroft said "Perhaps you can get through to him, John. Tory appears to be in a mood with him"

John looked to Tory who didn't even bat an eyelid as her name was mentioned "What?" John asked.

"I'm afraid my brother can be very intransigent"

"If you're so keen why don't you investigate it?" Sherlock asked.

"No, no, no, no, I can't possibly be away from the office for any length of time, not with the Korean elections so..." Mycroft began and everyone in the room looked at him. "Well you don't need to know about that, do you?" He smiled humourlessly "Besides a case like this...it requires leg work"

"How's Sarah, John? How was the lilo?"Sherlock asked.

"Sofa, Sherlock. It was the sofa" Mycroft said.

"Oh yes, of course" Sherlock said looking back at his violin.

"How...oh never mind" John said incredulously.

"Sherlock's business seems to be booming since you three became...pals" Mycroft said as Sherlock threw him a dark look "What's he like to live with? Hellish I imagine"

Tory scoffed, picking up another book from the table all three men looking at her.

"We're never bored" John said.

"Good, that's good isn't it?" Mycroft smiled, Sherlock still glaring at him, Tory looked up when Mycroft stood and held the folder out to Sherlock only for Sherlock look at him stubbornly. Mycroft turned and handed it to John. "Andrew West, known as Westie to his friends"

John took the folder and looked up at Mycroft.

"A civil servant, found dead on the tracks at Battersea station this morning with his head smashed in" Mycroft said.

"Jumped in front of a train?" John asked and Tory looked to Mycroft.

"Seems the logical assumption"

"But we know you wouldn't be here if it was just the logical assumption, Mycroft" Tory said tilting her head "He obviously didn't jump in front of that train"

John gave a brief smile as Sherlock smirked, "The M.O.D is working on a new missile defence system, the Bruce Partington Programme, it's called" Mycroft said and he looked to Sherlock as John began through the folder. "The plans for it were on a memory stick"

"Well that wasn't very bright" Tory said.

"Nope, not very clever" John agreed and Sherlock smiled again.

"It's not the only copy" Mycroft told them.

"Top secret?" John asked.

"Very. We think West might have taken the memory stick. We can't possibly risk it falling into the wrong hands" Mycroft said and he turned to Sherlock. "You've got to find those plans, Sherlock. Don't make me order you"

"I'd like to see you try" Sherlock said with a heavy sigh.

"Think it over" Mycroft said. Sherlock stared at him, unimpressed and as Mycroft walked to John, shaking his hand and then to Tory, who only patted it slightly before looking down again, "Goodbye, John, Tory" He said. "See you very soon"

Sherlock began to play repeatedly a short irritating sequence of notes, until Mycroft had left the room.

"Why'd you lie?" John asked when Mycroft was gone. "You've got nothing on- Not a single case. That's why the wall took a pounding. Why did you tell your brother you were busy?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Sherlock asked with a shrug.

"Cause he's an arse hole" Tory said.

"Oh!" John said, Tory looked over at him "Oh I see...sibling rivalry. Now we're getting somewhere"

Before Sherlock got to say anything his phone rang and he answered it "Sherlock Holmes" He said "Of course...how could I refuse?"

He stood up and looked to John and Tory.

"Lestrade, I've been summoned" He said. "Coming?"

"If you want us too" John said.

"Of course" Sherlock said and turned to look at them "I'd be lost without my blogger and moaning companion"

"Moaning-" Tory began and then shook her head, calming herself before she said anything she'd regret, following the two boys out of the flat.

The taxi ride took them to Scotland Yard to go and see Lestrade.

"You like the funny cases, don't you? The surprising ones" Lestrade asked.

"Obviously" Sherlock said and Tory rolled her eyes as she and John looked at each other.
"You'll love this. That explosion ..."

Sherlock stared down at Sally Donovan as they walked into Lestrade's office. "Gas leak, yes?" he asked.

"No." Lestrade said.

"Wait...What?" Tory asked.

"No?"

"No. Made to look like one" Lestrade said.

"How comforting" Tory said shaking her head.

"What?" John asked as he closed the office door over.

"Hardly anything left of the place except a strong box. A very strong box and inside it was this" Lestrade said pointing to the

"You haven't opened it?" Sherlock asked.

"It's addressed to you, isn't it?" Lestrade asked. Sherlock picked it up " We've X-rayed it. It's not booby-trapped"

" How reassuring" Sherlock replied. He picked the envelope up and examined it "Nice stationery. Bohemian"

"What?" Lestrade asked.

"From the Czech Republic. No fingerprints?" Sherlock asked.

"No"

"She used a fountain pen. A Parker Duofold – iridium nib." Sherlock said.

"She?" John asked.

Obviously" Sherlock sighed.

"Obviously" Tory copied in the same tone, getting a glare from Sherlock.

Sherlock picked up the letter opener from the desk and slit the envelope open staring in surprise before he pulled out an iPhone, the pink cover on it.

"But that's – that's the phone, the pink phone" John stammered.

"What, from the Study in Pink?"

"Well, obviously it's not the same phone but it's supposed to look like" Sherlock said but he stopped and turned to Lestrade. "The Study in Pink? You read his blog?"

"Course I read his blog! We all do. D'you really not know that the Earth goes round the Sun?" Lestrade asked.

Donovan, who had entered the room, sniggered loudly. Sherlock, who is taking off his gloves, glared at her as John pursed his lips in embarrassment. She left the room and Sherlock turned his concentration back to the phone.

" It isn't the same phone. This one's brand new" He said. "Someone's gone to a lot of trouble to make it look like the same phone, which means your blog has a far wider readership" He switched the phone on and immediately the phone began beeping.

"You have one new message"

The message played but no voice spoke, only beeping.

"Is that it-" John began.

"No. That's not it" Sherlock said.

"What the hell are we supposed to make of that? An estate agent's photo and the bloody Greenwich pips!" Lestrade said.

"It's a warning" Sherlock said and looked at Tory who wasn't even paying attention.

"A warning?"

"Some secret societies used to send dried melon seeds, orange pips, things like that. Five pips. They're warning us it's gonna happen again" Sherlock said. "Tory?" He asked and she came out of her daze.

"What?" She asked and he turned the phone to her, her eyes widened. "That's...my flat"

Sherlock turned "I knew I recognised it" He said and he began walking.

"H-hang on. What's gonna happen again?"

Sherlock turned to look at them "Boom!" before he turned and began walking again.

The Taxi pulled up outside baker street and the four of them got out and went in, walking along the hallway until they came to the door.

"Why are we waiting?" Tory asked "I've got the key"

" Yes hold on" Sherlock said "Mrs Hudson!"

A few minutes later Mrs Hudson came out of her flat and stood beside them

"You had a look, didn't you, Sherlock, when you first came to see about your flat" Mrs Hudson said "Before Tory took it"

"The door's been opened recently" Sherlock said and Tory sighed.

"I come in and out of there all the time"

"I mean not that long ago, an hour maybe at the most" Sherlock said.

"No, can't be. That's the only key and you've been out" Mrs Hudson said.

"I can't get anyone interested in this flat. It's the damp, I expect. That's the curse of basements" She said and looked to Tory "Though you've done an excellent job with it, dear"

"Thank you" Tory smiled at her as Sherlock took the key from her hand and opened up the door, walking in.

As they went down the stairs, they entered the living room seeing a pair of shoes in the middle of the room.

"Shoes" John said. They turned to Tory who shrugged.

"Well they're not mine" She said shrugging.

Sherlock began moving but John put a hand out "He's a bomber, remember"

Sherlock stopped for a moment, then continued slowly towards the trainers. He crouched down to look at them before the phone began ringing in his pocket. Sherlock jamp, sighing lightly before taking the phone out of his pocket and answering it.

"Hello?" He asked.

"H-hello ... sexy" The voice cracked, taking in a shaky breath.

John, Lestrade and Tory shared glanced "Who's this?" Sherlock asked.

"I've ... sent you ... a little puzzle ... just to say hi" The woman's voice said.

"Who's talking? Why are you crying?"

I-I'm not ... crying ... I'm typing ... and this ... stupid ... bitch ... is reading it out."

"The curtain rises" Sherlock said.

"What?"

"Nothing" Sherlock replied.

"No, what did you mean?" John asked.

" I've been expecting this for some time" Sherlock said.

"How could ypu possibly be expecting this?" Tory asked.

"Twelve hours to solve ... my puzzle, Sherlock ..." The woman said.

They were in the Hospital and Sherlock, was sitting at a bench looking into a microscope, as John walked around and Tory sat with her head in her hands.

"So, who d'you suppose it was?" John asked. as a phone went off.

"Hmm?" Sherlock asked.

"The woman on the phone – the crying woman"

"Oh, she doesn't matter. She's just a hostage. No lead there"

"For God's sake, I wasn't thinking about leads" John said.

"You're not going to be much use to her" Sherlock said.

"Are-are they trying to trace it, trace the call?"

"The bomber's too smart for that" The phone went off again "Pass me my phone"

John looked around "Where is it?"

"Jacket"

John sighed and moved over to him, roughly pulling at his jacket "Careful" Sherlock snapped.

"Text from your brother" John said tightly.

"Delete it" Sherlock said.

"Delete it?" John asked and Tory rolled her eyes.

"Missile plans are out of the country now. Nothing we can do about it" Sherlock said.

"Well, Mycroft thinks there is. He's texted you eight times. Must be important."

"Then why didn't he cancel his dental appointment?" Sherlock asked.

"His what?" John sighed.

"Mycroft never texts if he can talk. Look, Andrew West stole the missile plans, tried to sell them, got his head smashed in for his pains. End of story. The only mystery is this: why is my brother so determined to bore me when somebody else is being so delightfully interesting?"

"Try and remember there's a woman here who might die"

"What for?" Sherlock asked "This hospital's full of people dying, Doctor. Why don't you go and cry by their bedside and see what good it does them?"

"She's going to die Sherlock...don't you care that an innocent woman is going to die?" Tory asked and Sherlock only glanced at her, not giving her an answer. "Would you be this way if it were John? Or me?" She asked and he didn't look up this time and she shook her head. "I need air" She got up and headed out of the hospital.

After fifteen minutes Tory walked back in just in time to see a man leaving, he stared at her for a minute, giving her a smile before walking off and just then Molly rushed out, she went in and raised her eyebrows.

"Charming. Well done" John said.

"What happened?" Tory asked.

"Him and his...deductions"

"Molly looked distraught what did you say?" Tory asked.

"Just saving her time. Isn't that kinder?" Sherlock asked.

"The man Molly is with...he's gay apparently" John said.

"There is no apparently about it" Sherlock said.

"You told her that?" Tory asked.

"Yes, it was the kind thing to do" Sherlock said making a face.

"Kind?" John asked "No, no, Sherlock. That wasn't kind"

"Go on, then" Sherlock said after a minute.

"Mmm?" John asked.

"You know what I do. Off you go." Sherlock said.

"No" John said.

"Go on" Sherlock coaxed him.

"I'm not gonna stand here so you can humiliate me while I try and disseminate"

"An outside eye, a second opinion. It's very useful to me"

"Yeah, right" John scoffed.

Sherlock stared at him "Really"

"Shut up the pair of you" Tory snapped getting up and picking up the trainer. She stared at it for a minute "It's a trainer Sherlock" She said looking at him.

"Good" Sherlock said.

"The soles are worn out and they're clearly eighties trainers" She said.

"You're on sparkling form. What else?" Sherlock asked.

"It's big so it's either a man's shoe" Tory said.

"But?" Sherlock asked.

"There's a name written on the inside meaning it's a kids shoe" She said.

"Excellent. What else?" Sherlock asked.

"The owner loved them, they're whiter than what an average trainer would usually be after being worn so many times" She said "The laces have been changed...and they're British made" She said and put the trainer down.

"Very good but" Sherlock said and Tory sighed "there are traces of his flaky skin where his fingers have come into contact with them, so he suffered from eczema. Shoes are well-worn, more so on the inside, which means the owner had weak arches. British-made, like you said and twenty years old"

"Twenty years?" John asked.

"They're not retro – they're original"

He held up his phone "Limited edition: two blue stripes, nineteen eighty-nine"

"But there's still mud on them. They look new" John said.

"Someone's kept them that way. Quite a bit of mud caked on the soles. Analysis shows it's from Sussex, with London mud overlaying it" Sherlock said.

"How do you know?" John asked.

"Pollen. Clear as a map reference to me" Sherlock said. "South of the river, too. So, the kid who owned these trainers came to London from Sussex twenty years ago and left them behind"

"So what happened to him?" John asked.

"Something bad" Sherlock said looking up at them " He loved those shoes, remember. He'd never leave them filthy. Wouldn't leave them go unless he had to. So: a child with big feet gets ... Oh"

"What?" John asked.

"Carl Powers" Sherlock said.

"Who?" Tory asked looking at John.

"Carl Powers" Sherlock said, glancing between the both of them.

"What is it?" John asked.

"It's where I began" Sherlock said.