It only took Sherlock a few seconds in Victoria s room to find her phone, discarded on the floor.
Victoria never parted with her phone, and considering the new information he was given about who Victoria texted, Sherlock now knew why. As for why her phone was lying carelessly on the floor, she most likely dropped it unknowingly. Nervous, unaware of her actions, probably rushing. He picked it up, looking through her most recent text messages with Alexander Moran-Moriarty. According to the timeframe Sherlock managed to set up, it took Victoria ten minutes to walk to her destination and she had been here in 221B only 20 minutes before, according to the time her last text was sent. He mentally mapped a kilometre wide perimeter around Baker st, as to where she could possibly be. He knew she was still there as well, and not moved to another location, because of the call he had received. There would have been no time to move her. All he needed was one more answer. Where the hell did Moriarty live?
Sherlock didn't want to alarm John on what had happened, so he had gone to the house alone. The door was open, an obvious invitation from Jim. He carefully stepped in, his hand on the gun in his pocket.
Sebastian checked his phone, looking at the message. "Jim. He's at the front door." he informed Jim. Victoria mentally thanked whatever gods there were out there.
"Oh, don't be shy, Sherlock," Jim called out. "Vicky here has been waiting to get picked up." he said. Sherlock rounded the corner, trying to not to show any emotion on his face. Jim had one hand in her hair, yanking it back, the other with a knife over her exposed neck. "Jim, let her go." said Sherlock coldly, glaring at Jim. "This is between us."
Jim groaned. "But wouldn't it be more fun like this? Making you look for your pet after all those years has gotten so repetitive, why not bring in new toys to play with? This one is just perfect, don't you think?" Victoria squeezed her eyes shut, trying her best not to move. She shot a glance at her father, hoping he would know how to get her out of this.
"I have found her." muttered Sherlock, keeping a hard glare on his face, although it was obvious to him that Victoria was in pain, which he couldn't bear. "Let. Her. Go."
"Oh, but that's not the only reason she's here. See, if I kill her, then I not only fulfill the promise to burn out your heart," he said, running his thumb over her burned and stinging skin. Victoria flinched at the touch, the wound still indubitably painful. "It also solves my problem with these two," he said, motioning towards Alex and her. "But then again, she's such a valuable weakness, I couldn't just get rid of her like this," he mused, still undecided. Sherlock was outright terrified of anything happening to her, but he was keeping his cool on the outside. "Harm her further and I will kill you." Sherlock threatened.
"You know what, Sherlock? I think I will let her live. But only so we can have these wonderful chats again." He rested his head in the crook of Victoria's neck. "I'll be seeing you again soon, sweetheart," he growled. Jim lowered the knife, pushing her to the ground next to Sherlock. "Now, get out of my house before I change my mind and have your entire family killed, Sherlock. I have my own child to attend to," he said, walking towards Alex.
Sherlock quickly helped Victoria up, pulling her into a tight hug. "Are you okay?" he asked her quietly. Victoria nodded quickly and he hurried her out of the house, needing to guarantee her safety.
Victoria looked back as her father led her away, taking one last look at Alex before her father closed the door. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I should have told you sooner."
"We'll discuss it more at length later. The important thing right now is that you're safe. I was so worried about you." said Sherlock softly. Victoria was still shaking slightly- that past hour or so had been the most terrifying time of her life.
John sat in the flat on his laptop, the only sound that could be interpreted as even vaguely disruptive being the sound of the keyboard clicking, typing away another detailed account of one of his cases with Sherlock for his blog. Sherlock had gone off God knows where, and he remembered hearing something about Victoria going off to see a friend, so he had decided to settle in and make a cuppa. About two paragraphs into the blog entry, he heard footsteps coming upstairs. "Sherlock, that you-" he asked, pausing. "Something wrong?"
John's eyes widened as Sherlock walked up the stairs, holding on to Victoria. She was shaking, sweating all over, and more importantly, there was dried blood on her face.
"Oh my god! Victoria, what's happened to you?" He ran over to them, helping Sherlock support her. They laid her down on the couch, where John took a better look at her while Sherlock went to get the first aid kit. Victoria stared up at the ceiling, almost unresponsive.
"Her pulse is elevated, but it's weak. Rapid, shallow breathing, sweating, she is in shock, Sherlock," he said, as he took the first aid kit from him." What the hell have you done?"
"It was Moriarty." Sherlock spoke just quietly enough for John to hear him, not wanting to upset Victoria."He was almost going to kill her, thank god he didn't.
"What?!" John yelled. He looked back at Victoria, and quickly lowered his voice. "I swear, if you got her involved in one of your stupid bloody games with Moriarty..." He was so angry, and worried, and scared, he couldn't even think about how he would end that empty threat. "I thought you said you hadn't heard from him in years. What did you do?"
"John," Sherlock began quietly, "That was not what happened. I received a call stating that she had been taken and that she was in a... relationship with their son. I arrived at the home, she was injured, and after a strained conversation she was... released." he summarized tersely.
"I wasn't taken," they both heard from behind them. They quickly turned around, happy that she was at least responding to them. She hadn't spoken to Sherlock during the whole trip back.
"I-I went there by myself. I was stupid, I-" her voice faltered, and she hid her face in her hands. "I m so sorry!" she cried out. Sherlock put a gentle hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "Don t apologize. he told her, and turned back to John." John, she needs medical attention." he prompted. "Oh, of course!" He gently cleaned the wound with a paper towel doused in water, which also helped soothe the burn. After applying antibiotic cream and covering the wound with an aseptic bandage, he kissed her forehead and covered her up with a blanket. Victoria shrunk into the blanket, letting it wrap around her almost like a cocoon; the warmth and comfort of it providing some reassurance that she was home and safe.
"I'm sorry, I was so stupid and didn't tell you sooner," she said quietly, nestling her head into a fold in the blanket. "It's alright, love." John sat down next to her, running his fingers through her hair to calm her down, like he used to when she was little." You can tell us later, when you're feeling better, okay?" Victoria nodded. "Okay." she said softly, relaxing a little bit more. "I just know it was a bad idea to keep it from you." John nodded. "We can talk about it another time, for now, you need some rest."
"Are you still having nightmares? Victoria shook her head, but her face made the answer clearly evident. Dr. Thompson nodded knowingly. "I'd be surprised if you weren't. Victoria, there is nothing to be ashamed of. Three months is a surprisingly short time for your level of recovery. These things take time, but you will get better."
Victoria nodded. "It is getting better, though. I know I'm not there yet, but... I think it is getting there."
"Have you been keeping yourself distracted, like I recommended last week? You need to find your way back to the present, to stop repeating the same scenario. Remind yourself it is over. And just doing simple things that keep your focus, writing a journal, painting, reading, it honestly helps."
"Well, I have been reading more lately," said Victoria, thinking back a bit. And I've helped my dad with a few science experiments, and those are always good. Um, so I am doing a bit better, there."
Dr. Thompson nodded and wrote a few notes into a book. "You keep saying that, but do you really believe it? You have to make sure you do."
"Well, I'm trying to. she explained- it was part of her logic that if she said something enough times, she would eventually start to believe it. "I do, mostly."
"You've made a huge improvement, but you have to learn how to express yourself, Victoria. I can t help you if you won't talk to me. I'll be seeing you again next week, okay?" she said, giving her a sympathetic smile. Victoria smiled back. "All right, I'll see you then," she said, standing up.
Victoria stepped out into the chilly November weather, putting on her gloved before raising her arm up high, yelling for a taxi to take her home. She took out her phone, and once again, stayed for what seemed like an eternity, staring at the first name on her list. Many times during the past three months she found herself thinking, wondering if she should give him a call, maybe get some closure; they had ended so abruptly. Instead, she did what she hadn't had the nerve to do before. Without a bit of regret, she removed his number from her phone.
Nothing looked different, but everything felt different. It was time to let go and move on. Time to forget about that day, and to forget about Alex, and maybe, just maybe, she had finally gotten past the first step.
AN: aaand that's it! I really loved writing the fic, and I'm glad people actually read it. I'm already co-writing the sequel, but it'll be a while before I post it. I know it's done and all, but would anyone mind giving a review? I just want some feedback and constructive criticism on how I did. This was my first fic