Hey, guys. I am so very sorry for the long wait with this chapter but all hell has kinda broken loose in my life. Not only have I been busy with Christmas etc but my boyfriend and I just split up and we have been going out for a long time so I have no exactly felt up to writing things lately. So sorry about that. Wanted to post this before New Year though. Hope you all had a lovely Christmas. Reviews would cheer me up a lot. Thanks. x

. . .

Scarlett had not slept. She had tossed and turned and willed her eyes to close but her mind would just not shut down. It was morning now. Her mother had gone to work and her little sister was off at a friend's house and, once again, the redhead was left alone with her over active imagination and increasingly distressing anxiety.

She kept telling herself that it was just a dream but if things kept going the way that they were, it would very rapidly turn into a horrible nightmare. A nightmare that she did not wish to have.

Pacing her room, backwards and forwards, she was at a loss of what to do.

The first thought that came to mind was to go and tell Sherlock about the texts. He would want to know that Moriarty was alive and that he was planning some new and twisted game. But then... How could she possibly explain the reasoning behind what she had said to the criminal mastermind in her reply? She knew things that were impossible for her to know and she really did not want Sherlock Holmes thinking she was some sort of spy because she quite fancied not being chucked out a window at any time soon.

Doing a loop of her room for what seemed like the thousandth time, Scarlett's thoughts were brought to an abrupt halt when the sound of the doorbell cut through the silence.

Her blood turned cold.

Who was it? An assassin? Had Moriarty sent someone to kill her? She shook her head to clear those disturbing thoughts away. What kind of assassins rang the doorbell? Peering through the blinds, Scarlett let out a small sigh of relief when she saw who was standing at her doorstep.

The long trench coat and mess of curly, black hair was an immediate giveaway. Sherlock Holmes. Ringing her... doorbell. Then she started to think upon that. Because why would the consulting detective want to speak with her? She meant nothing to him. Unless... somehow he knew about the texts that had been exchanged between herself and Moriarty last night.

The relief was replaced with panic. She was taking deep breaths now, trying to calm herself down and think of some plausible reason for him to be at her door.

Another ring. More impatient this time; clearly he was getting annoyed with standing out in the cold and waiting for a teenager of all people.

Scarlett found herself running down the stairs and grabbing the keys even though she still had no idea what she was going to say to this man, to this fictional character who wished to speak with her for some reason. With a click, the door was unlocked and she opened it. The cold instantly biting into her skin and causing goosebumps to form from head to toe. Her red knitted jumper and jeans clearly weren't enough for this weather.

Before she even had a chance to get a word in, the detective had stepped through her doorway and strode purposefully down the hall and into the kitchen where he was now pacing.

As much as Scarlett wanted to say something witty about him simply walking into her home without an invite, she knew better than to protest when he was in a determined mood. Which he clearly was if the expression on his face was anything to go by. As the young girl followed him into the kitchen, she took in his features. His mouth was set in a thin line, eyes completely focused as he scanned the room before finally locking his gaze on her.

Those eyes. They were beautiful eyes. She had often admired how sharp and focused they seemed to constantly be. But they had never scared her before. They scared her now as they bore into her own. She felt as if he were seeing into her very soul and it made her legs feel slightly wobbly. Trying to come across as nonchalant, Scarlett leaned on the kitchen counter, raising a brow.

"Problem, Holmes?"

If anything, her tone of voice only made Sherlock's expression harden.

"Yes. You."

So low and dangerous were the words that left his lips that Scarlett actually had to break off their staring match and look at the floor, pursing her lips.

"Not... Quite following. You're going to have to elaborate."

Strange how calm her voice was when in reality her insides had practically turned to jelly by now as she saw this man that she thought she knew in a new light. Many times she had seen his expression dark and angry like it was at that moment. She had always been awed by it. Now it just made her feel frightened.

"What do you know of Moriarty, Ms Daniels?"

That made her head snap up to look at him. Try as she might, there was no way she was going to be able to hide the recognition that flashed across her face at the name. Sherlock saw it immediately and those icy eyes narrowed as he took a step closer to her, totally invading her personal space now.

"I knew there was something. Something... Something else. Something that I was missing." He muttered so quietly that Scarlett could only just hear. "There's something about you that doesn't fit. It isn't right. You don't make sense. It was bothering me and I couldn't work out why because... you are not important in any way. You can't possibly be, your life is so ordinary. What do you know?"

Scarlett hadn't realised that she had been stepping away from the consulting detective until her back hit the sink and she let out a small gasp of surprise. It made her snap out of the nervous haze surrounding her and she cleared her throat before answering.

"Moriarty. He was on trial for attempting to steal the Crown Jewels. He was set free and... He was the one that convinced the world you were a fraud. I... Don't know anything else."

Liar, liar, liar. She had never been very good at lying when she was in this sort of state. And that was besides the fact that lying to Sherlock Holmes was as pointless as trying to swim with no limbs. This was proven when he huffed in obvious agitation and annoyance, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his mobile phone, unlocking it before showing Scarlett the screen.

'It seems that little red knows more than she's letting on. I wouldn't let her slip through your fingers, Sherlock. -JM x'

Scarlett found herself scanning the words over and over, each time biting down on her bottom lip a little harder, to the point that it was almost bleeding.

What was she going to do?

"You received a text too." Holmes' words were not a question and yet she nodded anyway. "Let me see."

Numbly, Scarlett handed over her phone, her glazed over eyes staring at the wall behind Sherlock.

It took a while before he spoke again but when he did, his voice wasn't so sure and steady. It was confused. A tone that was not familiar upon the curly-haired man's tongue.

"You... How... How do you know that? All of that?"

Scarlett finally managed to bring her gaze back to meet his. She found that his face now matched his tone. It was softer. Frowning. Confused. And very, very curious. But it was not threatening and it did not scare her.

"The same way that I know it was John who shot the cabbie. The same way that I know you saved Irene Adler in Karachi. The same way that I know you have a brother who has an umbrella fetish and eats cupcakes beyond the guidelines of his dietary scheme."

That last one made Sherlock smirk a little. Only for a second, but she definitely saw it.

"Well... Miss Scarlett," the detective chucked her phone back. "It seems like you are quite the mystery; knowing things that you cannot possibly know. And mysteries are my speciality. I shall quite enjoy working this one out, I think. Come."

And with that (and a swoosh of that long trench coat) he is heading back to the door without a single second of hesitation.

Scarlett didn't know where to put herself. Quickly, she grabbed her coat and ran after him shouting.

"Wait! Where are we going?!"

Stopping in the doorway, Holmes spun around to face her, a new look of excitement upon his face.

"Oh Scarlett, do keep up. Moriarty is alive, as I did predict a long while ago, and there is a new game afoot. Clearly he has made you a part of it, which I am not very surprised about considering that frankly foolish text you sent him last night. I am not letting you out of my sight until I have beaten him. Now, come."

His excitement must have been catching because Scarlett was starting to feel it too. Despite the fact that this was extremely dangerous, it was also quite exhilarating. She felt as though she were actually in an episode of Sherlock. Seeing the battleground of London. The thought brought a fluttering feeling to her stomach. As for Sherlock Holmes paying so much interest in her, well... That was another matter entirely. She had never been anyone important. She had always felt so small and yet here she was and one of her favourite fictional characters was 'not letting her out of his sight'. True, he was not taking an interest in her because she was clever or anything like that but it didn't really matter. She was a puzzle to solve and Holmes could never resist a good puzzle.

By the time the two of them slid into a cab, she was grinning like a complete fool which only made Sherlock frown.

"What?" He asked. "What is it?"

That strange hysteric giggle that had escaped when she was in 221B made another appearance.

"Nothing. Just... Y'know this could technically count as kidnapping, right?"

In response to this, the detective tilted his head, lips pursed.

"Hardly. You are coming willingly, I have not taken you by force. Although I would very much like to avoid a confrontation with your decidedly early-menopausal mother so if you could..." He waved his hand dismissively. "Tell her that you're staying at a... Friend's or something, that would be convenient."

Scarlett's jaw dropped. She wanted to burst out laughing at his description of her mother. It might even be true with the way she had been acting recently. Instead of laughing though, she just shook her head.

"I'm not staying with you at night, I'll have to go-"

"No." Sherlock interrupted her before she could have a chance to try and convince him. "You won't. Didn't you hear the 'not letting you out of my sight bit', Little Miss Scarlett? Dear me, you may need a hearing test as well as a mental diagnoses."

The young ginger glared at him for that but stopped when she saw a flash of... Was that guilt? She dismissed that. Sherlock Holmes did not feel guilt because he did not care about hurting people's feelings. She must have been imagining it.

"Careful, Holmes." Scarlett's voice was rather smug as she raised her brows at him. "You're making it sound like you enjoy having me around."

Slowly, Sherlock turned his head to look at her, eyes dancing.

"How silly of me. Do try not to mistake me thirst for knowledge as some sort of fondness. In fact, I must say that I find you rather irritating and shall be glad to get rid of you once this game is over. But... until then, I shall just have to find it within me to tolerate you."

. . .

Hope you enjoyed that one. Sherlock's a little shit really, with no sense of anything but the game. He really thinks it's just that easy to take Scarlett from her home like that buuuut... he is going to encounter a few problems, as you can probably imagine.

Regarding his attachment to her, at the moment it is merely intrigue. He does not care about her; she is merely another puzzle piece to him.

Also, one more note. I have decided to change an aspect of this story. I think that I want it to be as canon as possible regarding the TV series plot for series three and therefore I think that I am going to have John living with Mary. I just want it to remain canon even after series three has aired, that's all. But yeah, don't worry you will still be seeing John an awful lot because he is still solving cases with Sherlock whenever he can. And now that Moriarty's involved, he won't exactly just be watching from the sidelines. XD

Again, sorry for the wait. Please don't hate me. BUT PLEASE DO REVIEW!