Greetings! So I was going to update the other day but the website was acting up...so I wasn't able to.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! And consider this update a late present from me :)

If you wanted to give me a gift in return, a review would be AWESOME! Thanks so much! And I hope you enjoy :)


Final Victim.

Alexis tossed the cabbie's payment into his lap as they pulled to a stop in front of the Watson's house.

"Thanks for the ride!" She called over her shoulder as she ran up the front steps.

The cab idled at the curb for a moment, before pulling back onto the street and driving away.

Alexis was about to knock on the door, when she saw that it was already cracked open. She pushed it open and peered inside hesitantly.

"John?" She called, taking a tentative step inside. The lights were out, and the house was chilly, as if the door had been left open for a while.

"Mary?" Still no answer. Alexis pulled out her phone as it beeped, and studied the glowing screen.

John/Mary at 221b. En-route. SH

She frowned and texted back.

House seems empty. Police on their way.

Just as she pressed send, the front door slammed shut.

Alexis whirled around, eyes wide as she took in the woman standing in front of the now locked door.

"You."

The woman glared at her, the blade of her long knife glinting as it caught a moon beam shining in from the window. "You're not John Watson…or his wife."

Alexis slowly began to back up. "No, I'm not. You're Annabelle Heath. Your brother was sentenced to death for murder five years ago. You've been killing everyone who was on the jury."

For every step Alexis took back, Annabelle took a step forward. "Clever girl, too bad I'm going to have to kill you now too."

Alexis glanced over her shoulder as she entered the living room, fear settling into the pit of her stomach as she saw the noose hanging from the ceiling fan.

"You had to go and ruin everything, didn't you? The police never would have figured it out if it wasn't for you."

"You're wrong, Sherlock Holmes figured it out just as quickly as I did."

Annabelle shook her head. "It doesn't matter, you're here now, and now you must die."

Alexis' legs hit the coffee table and she stumbled.

Annabelle lunged forward, bringing the knife towards Alexis' throat. Seeing the blow coming, Alexis threw her arm up, taking the strike on the back of her arm.

Biting back the pain, she used her free hand to grab Annabelle's wrist, twisting her arm back while regaining her balance.

They struggled for the upper hand, the knife inching back and forth between them.

"After I'm done with you, I'll find John Watson, and I'll kill him too. I'll finish them all."

Alexis could feel her wounded arm giving out, and knew if she didn't act soon, she would be done for. "Even if you kill me, Sherlock will catch you."

Annabelle laughed. "You think I care about getting caught? As long as I take them with me, I don't care."

Alexis let her think she had the upper hand for a moment, falling down onto her knees and letting the knife travel just a little closer to her throat. As Annabelle's confidence grew, she became less careful. She stepped closer to Alexis, putting less pressure on the knife for a split second.

Alexis slammed her fist into the inside of Annabelle's elbow, forcing her arm to bend. At the same time, she pushed her hand hard against the wrist holding the knife.

"No!" Her scream was cut off as the knife sank into her chest, her grip faltering as her life bled out, soaking her shirt crimson.

O—

Sherlock paid the cabbie, and walked casually up to the front door, noting that the police had yet to arrive.

As his attention moved back to the door, he frowned as he tried the knob, and found it locked.

"Well that's odd." He muttered. Alexis had said the house seemed empty, implying that she had been inside. John and Mary were at Baker Street, and Alexis wouldn't have locked the door behind her…so why was it locked?

He knocked several times, peered through the window, and waited a minute before kicking the door in.

Straightening his coat, he stepped into the house.

"Miss Doyle?" He called, walking cautiously forward. "Miss Doyle." Still no answer.

He froze as he reached the living room, his eyes wandering from the noose, to the upset furniture and broken glass. His brain began filing in facts, the two most important being. Blood. Knife. Body.

"Alexis!" He shouted, worry furrowing his brows. He walked quickly over to the body, and sighed in relief as he saw the blonde hair and pale face of the victim.

"She's dead."

He spun around at the quiet voice, his nerves relaxing as he spotted Alexis sitting against the wall, hugging her knees to her chest tightly.

"Yes, she is."

Alexis stared numbly at the body, her shoulders shaking slightly.

Sherlock frowned as he took a closer look at her, seeing her ripped sleeve and excessive amount of blood covering her pajamas, not all of which was Annabelle's.

"I killed her." Alexis' voice was hushed, tight with adrenaline and fear.

"Yes. But it was clearly self-defense, you needn't worry about a murder charge."

Alexis looked up at him with such disbelief and irritation in her eyes that he trailed off.

"I just killed someone Sherlock! I don't care about a bloody murder charge!" Her voice broke into a sob and her whole body began to tremble violently. "I killed her…She's dead and it's all my fault." She rested her forehead against her knees and began to cry.

Sherlock shifted from one foot to the other, looking from her to the body. Unsure of what to do, he pulled the blanket off the back of the couch, and walked over to Alexis. Gingerly, he draped the quilt over her shoulders and then sat down beside her.

She sniffed and lifted her head, her brow furrowing slightly as she looked at the quilt.

"It's a blanket." Sherlock explained. "For the shock…It's supposed to help, don't ask me why, it doesn't make the slightest bit of sense to me."

Alexis smiled ever so slightly and pulled the quilt tighter around her shoulders. "You got me a shock blanket." Her smile grew and she rested her head against his shoulder. "Thank you."

He cleared his throat and nodded, stiffly patting her head a few times. "I, um…you're welcome."

The police arrived a moment later, and Alexis was whisked away by the EMT's to be patched up. Meanwhile, the coroners were taking care of the body, and Sherlock was being interrogated by Lestrade.

"So Alexis called me and said that John was the next victim and to meet her here ASAP. Where were you when she figured it out?"

Sherlock glanced at the body bag as it was wheeled past as he answered. "I was at the courthouse, putting the pieces together when Alexis texted me to warn John and Mary."

"And that's when you called them?"

Sherlock scoffed. "I don't call people, I text."

Lestrade looked up from his notebook. "You texted your best friend that he and his wife were in mortal danger? How did he know you weren't just fooling around?"

Sherlock looked indignant. "I don't fool around."

Lestrade sighed. "You've texted him before saying that it was a matter of 'life or death' when you just needed him to do a favor for you."

Sherlock was about to protest, but didn't, knowing full well that Lestrade was right.

"So how did he know it was an actual crises?"

Sherlock's eyes were distant as he replied shortly. "We have a system."

Lestrade sighed. "I need something a little more detailed for the report."

Sherlock finally met his gaze, clearly irritated. "We have a word that we use when there's something critically wrong. If we receive a text with that word then we go directly to 221b."

Lestrade raised his eyebrows. "What word?"

"Reichenbach."

Lestrade's pen stopped moving. There was a moment of silence, before he clicked his pen closed and flipped his notebook shut. "Well, I think that's enough for the report. Why don't you see if the EMT's are finished with Alexis and take her home? She needs to rest."

Sherlock nodded. "Alright. I'll see you around."

Lestrade waved and Sherlock walked out to the ambulance.

Alexis was sitting in the back of the ambulance, a clean white bandage wrapped around her arm, and a soft blanket draped around her shoulders.

"See? Shock blanket."

She smiled and nodded. "Yep. Apparently it's a medical necessity."

He smiled and then glanced back towards the house. "So…you're alive. That's good."

Alexis nodded again. Then grinned and nudged him with her foot. "You were worried about me weren't you?"

He scoffed but she knew he had been.

"You were! Well, that's just made my evening. Sherlock Holmes was worried about me."

"I wasn't worried."

"Of course you weren't."

He cast a sideways look at her, and they both smiled.

"Come on, if you're all finished here we should go home."

Alexis glanced at the EMT who nodded and she hopped up. "Where are we going to find a cab at this hour?"

Sherlock nodded towards the curb. "I told mine to circle back after an hour, and there he is. Come on, you must be freezing."

He ushered her into the car before sliding in himself and directing the cabbie to 221b.

"How much do you want to bet that Mrs. Hudson will have tea and scones out when we get back?"

"Oh she was busy with it when I left, making sure John and Mary were comfortable during my absence."

Alexis smiled. "So John and Mary are at the flat?"

He nodded. "That's where we go when there's a crises."

Alexis suddenly turned and punched his shoulder lightly. "I tried to call you!"

He looked indignantly at her as he rubbed his shoulder. "I don't do calls."

"Well it was pretty important, would it kill you to pick up once in a while?"

He shrugged. "You texted."

"Yeah, and then you started asking all kinds of questions. What if I was dying and I needed your help? Then I wouldn't have time to answer all of your questions."

He rolled his eyes. "You weren't dying."

"Well what if I was?"

He sighed and turned to her. "If you were, then you should have just texted me 'Reichenbach', I would have come for you without hesitation then."

Alexis grew serious. "That's how you got John to the flat so quickly."

He nodded. "So, if you're ever dying, now you know what to do."

Alexis smacked his arm at his sarcastic tone, but couldn't help laughing. "Fine! That's what I'll do then."

They reached the flat, and Alexis was quickly swept into Mrs. Hudson and Mary's embraces, who immediately began to fawn over her, escorting her to the couch, pouring her a cup of tea, fetching her blankets and just pampering her in general.

John shooed them away after a few moments, and checked over her bandages.

"Good thing you knew how to block that knife strike."

Alexis smiled. "My father insisted I take self-defense classes after- when I was a teenager."

John smiled. "Smart man, who knows what would have happened if you didn't know how to take care of yourself in a fight." He lowered his voice and added gently. "If you ever need someone who understands to talk to about what happened, you don't hesitate to call me, okay?"

Alexis nodded. "I will. Thank you."

"John, can I speak to you for a moment." Sherlock asked, not having moved from the doorway since they arrived.

John straightened up and walked over. "Yes?"

"You served a jury five years ago, the Heath case, do you remember?"

He nodded. "Yes, he killed three people. The evidence was clear, and so he was sentenced to death."

"His sister was the one behind the murders we were investigating. Alexis figured out that you were the next victim because of her avid knowledge of your blog."

John raised his eyebrows. "Really? You know, now that you mention it, I do remember blogging about the case."

"Well, at any rate, she saved your life."

John looked confused. "You mean to tell me, she figured it out before you did?"

Sherlock scoffed. "Of course not, she just knew that you had been on the jury and were the next one to be killed. I knew who the murderer was and why they were doing it, I was just looking at the court records when Alexis texted me."

"So you figured it out who the killer was and why, but Alexis knew who the next victim was before you."

Sherlock shifted from one foot to the other. "I guess your blog is more useful than I thought, you still running it?"

John shrugged. "Really hasn't been that much to blog about."

Sherlock smiled. "I'm sure Alexis wouldn't mind helping you out with the details of this case, if you were interested."

"It is a rather intriguing one. Perhaps she can be my informant on what you're getting up to."

"Perhaps. She looks tired, she should probably lie down. Do you have somewhere you can stay tonight?"

John nodded. Then looked at Sherlock. "You care about her, don't you?"

Sherlock didn't reply.

"It's just, you haven't shown any interest in a woman since the Woman."

"It's not like that." Sherlock said quickly. "I just…feel protective of her."

John nodded. "Right, so like a little sister then."

Sherlock shrugged. "I don't have any younger siblings to compare this to."

"Well I do. She gets on your nerves, makes you smile, you feel protective over her, and you like to get on her nerves. Trust me, that's what being an older brother feels like."

Sherlock smirked. "How is Harry by the way?"

John chuckled and shook his head. "Infuriating as ever. It's getting late, Mary and I'll head out so Alexis can get some rest."

Sherlock nodded. "Alright. The police should be done with your house by tomorrow afternoon."

"Right. Come on Mary, let's let Alexis get some rest." He turned to Alexis with a mock stern look. "And you get some rest, doctor's orders."

She smiled and nodded. "Alright, thank you."

Mary gave Alexis a final hug before following John out the door. Mrs. Hudson cleared the tea things and patted Alexis fondly on the cheek before retiring to her own rooms.

"Do you need help getting upstairs?" Sherlock asked.

Alexis stood up and smiled. "It's my arm that's hurt, not my legs. But thanks for asking."

He nodded. "I'll probably be up for a while, so if you need anything…"

"I'll be fine. See you in the morning."

He watched her go, then picked up his violin and began to softly play a soothing melody.