The Gypsy pt. 2
"And judging by the short range in your communicator, I'd say the real mastermind can't be too far off."
Sherlock turned around and faced a shadowy figure in the corner.
"Isn't that right, Ms. Heron?"
Arisia steps out of the shadows and walks towards the two men. Instead of her nun attire she was wearing not too long ago as a disguise, she was wearing a black pencil skirt with the same stockings and shoes, along with a long, brown leather designer jacket. Her hair was also pulled back.
"Well done Mr. Holmes," she said with a smile, turning her head towards the man in the chair, "Thank you Geoff, you've done well."
"Mistress," he said bowing his head as he left her and the two Englishmen.
"Child's play really," Sherlock stated though his expression wasn't very amused.
"I see," Arisia responded expression shifting as she crossed her arms, "Well then would you like to explain how I created this ruse, or would you prefer me too."
Sherlock folded his hands behind his back in his typical deduction fashion and stepped forward.
"Well I had a few theories to consider," Sherlock began in his usual monotone.
"For starters, I already considered that you were the real mastermind from your own accurate deductions of myself. A pawn is never supposed to be that brilliant. You also knew that I would have been on that boat this morning specifically due to the fact that that is the only form of transportation to arrive to the exact location of those coordinates you sent me. However; in your message you stated that I had two days to find you, but that we should meet by the end of the week, which is today. It's convenient really, that at the time in which you sent me that message, the end of the week would have been only two days away. So technically I only had two days to both find the identity of the mastermind and meet him or in this case her, but not at the same time. Which is why you showed up at that boat today, to give me a clue as to who you are and where I'd find you, but also to test me in the process. You needed me to take an interest in you, without blowing your cover; thus the disguise, the lack of dress, the creation of the fake Luc Javert to hide your true colors and the fight we had in the sanctuary earlier."
"Hold on, you two were fighting? In a church?!" John asked sounding a bit incredulous and confused.
Sherlock rolled his eyes a bit and Arisia merely smiled.
"Fighting isn't necessarily about violence, Dr. Watson," she said to John, "It is about resolving conflict and gaining enlightenment in the process."
John raised an eyebrow.
"You know me?" he asked.
Arisia nodded then answered.
"Dr. John Hamish Watson, former British Army Doctor, and Captain in the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers. I was quite a fan of your blogs, though I have to admit after meeting Sherlock Holmes in person, your portrayal of him in your writing seems a bit inconspicuous."
John looked almost completely flabbergasted, Sherlock had to repress a smirk.
"I'm sorry, where are my manners?" she apologized holding her hand out, "My name is Arisia Heron, the real Gypsy. I'm the one who has been contacting Mr. Holmes this past year, and assisting him with the crumbling of Moriarty's crime empire. I must say it's an honor to meet you doctor."
John quickly regained his composure and shook her hand.
"The honor's all mine Ms. Heron."
Sherlock finally spoke.
"Yes well, now that we've all been acquainted, I believe it's time to get down to business. Involving Moran."
Arisia turned to Sherlock and gave him an almost nonchalant smile.
"Yes well, allow me to treat you both to lunch, and we'll discuss our plans furthermore." She said leading the two men to the door.
Sherlock was about to protest until John nudged him on the shoulder.
"That would be wonderful, thank you." John said though he never stopped glaring at Sherlock.
Sherlock huffed and both men followed Arisia out the door.
Suddenly a loud bell cracked and echoed throughout the tower. All three of them looked up and saw a man hunched over ringing the bell above him.
"SANCTUARY, SANCTUARY!" he screamed.
"Oh knock it off already, Victor," Arisia yelled annoyed at the man.
"Accomplice of yours?" Sherlock asked.
"Yeah, he's been wanting to do that all weekend." She answered with a sigh as she left the room.
Both John and Sherlock stared at each other awkwardly.
The three had lunch at the Eiffel tower, although they all started with just tea and a few French croissants. They all sat in quiet. Sherlock and Arisia stared intently at each other while John looked at the menu (despite not being able to read French), while casting a glance at the two every now and then.
"Well….?" Arisia finally broke the silence.
"Well first, I would like to know why you contacted me in the first place? What is and was your ordeal with Jim Moriarty? And how do you plan to capture Sebastian Moran?" Sherlock stated sternly.
Arisia took a sip of her tea, and sat it back down on her plate.
"Well perhaps I should give you both a bit of background history. Gypsies played a fairly notorious role in Moriarty's early crime syndicate. They were nomadic, so they rarely grew attached to anywhere in particular. Thus making them perfect spies and infiltrators. They also held very little affiliations to civilization outside their own customs and endured much discrimination as a result, so their morals were expendable. Moriarty used them to stir violence in Gang activities, cause scandals and rants at political groups, and even commit acts of various crime. They were his, how Mr. Hakim stated earlier, wandering knights. Eventually, he gained enough money and success to the point where he could hire real professionals. Many of the gypsies that Moriarty worked with and abandoned struggled from lack of support. Their criminal work bred even more discrimination, hatred and violence to the point where there numbers were nearly cut in half."
"So, you're a gypsy?" John asked suddenly interested.
"Not exactly. My great-grandmother was though. Plus I spent so many years working with gypsies that I'm considered to be one of them. That and my own reputation I created for myself gained me the nickname."
"That still doesn't quite answer my questions." Sherlock stated not too stirred by Arisia's story.
"Very Well. Those lives that were lost and destroyed because of Moriarty are on me for getting them involved. And I will do whatever I takes to make it right."
There was a pause.
"But I couldn't get directly involved in taking down Moriarty's network. I needed someone with both brains, motivation, and propaganda to help me. When I discovered that you were still alive I immediately sent one of my agents to give you my contact information. "
"You see Mr. Holmes, I was one of Moriarty's made-men or made-woman. I oversaw practically every crime he was involved in."
There was a longer pause.
"You worked for Moriarty," Sherlock stated, his voice low and dark.
"Don't think that I had a choice," Arisia responded tone just as low.
"So why are you trying to destroy the man you worked for?" John asked attempting to appease the tension.
"I'm not sure if you've noticed, but Jim Moriarty was a particularly troubled man," Arisia answered turning his head around.
John let out a humorless snort.
"Well there's the understatement of the century." Sherlock replied nearly letting out a dark chuckle.
"Yeah well I worked for the man," Arisia chuckled.
Suddenly the humor in the room disappeared.
"So how did you know Sherlock was still alive?" John asked.
"Well I figured that he was never dead in the first place, but I needed to find out for myself. So I visited the one of the many places I suspected you to be. The first successful case you solved in your exile."
"The murdered priest in Prague," Sherlock thought aloud. Arisia nodded.
"So what about Moran?" John finally asked.
The air suddenly shifted.
"Ahhh that," Arisia said in almost sudden realization. "Well as I said previously in our message, Moran has been pretty close on my trail lately, and he already suspects that you may be still alive. In fact, he may already know that I'm here. So you being here, with me is pretty risky. However; Sebastian Moran is a fairly simple man, by the time he discovers my whereabouts I'd already be one step ahead of him."
"You shouldn't underestimate Moran," Sherlock said.
"Moriarty didn't underestimate you until the last minute, did he?" Arisia responded raising an eyebrow.
Sherlock's face went hard. He immediately got out of his seat, and walked away. John went after him. Arisia sighed, paid the waiter and followed the two men.
She found Sherlock looking out from the balcony standing by himself. John was on the other side sighing in agitation. John looked up at Arisia.
"I think you upset him." He simply stated.
Arisia walked next to Sherlock. He didn't pay her any mind or acknowledge her, he simply just looked out into space.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you, I just….
"Three years." Sherlock interrupted.
"I'm sorry."
"Three years, I spent hiding because that sadist monster of a man destroyed me and everything I worked for. Three years of keeping my friends out of harm's way by pretending to be dead. Three years of not being able to use my own name. And you served that same bastard." His tone was dark and he put strained emphasis on the end of each word.
"That doesn't mean I enjoyed it. And at least you could gain redemption at the end." Arisia said her tone soft.
Sherlock finally looked at her.
"You have a chance to make this right. To reclaim your place as the world's only consulting detective, and clear your name. But you have to trust me Sherlock, please?"
The two were interrupted when John called out.
"Guys I think we have trouble."
Sherlock immediately looked through a scope, and saw three men coming out of a jeep. They were all in black and they were all armed.
"Do you know any of those men?" Sherlock asked Arisia.
She looked through the scope and nearly gasped.
"Shit." She whispered walking away.
"Come on we need to get out of here." She urged the two men.
"What's going on who are they?" John asked.
"People you don't want to get involved with." She simply stated.
A/N: Anyone else notice the Hunchback of Notre Dame References throughout the story.