Author's Note: Hello everyone! I'm terribly sorry about the long wait but I was extremely busy and I tried my absolute best to update as quick as I can. So I hope that this makes up for it! Oh yeah, remember last chapter how I said that the mysterious blue-dressed woman would be revealed this chapter? WELL SHE DOES. How exciting is that? I'm excited and I already know who she is! :D So please don't forget to read and review! And a special thank you to my amazing beta Vanya Caladwen who takes the time to read over my chapters :D
Reviews:
Future: Wow! That's a lot of compliments! Thank you so much :D I really appreciate it so thank you so very much for your review. I wish that would happen, me entering the script in to be used for Sherlock Holmes 3, that would be amazing (: You're such an amazing reviewer and reader!
Izzy: I think it's fixed now ;) I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter as well.
Irenelock Forever: Yes Irene's alive! Don't you love it? I knew you would XD thanks for your review darling!
A Pirate by Any Other Name: Yeah, I torment you :) and I love it ;) all will be revealed (hopefully) in the end but until then, confusion strikes around every corner XD mwahahahah! I love you darling! Yes, Sim and Irene are both back! I love them both so much and I'm glad you think so too! A Watson/Simza relationship? I'm not sure yet. The doctor won't be moving on for quite some time, don't worry but there may be hints of a relationship in the future. I won't give away too much for my evil *coughs* what - plans XD yes I simply cannot handle myself, cliffies are my thing ;)
akatsukigurl93: Thank you for the review! I'm always happy to have new readers :D I'm so glad that you enjoyed it!
Playlist: Count Me Out - Pusherjones, A Promise - Alan Silvestri (The Avengers), Rise - Hans Zimmer (The Dark Knight Rises), Whistle - Flo Rida
Disclaimer: I do not own Sherlock Holmes or anything that I may have mentioned in this story. I wish I did, I do, but sadly I don't. Victoria Moriarty is mine though :)
Sherlock Holmes: The Dark Before Dawn
As Long As You're Mine
Sometimes you think you have something all figured out but then suddenly everything is tossed around and mixed up until you don't know which way is up or down. It's complicated but almost everyone has experience said emotions before, some more than others. Sometimes you think you know exactly what's going on but you really don't even know the half of it. Knowledge is a dangerous thing, something you don't exactly want to get mixed up in. Sometimes it's better staying in the dark.
A black cloaked figure made its way down the main streets of London, its shoes clicking on the cobblestoned streets rather loudly. The figure turned to the right after a few minutes and headed down another alleyway into the darkness. The person looked over both shoulders to make sure that it wasn't followed before melting into the blackness of the deserted road. The figure slowly lowered the hood of the cloak and shook out its long black hair. The person cracked its neck from side to side before standing deathly still in the darkness.
No matter what anyone else said, Victoria Moriarty was always ready for the next kill.
She paused in the alleyway for a moment, watching the bustling streets just outside the darkness she was consumed in and waiting for just the right minute. A hand clamped on her shoulder and she spun around angrily, ready to lash out at whoever was disturbing her. When she saw who it was however, she let out the breath she had been collecting inside of her.
"Moran you moron!" she exclaimed. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"I followed you," he replied slowly. "I had to talk to you."
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously and cracked her neck once again by rolling it in a tight circle. She looked from side to side before reluctantly leaving her post. She pushed the sharpshooter deeper into the alleyway and shoved him into a wall.
"What is it?" she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest. "And make it quick."
"I was talking with You Know Who today and he let it slip a piece of information that he had been withholding from us," Moran continued.
Victoria didn't change her facial expression; something was up with her two most trusted spies and if they were withholding information from her, then there was a problem. She didn't respond either; she just simply waited for her oldest friend to continue.
The sharpshooter sighed, "Our dear friend Doctor Watson is back in the crime solving case."
"Damn," Victoria swore, shaking her head. "I thought killing his wife would dig him in a deeper pit of despair than when Holmes died. Why doesn't he just kill himself and do the world a favor?"
"My thoughts exactly."
Victoria slapped Moran across the cheek, "No one asked you idiot, I was talking to myself. If the doctor figures out our plan, we're screwed. We need to bring him down." Moran opened his mouth to say something but Victoria kept talking over him, "Who or what rescued him? Our notes didn't work?"
"He never read them," Moran said slowly. "The French gypsy interrupted and got him to take a case."
Victoria raised an eyebrow, "Gypsy?"
The assassin nodded vigorously and Victoria frowned. What gypsy was he talking about? She didn't want to outright ask what the hell he was talking about because that would make her look like a huge joke but she had to find out who this gypsy woman was. Interfering with her plans was definitely not good. Victoria would make damn sure that this gypsy would never see the light of day again if it were up to her.
She rolled her wrists around in a circle, "What's the name of said gypsy?"
"Madame Simza, don't you remember?" Moran questioned and Victoria's eyes grew to be slits. "Of course I remember," she snapped. "How could I not?" She would never admit this out loud but she would do some background checks on this Simza character and make sure that she didn't know anything she wasn't supposed to. Maybe she would even be a good recruit, another double agent so to speak. Victoria's mind whirled and she jolted herself back to the present.
"Is there anything else you need Moran?" she wondered out loud and her assassin partner shook his head. "Very well," she added and nodded his leave.
She took up her position again towards the front of the alleyway but not so close that she would be betrayed by the sunlight. She stayed towards the darkness but just enough to see the hurried streets of London outside. This was going to be perfect.
A clicking of heels snapped Victoria back to attention and she smirked. The plan was going to work, she convinced herself, it was going to work. Sure enough, not moments later, the lady in question of the moment stalked by the alleyway, not suspecting a thing. Victoria simpered and pressed herself against the wall as the woman in navy blue turned and quickly moved down the alleyway. This time, after their first meeting this morning, Victoria knew more than she did, and she would have the upper hand. As soon as the mysterious woman moved past her however, she stepped out from the shadows.
This time, she knew her identity.
"Well well well," Victoria said, earning the woman's attention at last. As the woman turned, the hood on her navy blue cloak tumbled off her head, releasing the red curls under it. The woman blinked and looked to hide, now that she had been spotted at last. "If it isn't the one and only Irene Adler."
Irene shook her head, composing herself so she didn't look as frightened or confused as she felt. She pursed her lips together and stared at Victoria like she was the one out of place.
Victoria laughed and added, "Although last I checked, you were dead."
"Yes," Irene said quickly. "Well not many people in this town stay dead for long right?" She flashed a brilliant smile in the black-haired woman's direction.
Victoria's smirk faded, "I guess not."
"Did you honestly think you could be the only feminist thief in England?" questioned Irene, turning the tables. Victoria almost snarled at her puny attempt to put the blame on her, she was going to be the only in charge today.
"Well that won't be necessary seeing as how I'm still in control," Victoria snapped, the tone in her voice losing all friendliness. If this woman was going to be difficult, then so would she. Playing the game was only fun if the odds were in her favor, she decided, and in her favor they were.
Irene laughed musically, hoping that whatever Victoria said would be false. That's what she assumed earlier when they met and she wasn't going to change her tune just because this woman knew her true identity now. It wasn't going to change a thing, she convinced herself. "Really? And how would that be?" the red-haired woman quizzed.
A shrill cackle bubbled out from Victoria's lips and she moved a step closer to Irene, hoping to scare her away from ever returning back here. Sadly, she didn't think that was going to happen and she knew it too. So she had to take extra cautions to the wind… "You see," she began slowly. "I'm responsible for all your actions. I'm the reason why you're still here."
Victoria took pride at the way Irene's face paled when she said that simple statement. She knew it wasn't innocent by all means but still, this was even better than the black-haired woman would have expected.
"I'm the reason why you're in this place right now," continued Victoria swiftly. "I'm the reason why you're still alive." At that note, she smirked and waited for the other woman's reaction. She wasn't quite sure what it would be but she knew, deep down, that she couldn't wait to find out what it was. It wasn't every day that someone just tells you that they saved you from the depths of hell.
"You?" asked Irene, her chest rising and falling rapidly. "It was you?"
Victoria just smirked, and that was all the answer that Irene needed. The answer was, of course, yes. "You're the one who sent me that note, saying that there was a plan for my murder? You're the one who warned me of your father's poison and gave me the antidote?"
Victoria sniffed, "I was, although I'm starting to regret it."
"But why?" Irene still wasn't grasping the situation. "Why would you possibly want to save my life? After your father wanted me dead?"
Victoria scoffed again and rolled her neck again in a circle, this blackmailing was getting exhausting. "Because now I have Sherlock Holmes in the palm of my hand," she said simply.
Irene's face paled even more, if that was still possible, and her eyes grew wide with dread. Victoria knew the final blow had yet to come but she was milking the moment, she wanted this dreadful woman to suffer.
"Yes," Victoria swept on. "I saved what he loved most. I saved what he would have given up anything for, besides the doctor of course. I saved what he cared for so deeply. My dear, I saved you."
Irene coughed out, "My God," and turned away from the evil woman for a moment. She needed time to collect her thoughts and work out exactly what was going on.
"Then he had to go and get himself killed, ruining my plan," Victoria sniveled. "No matter, he's not around to stop me, now is he?"
Irene took a step backwards, her head swiveling around to meet Victoria's once more. Their eyes locked and she knew that the other woman wasn't lying. She thought she would have been before but now this was the second time she said something around that nature. Her heart thrummed in her chest as she spit out, "No. No, it can't be." She paused for a moment before questioning, "He's… dead?"
"Oh no!" Victoria faked surprise and concern, holding a hand to her heart. "You didn't catch that earlier? My father and him battled in Switzerland about a year ago. They both knew that because of Holmes's shoulder injury, also courtesy of my father, that Moriarty would win. So Holmes sacrificed himself and pushed them both over a waterfall. Neither of them were ever found."
"You're lying, it can't be true," Irene protested. Victoria knew, however, that she was only kidding herself. They both knew that Holmes was gone and dead; they both knew that Victoria was right.
"Oh you think so?" Victoria raised an eyebrow skeptically. "You didn't catch my drift this morning? Why don't you take a gander inside the old church? Or better yet, pay a visit to your old friend Doctor Watson? I'm sure he'd be glad to see a friend in his times of grief. Losing both Holmes and his wife within a year of each other must be horrendous."
Irene's eyes narrowed as she glared at the other woman, "You didn't."
"Oh but I did."
"You are so low," she spat angrily, losing her temper finally. "Sometimes I think you might be even worse than your father."
Victoria smirked once more, "Well thank you, I wasn't expecting such a compliment from someone like you." Irene just glared in Victoria's direction as the black-haired woman continued, "Well, since Holmes is dead now and I have no further use of you, I should just kill you now."
She pulled out her gun and pointed it in Irene's direction. The red-haired woman paused for a moment, frozen in place, not really sure what to do. Victoria saw the hesitation in her eyes and slowly lowered her gun, tucking it back in her chest pocket.
"But I won't," she added as an afterthought. "It's way too much fun to see you grieve for the man you so obviously loved." With that said, she stalked off in the other direction, leaving Irene Adler in the dust, wondering what the hell had just happened.
