Alvarie heard loud voices as she opened her eyes. A dull pain in the back of her head told her that she had been knocked out shortly after Sherlock had abandoned her. However, she was not exactly sure what had happened since she couldn't seem to remember anything but the cab ride and Sherlock leaving. Her surroundings were cloaked in darkness, the only light a sliver a few feet from her which, she suspected to be the bottom of a door. Outlined in the light was the figure of a young girl. Trying to scramble to her feet, Alvarie slid across the floor in an unflattering spider like movement. Pain seared through her and she quickly touched her right shoulder where it was coming from, revealing a wet sheen of red blood.
Deciding to continue her feeble attempt to get to the other side of the room, Alvarie groped her way along helplessly. With a little bit of luck and perhaps some help from all those hours she had previously spent climbing up the sides of buildings to escape the police, she reached the door. Breathing heavy as pain coursed through her veins, Alvarie shifted the body towards her. She took a sharp breath when she saw Rain's face staring up at her and quickly checked her pulse. Relieved with the news that the girl was alive, she fell onto her back.
The minutes ticked by slowly and to aid Alvarie's growing anxiety there was no stirring from Rain. She hardly dared moving to check on her due to the steady rate to which she was bleeding. The voices from earlier hadn't stopped but, she could no more make out what they were saying then she could figure out where she was in the first place. So far the more she thought about it the more her head felt like someone was splitting it in two.
Thus, time passed steadily onward and the more it did the more she became aware of the blood trickling its way out of her shoulder. As soon as she was starting to contemplate what her death might feel like one of the voices from outside became clear.
"I know what your agenda is Jim but, I'm not going to let you manipulate me so much that I let my own daughter bleed out in front of me." said an angry voice that unmistakably belonged to Irene Adler. Both terrified and slightly relieved at the same time, Alvarie stiffened hearing the door rattle.
With a click, it swung open letting in a blinding amount of bright light. However, Irene quickly closed it, sending the light back to it's place behind the door of the dark room. Narrowly avoiding stepping on Rain, she knelt down next to Alvarie who had closed her eyes, barely daring to breath.
"I know you're awake Alvarie." Irene said impatiently. Alvarie reluctantly opened her eyes but, being unable to move for fear of pain, just stared blankly at the blackness above her.
"I don't have much time nor do I have the skill to heal your injuries but-" She broke off lowering her voice to any even lower whisper. "I would have never have done any of this and things might have been different before if it weren't for that man. I'm trying to get a signal to Sherlock to let him know that I'm still on his side but, I'm not sure he'll believe me…" She trailed off then and Alvarie knew exactly why. Her mother had been the one to take Rain from Lilly and there was only a slim chance that Sherlock would believe anything Irene said after hearing Lilly's account of the story.
"I need your help" She continued, "I'm going to text Sherlock exactly what you tell me. He'll know it's from you and we'll be able to continue from there. I don't know what Moriarty's next move will be but, I'm certain it all has to do with tearing Sherlock apart." Alvarie let her words sink in for a while, pondering what she could say to her father that would let him know it was her. After a while she relayed the message to Irene in a weak whisper. Irene sent the text to Sherlock swiftly and it read as follows.
"I'm with Mum as you read this. She can tell you where we are if you'll let her. Rain is here too and I'm 93% sure that Moriarty is the only one at fault. There is a bullet in my shoulder and I would appreciate help if John's not still angry about what Raz sprayed on your door. Take care of Alger while I'm gone -AH"
Once this task had been completed Alvarie lay in silence with Irene sitting next to her, both hoping desperately for a quick reply from Sherlock. When a slightly uncomfortable amount of time had passed with no reply, Irene shifted to a standing position.
"I better go." She said, stepping back around Rain to make her way to the door. She paused before gripping the handle unsure if she should say anything else. Deciding against it she left, the light coming and going with her.
With her mother's absence Alvarie was left with a sliver of hope and twice the anxiety she had before Irene had entered the room. It had been a couple of minutes after her exit when Alvarie noticed movement out of the corner of her eye.
"Are you awake?" She asked tentatively.
"Alvarie?" An unsure voice asked back.
"Yeah."
"Good, I wouldn't wish this on Lilly." She sighed in relief before realizing what she had said. "I mean not that I want you to be suffering but-" Rain cut herself off, terror clearly lining her words although she made some attempt to hide it.
"It's okay." Alvarie said firmly, not wanting Rain to have to worry about anything more than their current situation. "We'll be fine, you know." She added hastily to try and ease the young girl's mind. Rain didn't answer and a weighty silence settled between them for a while.
"How do you know that's true?" Rain asked finally.
"I don't." She replied honestly before she could stop herself. The exhaustion of her injuries had started to take it's hold and she could barely regulate what came out of her mouth.
"I like you." Rain said to Alvarie's surprise. She then gave a short shaky laugh that ended up sounding more like a whimper.
"That's good seeing as we might be here for a while."
"Grown ups always try to tell me things will turn out alright when they haven't got a clue if they will." Rain continued almost as if she hadn't heard Alvarie speak. "You don't do that. You're just honest."
"Thanks." Alvarie said, feeling her eyelids become suddenly heavy. She fought for several seconds to keep them open before giving in to sleep.
Alvarie's mind drifted, sharp jolts of pain from her shoulder waking her up every few minutes. Rain hadn't spoken after their recent conversation leaving her with her pain and whatever terrible thoughts crept in while she was half asleep. Although she mostly thought about how she could been on the edge of death Alvarie also allowed herself time to daydream how her and Rain could escape. She knew she couldn't attempt it but, all the same it filled the time she spent waiting for news from Irene. Occasionally she would hear Moriarty and her mother talking from behind the door but it was never anything she could decipher. It was what seemed like hours later when Alvarie was shaken out of her restless sleep but, it was not for a pleasant reason.
"Kids!' Moriarty's voice called from the other side of the door. "How would you like to get out for a bit?" He asked, laughter plainly displayed in his voice. Alvarie's heart sank, her worst fears beginning to realize themselves inside her head.
Lilly found it physically impossible to sleep. She had been lying on the couch for at least two hours now without even the smallest feeling of sleepiness. Her mind was too focused on the fact that she couldn't save Rain. No… 'Couldn't' wasn't the right word because she could have saved her. She could have done more. She just didn't. Lilly found it physically impossible to sleep because her mind was too focused on the fact that she didn't save Rain. Lilly squeezed her eyes shut and threw herself into a sitting position, anger and self-hate boiling inside her.
After a while, Lilly heard a rather rude moan coming from the direction of Sherlock's chair. Lilly gave a confused look and walked cautiously over to it, finding Sherlock's coat. She looked inside the pockets, finding his phone. Turning it on she saw the screen alert that there was a text from Irene… Deciding that she should proof-read it, she unlocked the phone and read the message silently. "I'm with Mum as you read this. She can tell you where we are if you'll let her. Rain is here too and I'm 93% sure that Moriarty is the only one at fault. There is a bullet in my shoulder and I would appreciate help if John's not still angry about what Raz sprayed on your door. Take care of Alger while I'm gone -AH"
She blinked in attempt to figure out why she would send this. It sounded like it came from Alvarie, but… Lilly shook her head and walked into Sherlock's room.
"Holmes." She found the man with nicotine patches on his arm. She rolled her eyes and tossed him his phone. "You have a text from your Woman."
Sherlock gave Lilly a sideways glare, but said nothing. He looked at the phone. "You read it, didn't you?"
"I did. What about it? You were gonna tell me anyway, right?" She said expectantly, knowing the answer would be no.
He gave another glare, this one a bit more annoyed. Looking back to his phone, he read the text. "I'll text John."
Lilly gave an exasperated look. "What, you're just going to go along with this?"
"Why wouldn't I? It could save Alvarie and Rain."
She looked like she was going to explode with confused shock. "You're just going to trust Irene? What kind of logic is that? This is obviously a trap!"
He furrowed his eyebrows. "Why are you so against help?"
"BECAUSE, THIS IS COMING FROM THE LADY WHO TOOK RAIN AWAY! WOULD YOU TRUST MORIARTY, SHERLOCK? NO! YOU WOULDN'T! SO WHY TRUST IRENE?" She stopped, balling her hands into fists. "Oh, I know why… It's because you still like her, don't you? Despite everything she's done, she's still..." Lilly bites her lip, taking a deep breath. "Look, Holmes. I'm going to get Rain back, and I'm gonna do it my way. Do what you want, but I won't be there to help you."
Sherlock shrugged. "Okay."
Lilly flinched slightly at the lack of care in his voice. "Good. Glad we have an agreement." She started to walk away.
Seeing her leave without stopping confused Sherlock. "Wait, I've made a misjudgment, haven't I?" He jumped up and followed her, matching Lilly's brisk pace as she went down the stairs and out the door. "I thought you just wanted me to agree to do it your way, but obviously I was wrong."
She flipped her hood on. "Obviously."
"I was wrong and I see that you were serious about your distaste in trusting Irene."
"Rightfully so." Lilly quickened her pace, but Sherlock kept up, much like a puppy.
He started to panic a little, quickening his words. "We have different opinions, which I think is normal for couples, isn't it?"
Her face turned a slight red. "Who says we're a couple?"
Sherlock stopped at this, blinking several times in confusion. After a second he ran and caught up with Lilly again. "Never mind that, the point is that I can't be alone in this."
"You'll have John…" Lilly tugged on the drawstrings of her hood, blocking Sherlock's slightly desperate look.
"No, because he'll get mad and not help me if you leave." He grabbed Lilly's arm. "I can't be alone, Lilly… I need someone to show off to."
All sense of regret disappeared at that moment. "Of course you do." Lilly pulled her arm back and kept walking, increasing her pace.
He thought for a moment. "Wait… wait I've said the wrong thing again!" Running in front of her, he spun around and walked backwards. "Have I ever told you how incredibly brilliant you are, Lilly? You're insanely brilliant. Even more brilliant than me, dare I say. Well, almost that is." His eyes widened for a second before continuing. "A-and you're brave! You jump off of buildings and risk your life… it's… actually quite impressive."
She turned, smiling when she was sure he wouldn't see. "Mmhm…"
"And… you're my friend. I don't have many of those, so that's an achievement in its own!"
Lilly stopped, giving Sherlock an innocent look. "We're friends? I thought we were a couple…" She kept walking, smirking when she heard the footsteps stop and pick back up again.
He walked next to her, a happy smile on his face. "You're amazing, Lilly! You're a brilliantly clever female!"
She took off her hood and smiled a little, giggling under her breath. "Why are you still following me, Holmes?"
"Oh, you can drop the act now, brilliant. I understand what you're doing and I love it."
Lilly gave him a look. "Oh?"
Sherlock nodded. "You reminded me how I lose my judgement when I feel I'm right. Clever, clever girl you!" He stopped and grabbed Lilly's shoulders. "Don't you ever change."
She nodded furiously. "You're right Sherlock! That's… what I was doing and you were completely right. Shame on you, Holmes!"
His face dropped into a disbelieving one. "You were just walking away because you were annoyed with me. You had no intentions of getting me to realize anything about myself at all, did you?"
"Yeah." Lilly looked down awkwardly.
He sighed and walked back to his flat. "Fine, we'll do things your way."
"Am I still clever?!" She ran after him.
"Mmmm…"
Lilly laughed. "Don't ignore the question!"
Sherlock shook his head, pulling out his phone. "Although I am getting John over here. It's been long enough." He texted quickly then put his phone back in his pocket.
"He's gonna flip when he finds out what happened." Lilly smirked.
