Ayra slowly fluttered her eyes open, her lids heavy. Everything was out of focus, and she heard nothing but faint whispers. Opening her eyes wider, she tried to focus on what was in front of her. The light was dim, and all she could see was a faint flicker of flame lit in the corner. Then came the shapes in front of her. Soon, she was lucid enough to know what was happening.
She rolled her eyes and lightly yanked on her arms and realized they were bound to her back with ropes. She was tied down to a chair and a muzzle clothe was placed tightly over her mouth. Amateurs were really starting to disappoint her.
"Huh… we finally have everyone's attention." Said the accented female voice. Ayra squeezed her eyes shut and lets out a low groan as a throbbing pain struck her forehead. It was just the stupid Tong gang, nothing really to panic about, at all.
This rookie only had three other men with her, all armed with semi-automated weapons. Looking around her, she noticed they were in an underground tunnel with walls arched enough to make the bullets ricochet if they are fired. Slowly turning around, she realized John and poor Sarah had been taken hostage as well. Ayra can't even imagine what that woman was going through – kidnaped by a gang of Chinese tirades on the first date.
"Tickets from the theater, collected by you, name of Holmes." The woman said, now speaking directly to John. John winced and looked down, biting his lip nervously.
"Yes, okay." he grimaced, taking a rugged breath. "I realize what this looks like, but I'm not him."
"We heard it from your own mouth." She said, making Ayra crook her eyes and look at John intently. She could tell he had entered a deep thought, trying to figure out what he said and when.
"What?" John asked, completely baffled.
"'I am Sherlock Holmes and I always work alone…"' The woman from the circus continued. "Because no one can compete with my massive intellect."
John looked up in disbelief, taking a deep breath. "Did I really say that?" Ayra closed her eyes in frustration and looked away, trying to find an escape. First thing she noticed – she was tied to a wooden chair, which she could break easily if she simply forced herself backwards. "I suppose there's no use me trying to persuade you I was doing an impression."
Without a warning the woman pulled out a pistol and pointed it straight to John's forehead. Ayra's eyes grew wide as she stared at the barrel of the gun, watching closely, if that gun is loaded, she has to take actions she really, really wants to avoid. John backed away and let out a shaky breath, fear engulfing him. "I am Shan." The woman said suddenly, making both Ayra and John look and the woman.
"Gefsdf Sqfddf-" Ayra muffled out, turning the woman's attention on her. She meant to ask if it was the General Shan Soo Lin was talking about.
"Three times we tried to kill you and your companion, Mr. Holmes." Shan continued. "We tried to kill that girl too." She said, pointing her head towards Ayra. Ayra crooked her eyes and looked around – she can't remember any recent attempts on her life, so they must have been doing an exceptionally poor job. "What does it tell you when an assassin can't shoot straight?" she asked.
Ayra used her jaws to shove the piece of cloth tied over her mouth, setting herself partially free. "It tells me they are not fitted for the life of an assassin." Ayra commented, making General Shan look at her with annoyance.
Without notice, she slowly walked up to her, examining her closely. "Interesting." She said plainly, looking coldly into her eyes.
"Enlighten me." Ayra mumbled.
"You are nothing but a mere student… you should be like that woman over there, a pathetic mess." Shan spat, turning to look at Sarah. Her eyes were puffy red from tears, her face glistening in precipitation. Sarah's eyes grew with fear at the mention of her name. "Yet, you have no fear in those strange eyes."
Ayra fluttered her eyelashes and looked down on the floor. "Oh no, you must be mistaken, I'm practically shitting myself." She replied humorlessly, her voice low.
"Ayra!" John whispered sharply, wincing. Once again, Shan turned to John, returning her attention to him.
"Mr. Holmes, as I was saying. When an assassin can't shoot straight…" she said, pointing the gun over his head once again. John turned to the side and squeezed his eyes shut, sweat pouring down his forehead. Ayra balled her fists behind her, watching the trigger intently. As she readied herself, the trigger clicked, making Ayra's breathing hitch. However, no shots fired. "It tells you they are not really trying."
Ayra looked up at the ceiling and took a quivering breath, if the gun was loaded, John would have died and she would have just sat there, doing nothing when she is capable of so much. "If we wanted to kill you Mr. Holmes, we would have done it by now." Shan said, making Ayra roll her eyes. "Do you have it?" she asked harshly.
"Have what?" John asked.
"The fucking treasure John!" Ayra snapped, making John look at her wearily. "Hey, listen, you incompetent cunt – that is not Sherlock Holmes; his name is John Watson, and he's a doctor and was never a part of your problem. He is the least of your problems. And the treasure, which one of your smugglers took… we didn't find it, neither do we know which of the two nicked it. It's perplexing you heard all those instances of John pretending to be Sherlock, when your men so clearly stalked us yet Sherlock Holmes is literally a google search away!"
"Quiet girl!" Shan screamed. John winced at her tone, but Ayra remained still. "I will put a bullet in your head to forever stop that motor-mouth."
"That gun is blank." Ayra said nonchalantly, "So what, one of them is going to fire their semi-automatic weapons… here?"
"It would be rather futile and unentertaining to kill you now." Shan clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth as two men picked up Sarah's chair, and placed her in front of the same cross-bow from the circus. Sarah moaned from her muffled mouth, looking at John desperately. "So, might as well see you drown in guilt first."
"Where's the hairpin?" Shan demands, looking at John. "The Empress pin valued at nine million sterling. We already had a buyer in the West and then one of our worker got greedy. He took it and brought it back to London, and you Mr. Holmes… have been searching."
"Please… please, listen, I-I'm not Sherlock Holmes. You have to believe me! I haven't found what you are looking for." John pleaded desperately.
"I need a volunteer from the audience!" Shan shouted, looking around the dark tunnels.
"Cut the theatrics!" Ayra screamed, reaching her boiling point. "We don't have your fucking p-" Ayra said, looking up at the ceiling. It all came crashing down on her – she knew who took it and where it was.
"What?" Shan asked, noticing Ayra's distraction. "You know something, don't you?"
"I'm just a mere student… what can I know?" Ayra said innocently, making Shan burn red in anger. Without saying a word, Shan marched up to the crossbow and stabbed the sandbag to trigger the weight.
Ayra let out a ragged breath and began to chew her lip in panic, fiddling her ropes so she can get out of her restraints in more traditional way.
"Ayra!" John hissed furiously under his breath, making her more nervous.
"I'm thinking!" Ayra shouted in distress, balling her fist. Sherlock should be getting here any second-
"I am not Sherlock Holmes!" John shouted frantically. With a light smirk on the corner of her face, Shan cocks her head to the side.
"I don't believe you." She replied coldly.
"You should you know." A deep, familiar voice rang from the distance, making Ayra release a breath of pure relief. She closed her eyes and murmured her under her breath – he was three minutes late. "Sherlock Holmes is nothing like him at all."
"You got that right, prick." Ayra said, straightening her back. Shan raises her handgun and aims it as the distant silhouette of Sherlock, shooting it blankly. Ayra noticed Sherlock dodge behind a canister, his shadow disappearing again.
"How would you describe me John? Resourceful? Dynamic? Enigmatic?" Sherlock sang, his shadow bouncing around in the darkness.
"Dick-head." Ayra breathed out, following his movement closely.
"Late." John exasperated.
"That's a semi-automatic weapon. If you fire it in here it will travel a thousand meter per second." Sherlock commented.
"Well?" Shan asked, making Ayra roll her eyes and plop her head back in boredom. Ayra perked her head up and noticed on of the men in the further corner crashing into the ground and groaning, with Sherlock's lean, coated figure behind him.
"The radius curvature of these walls is nearly four meters… if you miss, the bullet will ricochet. Could hit anyone… might even bounce off and hit you." Suddenly, a loud thud of a can crashing in the ground shakes the tunnel, making everyone frazzled.
Ayra smiled and placed her feet flat on the ground firmly. This was her myth-busters moment; can she break this flimsy wooden chair using her body weight like Natasha Romanoff. Sucking in a deep breath, Ayra lifted herself up and used all her weight to crash back on the floor, wood breaking off everywhere.
"Fuck!" Ayra shouted, squeezing her arm. "good thing it was already riddled with termites." Ayra groaned, crawling to John and untangling his ties while Sherlock went to assist Sarah.
"How did you do that?" John exclaimed? "And did you know how dangerous that was?"
"More dangerous than the situation we are in right now?" Ayra chuckled, looking around her to see a man running towards her. Ayra ducked and rolled away as a henchmen launched at her with a sword, missing her with an inch.
She lied back down and kicked the man forcefully on his face, making him topple back and groan. Ayra rolled over and saw Sherlock being choked out by someone while John was lying on the ground, trying to make his way to Sarah.
Blowing away a strand of hair from her face, Ayra winced as someone pulled her back, grabbing onto her long hair. Ayra groaned and reached behind her, grabbing the prep's coat and pulling him towards her. He looked at her dumbfounded, astonished by her speed. She took her elbow and simply knocked him on the right spot, watching him black out on the floor.
The man fell unconscious on the floor, unmoving. She took a small breath and looked behind her, noticing the weight was only a few inches from the trigger plate. "Fuck…" Ayra groaned, running her way to the crossbow.
Sarah squeezed her eyes closed tightly, tears rolling down her face. Just in a split second, John managed to kick on the crossbow and moving it away from Sarah, making the arrow launch and fly past Sherlock to strike the man choking him.
Ayra let out the breath she had been holding in and increased her pace to run to Sarah, untying her. "I'm so sorry." Ayra murmured, while Sarah sobbed with relief. Fatigued, Ayra crashed back when a firm arm held her back.
"Are you alright?" Sherlock asked slowly.
"I think-" Ayra mumbled, rubbing her head. She straightened her back and made her best effort to look as shaken as possible, without being overly dramatic. She let out a shaky breath and blew strands or her hair from her face.
"You have suffered from a minor concussion." Sherlock said, his thumb brushing across a bump on her forehead. Ayra winced and groaned.
"Ow." She hissed, without warning wrapping her arms around Sherlock and burying her face on his chest. "Please don't be late again." Ayra breathed out. To her surprise, he placed his arms firmly around her waist and patted her back, with no awkwardness like she would anticipate.
"How did you know it was going to be in the tunnels?" Sherlock asked, looking down at Ayra, the corners of his eyes wrinkling with a smile.
Ayra looked up and smiled – she remembered noticing a map of the tube tunnel in London in Sherlock's desk, and saw how many were deep underground and closed due to construction. That would seem like the perfect hiding place. She also remembered noting that down on the map. "Isn't it always in the tunnels though?" Ayra smiled, placing her head against his chest.
John moved Sarah's gag and hugged her tightly, soothing her. "I promise, the next date won't be like this." John said, making Ayra wide her eyes and look at Sherlock. It would be quite the miracle if Sarah decides to see John again…
Sherlock looked around, watching carefully as Scotland Yard raided the place, but he already knew it was pointless – Shan escaped. Taking a deep breath, he looked behind him and saw Ayra being tended by a paramedic. Ayra winced slightly as the paramedic slowly stitched the gaping cut on her arm. She had also taken a nasty hit on her face, leaving a purple bruise.
Tucking his lips in, Sherlock moved his way to the ambulance and leaned against the car. "This runs much deeper than we can anticipate."
"I know, we barely scratched the surface." Ayra mumbled, crooking her eyebrows and looking up at the paramedic, annoyed. "How long do you think this bruise will last? I teach a group of bratty first-years for living and they jump to conclusions."
"Your makeup ought to fix it." Sherlock answered absently, his mind running over Shan's underground black market. Sherlock looked up when he saw the young DI standing awkwardly in front of him. "We'll just slip off. No need to mention us in your report."
"Mr. Holmes…" Dimmock began, exasperated.
"I have high hopes for you, Inspector. A glittering career." Sherlock said, making Ayra's eyes shoot up, questioning him.
"I go where you point me." Dimmock confessed, adding a small smirk in the corner of Sherlock's lips. Ducking his head and slowly excusing himself, Sherlock began walking backwards, closer to Ayra.
"Exactly." He said, snapping his head and gesturing Ayra to get up. She smiled brightly, the dimples on her cheeks denting her cheeks. Groaning, she slowly got up and nodded her goodbye to the DI, taking off her shoes and wincing.
"There is a pack of Malboro in your right pocket. Be a dear and give me one please." Ayra murmured, swinging her shoes over her shoulders. "Only the Holy Being above knows how much I need a drink right now." Sherlock rolled his eyes and held out his arm, waiting for her to link her arm to his.
Ayra gave him a sly smile, linking her arms to his. He pulled out a safety pack he keeps with him at all times and pulled out a thin, white cigarette. Ayra took the cigarette from him and placed it against her rich, darkly painted lips.
"These nicotine patches are absolute rubbish." Sherlock commented, pulling out a cigarette from the pack and lighting it up. "Why did the twenty-first century suddenly have to revoke the "style" from smoking a fag? It's really dysfunctional." He continued to complain, taking a long drag.
"Honestly fuck society." Ayra commented, blowing out a puff of poisonous smoke. "They have no right to tell us how to regulate our poor lifestyle choices, or expedite lung cancer."
The corner of Sherlock's lips quirked up, looking down at the girl. "Fancy chips?" Sherlock asked, pulling up the collars of his coat and walking swiftly away from the chaos behind him. Ayra widened her beautiful eye's smirking.
"Like you even need to ask!" She exclaimed, pulling Sherlock's arm painfully. Sherlock murmured something under his breath, but she knew it was some lines of insults directed towards her. Ayra was silent next to him, but he could still feel her prying, strange eyes look up to him.
"It's bothering you, isn't it?" Ayra said. "That she is out of the loose?"
"Of course, it is." Sherlock said, making Ayra shrug.
"She is someone you should hardly lose any sleep over." Ayra said, tucking inside her jacket. "Black market antiquities – I mean there are more loathsome criminals out there who need attention."
"She is just the middleman." Sherlock said, looking down at her. "I am sure she had other help to get into the UK."
"Of course she has connections here." Ayra whined, doing a little hop. "But who gives a rats-ass? There are so many more interesting beings out there- like the potential cannibal in Lyon."
Sherlock smiled, nodding his head. "Yes… that does seem like a rather fruitful case, doesn't it?"
"Now, my back really hurts, you know, fighting and trying to save myself from the Chinese triad and all." Ayra pursed her lips. "So, some of Mrs. Hudson's herbal remedies sound fantastic right about now."