Hello! Special thanks to those who review! I haven't been doing shout-outs the last few chapters, but I'm going to start to do that again.
Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.
Shout outs:
Grammarosprey: Thanks for being an avid reviewer! Glad you think it's creepy. :) What does he have on Mycroft, I wonder? Haha, you'll have to find out!
P.o.V. - Eurus
Blackmail was something she was familiar with. She had used her own form of it to reprogram the people in Sherrinford. She knew how to use it and how to stop it as long as she had sufficient information. But Mycroft, being the idiot he was, wouldn't give her sufficient information.
She had no experience in hacking, or she would be looking through top secret government files with Jim and Sherlock. Greg and John seemed bored. Molly seemed anxious.
"Did you find anything of relevance yet?" she asked.
"I found that he's allergic to peanuts," Jim responded. "And... nothing else of interest. Yet."
Sherlock looked up for a second, but made no other response. Eurus took that as his way of saying that he hadn't found anything.
"How does Mycroft being allergic to peanuts have anything to do with blackmail?" John asked.
"They could... assassinate him. With peanut butter. Or contaminate his food," Greg suggested.
John snorted in disbelief.
"It's happened," Molly said solemnly.
"How would you know?" Greg asked.
"I work in the morgue at Bart's. You hear a lot about strange deaths there."
"Oh."
Eurus took out her mobile device and sent a message to Mycroft.
What is it? -EH
She knew he got it and read it. It said so on the screen. But he didn't respond anything except,
I'm busy. Bother Sherlock. -MH
She growled under her breath and responded,
He's actually working on something relevant, unlike you. Tell me. Now. -EH
She received no response after that.
"Could this Magnussen guy possibly know about Mycroft's thing with water?" John asked.
Sherlock looked up. "What? Say that again."
"Mycroft's thing with water. Could the Magnussen guy have gotten that info somewhere?"
"That would be better blackmail than anything on here," Jim said.
"These are top secret government files. They are rarely in danger of being hacked, but it does happen, obviously. The only things he could have against Mycroft are things that threaten his life-"
"Like peanuts," Lestrade offered.
"...Yes..., or things the government can't know about him. He doesn't give in to... sentimental threats."
"He would," said Eurus. It was true. Mycroft wasn't a sociopath like Sherlock was. He had emotions. He just hid them well. Mycroft was susceptible to sentimental errors.
Sherlock threw her a look like, what?
She rolled her eyes at him. He wouldn't get it anyway.
"It's unlikely, anyway," Moriarty shrugged. "So Johnny boy actually might be right. Shame, we hacked a bunch of top secret files for no reason."
"Maybe no reason," Sherlock corrected.
"Balance of probability."
"How would he have known?" Eurus asked. She, of course, had theories, but she wanted to hear their's.
Sherlock shrugged. "I'm the only one he could have had access to who knew besides Mycroft himself, and he didn't ask me. So then Mycroft must have told him. But he wouldn't do that."
"Who is Lady Eva Smallwood?" she asked.
"A colleague of his."
"He said that Magnussen blackmailed her... did she know?"
"Anthea."
"What?" John asked.
Sherlock snapped his fingers. "Well, not Anthea, really. She gets a new name almost every time I see her. She's Mycroft's P.A., and has been for years. If anyone had any chance of figuring it out, it would be her."
"Right, can I go home now?" Lestrade asked.
Sherlock shrugged, "Ask Mycroft."
"But-"
"You'll just have to wait then."
"So... how could we see this P.A.?" John asked.
"Interrogate," Jim corrected.
"No..."
Eurus texted Mycroft again.
Would Anthea tell anyone anything under pressure? -EH
No. She has a cyanide pill. She's also been tested. I told you to stay out of this. -MH
"Not Anthea," Eurus informed them.
"Yes, but I don't know what her real name is, so-"
"No, Sherlock. Mycroft said she had a cyanide pill and she's been tested. It's not her."
"Someone's here," Molly said. "Do you get visitors?"
Sherlock glanced towards the front door and cocked his head like a dog. "That is not Mycroft."
There were three knocks, then footsteps walking away from the door. Eurus glanced at Sherlock, then grabbed a jar and walked toward the door. There was no sign of danger, just an envelope on the floor. She picked it up. There was no writing or any marks of any kind. She walked back to the others and held it up, setting the jar back on the table.
"Open it," Moriarty said.
She did. The envelope had been sealed with water, not by someone licking it shut.
Inside there was a piece of paper folded into fourths and five dried out apple seeds. She took out the paper and handed the envelope with the seeds to Molly, who was closest. She unfolded the paper.
A letter was typed out in Times New Roman typeface. The letters were small, but not unreadable. It said,
Children,
You do not know me. But I know you. I know everything about you. There are
six of you and one of me, but you couldn't defeat me even if all of you came together.
I know all of your weaknesses. I know all of your strengths. I know how your minds
work. You don't know who the other one is yet. I do. Take your next step with caution. This
is chess, and I've just made my first move. Give me a good game and I might spare you.
~Your Adversary
Jim frowned. "Well, someone's certainly egotistical."
"Chess,'' Eurus muttered. "They said it's a game of chess."
"It is," Sherlock said. His eyes were darting all over the paper. "They went first. That means they're playing as white. It is chess, but with no limits; no rules."
"Don't you think we should tell your brother about this?" Molly asked. She was scared.
"Mycroft probably already knows," John said. "Doesn't he work for the government?"
"Yes," Eurus said.
"But who are they?" Greg asked.
"Well, if we're gonna do this, we shouldn't do it wrong," Jim said.
"Who are they, then?" Molly asked.
"'They' are You," Sherlock said.
Molly managed to look terrified and offended at the same time. "Me?"
Eurus sighed.
Sherlock rolled his eyes. "No, not you, You. That's what you call an unidentified subject."
John frowned. "You call them You?"
"Or I, but I think we should go with the other one."
"Okay," Greg said, "So..."
"You sent us a letter because you want us to notice you," Sherlock said.
Molly winced, most likely because Sherlock sounded schizophrenic when he talked to the Adversary. Eurus narrowed her eyes at her.
"Or," Eurus said, "You want them to focus on us."
John frowned, but said nothing.
"What do we do?" Greg asked.
"Absolutely nothing."
"Very funny, Moriarty. But seriously, what do we do? And what do the apple seeds mean?"
"Nothing. We wait for You to make Your next move, and the apple seeds... apple seeds contain cyanide. It might be a warning. Anyway, you'll make a move again," Sherlock said.
"And when will that be?"
Soon," Eurus said. "Very, very soon."
A/N: And... we still don't know what Magnussen has on Mycroft. Cue the evil laugh. I'm so mean... haha. Anyway, Reviews Are Much Appreciated. Please review and let me know what you think, what you like, what you don't like, what you want to see happen, etc. It helps a lot, believe it or not. Thank you all for reading!
TempestWolf999